President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Feb. 15 that success “already feels possible” as his administration begins working on negotiations with U.S. President Donald Trump’s team to end the war.
The U.S. has asked European countries to outline their potential security and peacekeeping contributions to Ukraine as part of any future peace negotiations with Russia, the Financial Times reported on Feb. 15, citing undisclosed sources.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to President Volodymyr Zelensky, denied on Feb. 15 that Ukraine will participate in an upcoming meeting between Russia and the United States in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Deputy Assistant State Secretary Christopher W. Smith visited Belarus alongside two other U.S. officials in an unannounced meeting on Feb. 12, the New York Times reported, potentially ending Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's isolation from the West.
"Both sides expressed a mutual willingness to engage on key international issues, including the situation in Ukraine," the readout from the Russian Foreign Ministry read. "Lavrov and Rubio reaffirmed their readiness to work together to restore a mutually respectful interstate dialogue in line with the tone set by the presidents."
U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, Keith Kellogg, attended a panel discussion during the Munich Security Conference on Feb. 15 where he called for the the U.S. to implement additional sanctions on Russia's "shadow fleet," while also calling for concessions from both countries to secure a peace deal.
Ukraine is not yet ready to sign a mineral resource agreement with the United States, President Volodymyr Zelensky said at a news conference at the Munich Security Conference, stating that the agreement "was not ready to protect" Ukraine and its interests.
Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Kellogg mentioned the Minsk II deal of 2015, saying that it involved "a lot of people" but didn't work out.
President Volodymyr Zelensky hasn't yet signed the document, calling it "a memorandum," not a security agreement.
"Let's be clear: We cannot rule out the possibility that America may refuse to cooperate with Europe on issues that threaten it," Volodymyr Zelensky said at the Munich Security Conference.
The two leaders discussed how European partners can coordinate with the U.S. and Ukraine to bring about a just peace, particularly focusing on "security guarantees and proposals of France."
Even though Vance refused to say that deploying U.S. troops in Ukraine was off the table, he later accused the outlet of "twisting (his) words."
A 28-year-old U.S. citizen was detained at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport after Russian authorities allegedly found food items containing cannabis derivatives in his luggage.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance stunned those watching on Feb. 14 when his speech at the Munich Security Conference turned into a searing attack on Europe's ideals and a call to embrace far-right political parties. At an event focused almost entirely on how to end Russia's full-scale invasion of
Key developments on Feb. 14: * Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus hit by Russian drone, Zelensky releases video of explosion * "Peace deal can't be signed in Munich" — Zelensky sets out condition for talks with Putin * "Crazy" Putin could attack NATO in 2026, Russia building up troops in Belarus, Zelensky says * 4,
"The Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) expresses its welcome to hosting the summit in Saudi Arabia, and reaffirms its ongoing efforts to achieve lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine," the country's foreign ministry said.
"Today, we are not talking about any peace agreement... A peace deal cannot be signed in Munich because it is Munich. We remember what things were signed here. I do not repeat such things," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Putin's team will reportedly include Sergey Naryshkin, director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR).
The postponement comes as the U.S. considers a proposed minerals agreement that could link future aid to Ukraine with access to its rare earth mineral reserves.
The following op-ed is based on a broader report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), published on Feb. 11, 2025. Some peace deals lead to peace; others lead to more war. The Minsk II deal, aimed at ending Russia’s initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014, instead
Judge Amir Ali issued the order in response to a lawsuit filed by the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the Global Health Council.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that President Donald Trump's administration is continuing to deliver the allocated security assistance to Kyiv but hinted that future funding could be conditional.
U.S. State Secretary Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Feb. 14.
"My position is the NATO position," U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters on Feb. 13. "This was discussed at the summit that we had last year in Washington, where it was agreed amongst all NATO members that there should be an irreversible path of Ukraine to NATO membership."
A Ukrainian official on Feb. 13 denied Ukraine will participate in a joint meeting between U.S. and Russian representatives in Munich after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested talks will be held on Feb. 14.
Editor's note: The article was updated on Feb. 14 to include the Latvian Foreign Ministry's comments. European nations, particularly Ukraine’s neighbors and the Baltic states, were stunned when the U.S. President Donald Trump suddenly announced the start of peace negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Feb. 13 that he would "love" to see Russia readmitted into the Group of Seven (G7), calling Russia's 2014 expulsion from the group a "mistake."
"I think realism is an important part of the conversation that hasn't existed enough inside conversations amongst friends, but simply pointing out realism like the borders won't be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014 is not a concession to Vladimir Putin," U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said.
Like people in other regions, Europeans face the challenge of discerning what motives underlie U.S. President Donald Trump’s verbal provocations. After all, what Trump really wants is often unclear, which makes it difficult to devise a strategically effective response. Traditionally, Europeans have interpreted American foreign policy through a
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Kyiv "will definitely take part in the negotiations in one way or another," but there will also be a "bilateral Russian-American track."
"I don't perceive this call as it was a priority that he (Trump) talked to Russia first. Although it's not very pleasant," President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
"We agreed that we are not automatically filling the void with European money because, first, we don't have those funds," Kallas said.
