Thursday, February 20
Russia’s war against Ukraine
Yana Stepanenko, 13, who lost her legs in Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk, trains for the Tokyo Marathon at the Skif Stadium on February 19, 2025 in Lviv, Ukraine. During the marathon, Yana Stepanenko will raise funds for the prosthesis for Ukrainian war veteran Oleksandr Zhavnenko. This will be Yana’s third marathon. (Les Kasyanov / Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)
Ukraine doesn’t want to become ‘center for extraction of raw materials,’ Zelensky says. “Ukraine is ready for investment, provided that the occupied territories are liberated and natural resources are protected,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Trump to ‘probably’ meet Putin before end of February. Answering a journalist’s questions at a press conference in Mar-a-Lago about whether the meeting would take place before the end of the month, Trump said “probably” without mentioning a specific date.
Putin would ’gladly’ meet Trump, says war in Ukraine should be ‘worked out’ in advance. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Feb. 19 that he had been briefed on the outcome of U.S.-Russian talks in Riyadh, expressing willingness to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Ukraine refutes Putin’s claims of Russian offensive from Kursk Oblast. President Vladimir Putin told Russian media on Feb. 18 that Russian forces had crossed into Ukrainian territory from Kursk Oblast, a claim General Staff spokesperson Dmytro Lykhovyi has dismissed as part of a disinformation campaign.
Trump calls Zelensky ’dictator,’ warns of Ukraine’s demise without elections. “A dictator without elections, Zelensky better move fast, or he won’t have a country left,” U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
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‘Part of my mission is to sit and listen’ — Trump’s envoy Kellogg arrives in Kyiv.
Keith Kellogg, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, arrived in Kyiv on Feb. 19.
US helping Putin escape isolation, Zelensky says after Riyadh talks. “The fact that they are discussing bilateral issues in Saudi Arabia is their right, but I believe that the U.S. helped Putin escape many years of isolation,” Zelensky said during a press conference, adding that Ukraine is nevertheless “ready for anything.”
Zelensky’s trust rating increases to 57%, survey shows, contradicting Trump’s claims. The poll, carried out between Feb. 4 and 9, was published shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump alleged that Zelensky holds a “4% approval rating” without providing a source to back his claim.
US provided Ukraine with $100 billion in aid, not $500 billion, Zelensky says. “We, the people of Ukraine, (provided) $120 billion, the U.S. and the EU — $200 billion. We are talking about arms, this is a weapons package worth $320 billion,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said during a press conference in Kyiv.
North Korean troops in Russia reportedly told they’re fighting South Korean forces. One of the captured North Korean soldiers admitted that he and his fellow soldiers believed they were fighting South Korean troops, which heightened their morale and aggression, South Korean newspaper Chosun Daily reported.
Read our exclusives
A beginner’s guide to elections in Ukraine (also suitable for US presidents)
U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 19 launched an astonishing attack on President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling him a “dictator” with a “very low” approval rating that refuses to hold elections in Ukraine.
Photo: Sergii Kharchenko / NurPhoto via Getty Images
US-Russia talks are ‘the last warning for Europe,’ Gabrielius Landsbergis says
The Kyiv Independent sat down with Landsbergis on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, where the growing divergence between the U.S. and the EU on NATO and Ukraine was at the center of the discussions.
Photo: Olena Zashko / The Kyiv Independent
Ukraine war latest: Trump calls Zelensky ‘dictator,’ warns of Ukraine’s demise without elections
A Feb. 19 poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology showed that 57% of Ukrainians trust Zelensky, a five-point increase since December. Trump also called the Ukrainian president “a dictator without elections,” saying that “Zelensky better move fast, or he won’t have a country left.”
Photo: Win McNamee / Getty Images
British volunteer who lost arm and leg evacuating Ukrainian civilians: ‘Russia is the enemy. How can you not see it?’
As a humanitarian aid worker with the Ukrainian NGO “Baza” (the “Base” in Ukrainian), 28-year-old Scott has made multiple trips to the front-line areas to evacuate civilian Ukrainians. But the mission on Jan. 30 to the embattled city of Pokrovsk in southern Donetsk Oblast was different.
Photo: Madison Tuff
Ukrainians react to Trump’s shocking accusation about the war
International response
Vance says Zelensky ’badmouthing’ Trump, calls it counterproductive. “The idea that Zelensky is going to change the president’s mind by badmouthing him in public media — everyone who knows the president will tell you that is an atrocious way to deal with this administration,” U.S. Vice President JD Vance said.
US promises Europe to maintain sanctions against Russia at least until Ukraine peace deal, Bloomberg reports. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio assured a group of European colleagues that sanctions would not be lifted earlier. The phone call took place on Feb. 18.
Hungary again blocks EU sanctions against Moscow Patriarch Kirill. “Hungary also blocked sanctions against 27 individuals and organizations, including Patriarch Kirill, arguing that targeting religious leaders undermines peace efforts,” a Hungarian government spokesperson said.
Czechia, Poland preparing decision on status of Ukrainians with temporary protection after ceasefire, war’s end. Prague and Warsaw are seeking to prepare a “rough version of the proposal,” as the decision should be made later at the EU level, Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan told Czech news website Novinky on Feb. 18.
Lithuania’s president unveils 6-point plan to support Ukraine, strengthen European security. “We must act now to support Ukraine and boost Europe’s security. No more talk shops — time for action,” Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda wrote on X.
Book review
Plokhy argues in Chornobyl occupation book that Russia’s nuclear blackmail is ‘warning for the future’
Now, as the world seems to shrug off Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling against Ukraine — and by extension, all of humanity — a haunting question calls for an answer: Have we grown dangerously numb to the threat of a looming apocalypse?
Photo: The Kyiv Independent
In other news
Russia offering US deal on natural resources, access to Arctic. Moscow suggested that American oil companies may return to the country, Russian negotiator Kirill Dmitriev said before the talks started in Riyadh.
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