OT subject but worth a main-stream read- OT News Feeds...

lousubcap

Sunday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Zelenskyy said the United States has given Moscow and Kyiv a deadline of June to reach an agreement on ending the war, after the two countries held two days of talks in Abu Dhabi this week.

Zelenskyy said Washington has proposed talks in Miami in a week, and that Kyiv has agreed.

The US also asked Russia and Ukraine to agree to a new ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure as a de-escalation step during the talks, Zelenskyy said. He added that Kyiv was ready to stop attacks on Russian oil facilities and other energy infrastructure, but Moscow has yet to agree.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine and Russia remain far apart in the discussions about territory. He said the US was proposing a free economic zone in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which Russia mostly occupies, but that neither Ukraine nor Russia was thrilled by this idea.

Earlier, the Ukrainian leader met his negotiating team in Kyiv and said Ukraine “needs results” that ensure “effective security guarantees” for the country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that a third round of talks aimed at ending Russia’s war on Ukraine should take place “soon”. But he said there is no fixed date yet."

lousubcap

Monday Middle East update:

"Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said yesterday that recognition of Iran’s right to enrich uranium is key for nuclear talks with the United States to succeed, adding “no one has the right to tell the Iranian nation what it should or should not have.” A diplomat told Reuters on Friday that Tehran was open to discussing the “level and purity” of enrichment, as long as it was allowed to enrich uranium on its soil and would be granted sanctions relief in addition to military de-escalation. Reuters reports. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet President Trump in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the negotiations with Iran, according to Netanyahu’s office. A White House official said that Netanyahu, who was meant to meet Trump on Feb. 18, asked to bring his visit forward. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.  

Trump’s “Board of Peace” is scheduled to meet in Washington on Feb. 19, according to an invitation letter shared with the New York Times. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban was the first head of state to publicly confirm his attendance. An official told Axios that the meeting will focus on fundraising for reconstruction in Gaza. Another source said, “Nothing has been confirmed yet, but the administration is planning it and has started checking which leaders are able to attend.” Natan Odenheimer reports; Barak Ravid reports for Axios."

lousubcap

Monday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Russia launched more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles on Saturday in a further attack on Ukraine’s energy sector, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. Olena Harmash reports for Reuters.  

Zelenskyy told reporters on Saturday that the United States wants Russia and Ukraine to sign a peace deal that ends the war by June, before Trump pivots to focusing on the U.S. midterm elections. Zelenskyy also said that the Russian delegation in Abu Dhabi had changed its rhetoric last week, and instead of just getting into “historical arguments” conducted a “concrete” discussion on what it is ready to do. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.  

Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said Ukrainian and Russian leaders need to meet in person to hash out the hardest remaining issues in peace talks, and that only US President Donald Trump has the power to bring about an agreement to end the four-year-old war.

Sybiha said that from the 20-point peace plan, which formed the basis of recent trilateral negotiations, only “a few” items remain outstanding, but the “most sensitive and most difficult” have to be dealt with at the leaders’ level.

Sybiha added that in the event of a ceasefire deal, the US has told Ukraine that it was prepared to ratify security guarantees in Congress, and that it would then provide a security “backstop” to support the peace deal, though no US troops would be deployed on the ground in Ukraine.

Sybiha also said that other countries beyond France and the United Kingdom had confirmed their readiness to send troops to Ukraine as a deterrence force if an agreement is reached."

lousubcap

Tuesday Middle East update:

“The Muscat meeting was not a long meeting. In our view, it was to gauge the seriousness of the [United States] and how to continue this path,” a spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry said today, adding “after the talks, we felt there was understanding and consensus to continue the diplomatic process.” Ali Larijani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, is set to meet Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi today to follow up on regional and international developments. Reuters reports; Al Jazeera reports. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration yesterday issued guidance to commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, recommending that vessels “remain as far as possible from Iran’s territorial waters without compromising navigational safety.” Richard Valdmanis reports for Reuters. "

lousubcap

Tuesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Estonia’s foreign intelligence service says that Russia has no intention of launching a military attack on any NATO state this year or next, but is racing to rebuild its forces as Europe steps up its rearmament, according to its annual report published today. “We see that the Russian leadership is very concerned about… European rearmament, they see that Europe might be able to conduct independent military actions against Russia in two to three years,” Estonian Chief of Foreign Intelligence Service Kaupo Rosin told reporters. Andrius Sytas reports for Reuters.  Rosin also told reporters that Moscow thinks it can outsmart Washington during talks about how to end the war in Ukraine, adding that based on the intelligence, “there is absolutely no discussion about how to cooperate with the U.S. in a meaningful way.” Russian President Vladimir Putin, “in his head, still thinks that he can actually militarily win [in Ukraine] at some point,” Rosin said. Emma Burrows reports for AP News.

An agreement on ending Russia’s war on Ukraine must also take into consideration security guarantees for Russia, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Grushko told the Izvestia media outlet. These guarantees include the rejection of any deployment in Ukraine of troops from NATO states, he said.

Russia remains open to cooperation with the United States, but is not hopeful about economic ties despite Washington’s ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Russia-based media outlet TV BRICS."

lousubcap

Wednesday Middle East update:

"President Trump told Axios yesterday that he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East to prepare for military action if negotiations with Iran fail. “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” Trump said. Barak Ravid reports. 

U.S. forces in Qatar’s al-Udeid, the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East, have put Patriot missiles into truck launchers since last month,according to analysis of satellite images. This means the missiles could be rapidly deployed to strike or be moved defensively in case of an Iranian attack. Marine Delrue reports for Reuters. 

Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Trump yesterday discussed efforts for regional de-escalation and stability, according to the Emiri Diwan. The call comes ahead of a meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington today. Reuters reports.  

The United States is demanding that Hamas surrender all weapons that are capable of striking Israel, but will allow the group to keep some small arms, at least initially, according to a draft plan, officials, and other sources. The U.S. negotiation team intends to share the document with Hamas within weeks. Adam Rasgon, Natan Odenheimer, and Abu Bakr Bashir report for the New York Times. " 

lousubcap

Wednesday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Russian forces are close to capturing three strategic areas in Ukraine - the town of Huliapole and the cities of Pokrovsk and Myrnohrad - in the coming weeks or months, according to military experts and independent battlefield monitors. Constant Méheut reports for the New York Times. 

The US ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said in an online briefing that 21 NATO allies and two partners have pledged to buy more than $4.5bn in US weapons through the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) initiative. Whitaker said he expects more announcements of pledges to buy weapons for Kyiv when defence ministers meet in Brussels on Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that France has not officially re-established relations with Russia, but that Moscow had “noted Mr Macron’s statement on the need to restore relations with Russia”, referring to French President Emmanuel Macron. “We are impressed by such statements,” Peskov added."

lousubcap

Thursday Middle East update:

“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated,” President Trump said yesterday on social media following his 3-hour meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a statement, Netanyahu said he had “emphasized Israel’s security needs in the context of the negotiations” with Iran without providing any specifics. Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times; Barak Ravid reports for Axios. 

The Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare to deploy to the Middle East as the United States prepares for a potential attack on Iran, according to three U.S. officials. One official said the Pentagon was readying to deploy in two weeks from the U.S. East Coast. However, the officials cautioned that Trump has not yet given an official order to deploy the second carrier. Lara Seligman, Shelby Holliday, and Marcus Weisgerber report for the Wall Street Journal. "

lousubcap

Thursday Russia-Ukraine update:

"Zelenskyy told Bloomberg News that he had accepted an offer from Washington to host the next round of peace talks in the US.

Poland and Italy will not join US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, Warsaw and Rome said, adding to the list of Ukrainian allies that have turned down invitations to join the body, which has also extended invitations to Russia and its ally Belarus.

“Taking into account certain national doubts regarding the shape of the board, under these circumstances, Poland will not join the work of the Board of Peace, but we will analyse it,” Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk told a government meeting.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said that Italy “cannot join the Board of Peace because there is an insurmountable constitutional barrier on Italy’s side”. Under Italy’s constitution, the country can only join international organisations on equal terms with other states – a condition that Rome says is not met by the board’s current statute, which gives Trump extensive executive powers."

lousubcap

Thursday Southern Command update:

"Energy Secretary Chris Wright said yesterday that he wanted Venezuela’s government to go much further in opening its economy to foreign energy companies, after he arrived in Caracas for a three-day visit. Wright met with Venezuelan Interim President Delcy Rodríguez yesterday and is set to travel with her today to see oil-producing operations firsthand. Simon Romero reports for the New York Times. 

Top Senate Democrats introduced legislation yesterday calling on the White House to submit independent accounting of the proceeds from Venezuelan oil, arguing that the offshore arrangement is unregulated and susceptible to corruption. “The American people deserve to know what’s happening with the money received from these Venezuelan oil payments and where — and to whom — they are going,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said yesterday. Carl Hulse and Robert Jimison report for the New York Times. "

lousubcap

Friday Middle East update:

"The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford and its escort ships will be sent to the Middle East from the Caribbean and are not expected to return until late April or early May, according to four U.S. officials. The Ford will join the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Persian Gulf. John Ismay and Eric Schmitt report for the New York Times.  

President Trump will announce a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and provide details on plans for a U.N.-authorized stabilization force in Gaza at the first formal meeting of his “Board of Peace” next week, two senior U.S. officials said yesterday. Delegations from at least 20 countries are expected to attend the meeting in Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel has joined the board. Steve Holland reports for Reuters. "

lousubcap

Friday Russia-Ukraine update:

"NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said yesterday that several countries have announced hundreds of millions of dollars for the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List initiative to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons. Rutte thanked the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and Lithuania and said he expected more pledges soon. Reuters reports.

Russia launched a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities in overnight attacks on Thursday, officials reported, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow was “hesitating” about another round of United States-brokered talks on stopping the war.

US military aid to Ukraine fell by 99 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, according to a report from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a think tank based in Germany. “European military aid rose by 67 percent above the 2022–2024 average” in 2025, the Kiel report found.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that another round of talks on ending the war in Ukraine was expected “soon” but gave no further details.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Sybiha said that Russia’s more recent overnight attacks on Ukraine further undermined efforts to end the war through dialogue. “Each such strike is a blow to peace efforts aimed at ending the war. Russia must be forced to take diplomacy seriously and de-escalate,” Sybiha wrote on X."