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- Rubio: It is unclear how serious Russia is about ending the war against Ukraine.
The United States will continue to explore which conditions might be acceptable to both Ukraine and Russia to end the war.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this at the Munich Security Conference when asked about possible ways to end the war and the current state of negotiations with Russia, amid concerns that Moscow may be stalling and not interested in a meaningful settlement.
βThe good news is that the list of issues that need to be resolved to end the war has narrowed. The bad news is that it has narrowed to the most difficult questions, and there is still work to be done,β Rubio said.
However, he added that he could not say whether the war would end soon.
βWe do not know how serious the Russians are about ending the war,β Rubio noted.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe must be ready to use force decisively and proactively for its protection and should learn from Ukraineβs example.
In her speech, she stressed the need for a new European security strategy, including the development of a new doctrine βto ensure that Europe can defend its territory, economy, democracy, and way of life at all times.β
- The supply of weapons from the United States to Ukraine is continuing. This year, the total will amount to about $15 billion, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said.
According to Rutte, this is critical assistance β both lethal and non-lethal weapons, including interceptors to destroy Russian missiles. However, there are still not enough of them.
βThis is funded by European and Canadian allies. Russia has a large number of such missiles, and European countries are looking for additional systems they can transfer from their own stockpiles,β the Allianceβs secretary general added.
- β‘οΈ There is not a single power plant left in Ukraine that has not been damaged by Russian attacks, said President Zelenskyy.
βOne of the worst things a leader can hear is a report from the Air Force commander that air defense units are out of missiles because they were used to repel Russian strikes, there has been no replenishment, and intelligence warns that a new massive attack could come within one or two days.
Sometimes we manage to deliver new missiles shortly before the strikes β sometimes literally at the last moment,β the president said at a conference in Munich.
- β‘ We are ready for a deal that will bring real peace. We believe this war can be ended, said President Zelenskyy.
Key points from the Munich conference:
β«οΈ Russia is using more than a thousand tankers from the so-called βshadow fleet,β and blocking them is necessary to cut the Kremlinβs oil revenues.
β«οΈ The Ukrainian army is among the most powerful in Europe, and its integration into NATO is a security issue for the entire continent.
β«οΈ Security guarantees must be agreed before any decisions on ending the war, and Europe should fully participate in the negotiations.
β«οΈ Russia began to take diplomacy more seriously after effective strikes on refineries and amid discussions about the possible use of Tomahawk missiles.
β«οΈ Putin may see himself as a tsar, but in reality he has become a slave to this war. If he remains in power for another decade, the threat of renewed aggression will persist.
- President Zelenskyy held a press conference in Munich: key points
β«οΈ We hope to end the war this year.
β«οΈ After todayβs meeting with Rubio, talks with Witkoff and Kushner on peace negotiations are expected.
β«οΈ Russia is replacing the head of its negotiating team with Medinsky, which suggests they want to delay decisions.
β«οΈ The US is offering security guarantees for 15 years; Ukraine is seeking at least 30 years.
β«οΈ Russia has captured about 7,000 Ukrainian soldiers, while Ukraine holds more than 4,000 Russian troops. An βall for allβ exchange is possible if Russia agrees.
β«οΈ Putin wants full control of Donbas to present it as a victory to Russians. Ukraine will never withdraw its troops.
- βοΈβWe do not have many Flamingo missiles. But a few days ago, they struck the Oreshnik base,β said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It is now important to increase production. One major production line was destroyed by Russian strikes but has already been relocated.
- Holes in walls and ice: The Ministry of Energy revealed the scale of destruction at energy facilities after Russian strikes.
βThe scale of this destruction is difficult to comprehend. The recovery effort is truly titanic.β
- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said he believes Russia deliberately struck his countryβs embassy in Kyiv.
βOur embassy in Kyiv was hit three times by Russia. After the first strike, we thought it was an accident and provided the Russian side with the coordinates of our diplomatic missions. Despite this, there were two more strikes. This was a targeted attack on Azerbaijani diplomatic missions,β Aliyev said at a conference in Munich.
- πͺπΊ European Commissioner calls for changes to the EU accession methodology for Ukraine
βWe must find a way to bridge the gap between the merit-based principle and the methodology we have used, more or less, for the past 40 years, while also addressing current geopolitical challenges. We can no longer wait β discussions are already underway,β said Marta Kos.
She noted that even Sweden β one of the most developed countries when it applied for EU membership β needed three years to complete the accession process.
- πΊπ¦ The Ukrainian people have been awarded the Ewald von Kleist Prize for their contribution to international cooperation and conflict resolution.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy received the award on behalf of Ukraine. He thanked Trump and several European leaders, including Ursula von der Leyen, Macron, Starmer, and Merz.
- π¨πΏ βI do not want to create overly optimistic expectations of peace in 2026,β said the president of the Czech Republic.
He recalled that three years ago he also warned against excessive optimism regarding the planned Ukrainian counteroffensive.
He emphasized that he wants Ukraine to achieve peace as soon as possible, but this will require a number of steps from its partners.
- The outcome of the war will be decided not by negotiations, but by the question of βwho will break first,β said Polish Foreign Minister RadosΕaw Sikorski.
According to him, Putinβs talk of peace amounts to peace on the terms of Ukraineβs capitulation:
βEvery dictator wants peace: if you surrender, there will be peace. The only question is β on what terms.β
Sikorski said the Kremlin is ready to βtolerate Ukrainiannessβ only as a provincial version of Russian culture, not as a separate nation.
βThe question in this war is: who will break first?β he said, adding that the key factor is Russiaβs resources.
βThe real question is when Putin will run out of resources to wage war. Cracks in the Russian economy are already beginning to appear.β
- Zelenskyy on todayβs meeting with Secretary of State Rubio:
βDuring the meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, I briefed him on the situation at the front, Russian strikes, and the consequences of attacks on our energy system. We discussed how to help Ukraine protect lives during the winter and strengthen our resilience.
We also discussed the diplomatic process and trilateral meetings in detail. It is important that the planned talks in Geneva are effective, and I thank the United States for its constructive approach. We also addressed the sequence of steps. Progress on security guarantees and economic recovery is essential.
I am grateful to the United States and to every American heart for the significant support provided to Ukraine.β
- To ensure they do not even consider approaching Ukraineβs border, the 114th Brigade is destroying Russian military equipment in the border area in northern Ukraine.
- Oleshky, the occupied part of the Kherson region, today. The βRussian Peaceβ has destroyed an entire city where peaceful Ukrainians once lived.
Footage by the 34th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade.
- A Ukrainian soldier from the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade shoots down a Russian Molniya suicide drone using small arms.
Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region.
- Russian Orthodox Priest Urges People to Pray for End to Telegram Messenger App Ban
A Russian Orthodox Church priest has urged believers to pray for the unblocking of Telegram, after Russiaβs communications regulator moved to tighten restrictions on the messaging platform, The Moscow Times reported on February 13.
Alexander Mikushin, a priest at the Pokrovsky Cathedral in the city of Barnaul, said Russians should βask Godβ to bring βwisdomβ to officials at Roskomnadzor who approved the decision to block the service. Mikushin described Telegram as more than a communication tool, calling it a space βfor prayer, heartfelt conversation, and helping oneβs neighbor.β
He even published a prayer appealing for officials to reconsider. βLord, grant wisdom, patience, and discernment to employees of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Communicationsβ¦ Enlighten them, Lord, for the good of the people and for Your glory,β the text reads.
Roskomnadzor announced on February 10 that it was stepping up measures against Telegram and preparing to block it, citing the platformβs repeated failure to comply with Russian law. By February 13, access problems had been recorded in 64 regions across Russia, according to monitoring estimates cited by The Moscow Times.
- President Zelenskyy called proposals for Ukraine to withdraw from the Donetsk region without a fight dangerous, noting that Russiaβs ambitions go far beyond control of this region.
βI believe they have never pursued any goal other than the occupation of Ukraine. At a minimum, they want Donbas β the entire Donetsk region, one hundred percent β in order to present it as a victory to their own society, or perhaps not even to society, but to themselves,β Zelenskyy said.
He added that the head of the Kremlin can βsellβ any of his decisions to Russian society.
- βOur lesson today is clear: we cannot afford another βpaper tigerβ like the Budapest Memorandum. To provide real and reliable security guarantees, all of us β Europeans and Americans β must do our part. Europe and Germany are ready to play their role,β said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
According to him, three points are decisive when it comes to Ukraineβs future.
βFirst, we will continue searching for a reliable peace, because Ukraineβs future is fundamental not only for European security, but for global stability. We need a peace treaty that protects the interests of both Ukraine and Europe,β he said.
Second, pressure on Russia must increase, as the Kremlin shows no willingness to compromise.
Pistorius noted that Putin is dragging out negotiations. βThe ball is in his court,β he said, but Putin continues to shift the costs of the war onto his own people.
βLet him not deceive himself: we will continue to do everything possible to defend Ukraine as an independent, sovereign European state. We will maintain pressure β political, economic, and military,β Pistorius stressed.
The third point is ensuring effective post-war security guarantees.
βThere will be peace. And when β not if β that day comes, we must make it lasting. We must protect Ukraine from any future Russian aggression. To achieve this, Ukraine needs strong and reliable security guarantees.β
- β‘ This week, Russia has launched about 1,300 strike drones, more than 1,200 guided bombs, and 50 missiles at Ukraine, President Zelenskyy said.
As before, energy infrastructure remains the main target. The Russians are deliberately combining strikes to destroy generation facilities, substations, and power grids. There have also been numerous attacks on residential areas. Ukrainian forces intercept a significant number of missiles, but not all of them. Therefore, there can be no pause in protecting lives, the president stressed.
Zelenskyy also said that in Munich, agreements were reached with the leaders of the Berlin format to provide Ukraine with specific energy and military assistance packages by February 24.