Q: Putin said he will meet you if you come to Moscow.
Zelenskyy: He can come to Kyiv. I can’t go to Moscow when my country is under daily missile attacks. Putin just plays games to delay meetings. We can’t trust him — he even plays games with the US.
1/
Q: Do you think the possibility for a bilateral meeting is dead?
Zelenskyy: No. I told President Trump I’m ready for any meeting — bilateral or trilateral — but not in Russia. First ceasefire, then talks on security guarantees. I thank the US for joining those guarantees.
2/
Zelenskyy: We need pressure from the US. President Trump. Some Europeans keep buying Russian oil and gas. That must stop. Energy is Putin’s weapon. The White House has the power to take it away. 3/
Q: Did sanctions backfire after Modi met Putin, with Trump saying India and China went to the dark side?
Zelenskyy: No. I think tariffs on countries that keep making deals with Russia is the right idea.
4/
Q: What did you think when you saw Putin on the red carpet at the Alaska summit talking about Ukraine?
Zelenskyy: It was a pity Ukraine was not there. Trump gave Putin what he wanted — a meeting with the US president. Putin wants those images to show everyone.
5/
Q: Will European security guarantees mean thousands of troops, not US?
Zelenskyy: Any guarantees start with a strong Ukrainian army. Then US weapons — Patriots, long-range missiles, HIMARS — which only America has. EU and US generals understand this.
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Q: How about air support?
Zelenskyy: We need an air defense shield — not only systems but also jets. We use old F-16s, but they work. Better than nothing. We are thankful for everything.
7/
Q: Are you 100% confident the Trump administration will see you through to peace?
Zelenskyy: No. I think President Trump wants to finish this war and he can do it. But real peace means no new aggression in 6 months, a year, or 2 years. It must be lasting, with security.
8/
Q: What does victory look like in Ukraine?
Zelenskyy: Putin’s goal is to occupy Ukraine and destroy us. He failed. We still have our country. For him, victory is total occupation. For us, victory is survival — keeping our land, our identity, our independence.
9X
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The EU may give Ukraine EU-level protections before full membership
The EU is weighing a peace-deal formula that grants Kyiv early access to EU membership rights and safeguards, locking in a time-bound path to full accession, possibly by 2027 — Bloomberg.
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One option would grant Ukraine up-front accession protections, legal, economic, and regulatory safeguards, plus immediate access to selected EU rights, before formal membership.
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At the same time, the EU would lock in a time-bound accession roadmap, fixed steps and deadlines, replacing today’s open-ended process that can stall for years.
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Shot and bleeding in a dugout, Ukrainian soldier convinced his Russian captors to surrender.
Volodymyr Aleksandrov lay wounded in hand and pelvis as an FPV mine blocked the entrance and drones hunted above. “If I was going to die, I would take them with me” — Hromadske. 1/
Russian troops ambushed Aleksandrov and his partner while they collected food dropped by drone.
Russians fired from a house, wounded him, argued over killing him, then kept him alive to register a live prisoner for money. 2/
Russians carried Aleksandrov into the dugout and stepped on their own FPV mine.
The blast tore off part of one soldier’s leg, wounded another, and hit Aleksandrov again — shrapnel wounded his shoulder and ear and left him concussed. 3/
Russia gave its main security agency legal power to shut down internet and phone service nationwide. Like in Iran: cut the web when protests erupt.
If crowds fill Moscow’s streets, the switch is ready — United24.
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The State Duma passed the law on Jan. 27.
The UK Ministry of Defence says it lets the FSB order total communication blackouts for vaguely defined “security threats,” with no clear limits and no oversight.
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The order takes effect immediately.
Telecom operators must cut internet, mobile, landline, and messaging services the moment the FSB demands it — no court order, no appeal.
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Beevor, British historian: We are seeing a fresh conflict developing, a second Cold war, with Putin and the rise of China and the threat from Xi.
It is an extension of the Cold War, but also a new era of geopolitics, a split between authoritarianism and democracy. 1/
Beevor: In second Cold War, geopolitics are changing so rapidly. Russian and Chinese leaders used to stick with agreements. We’re not seeing that anymore. We cannot trust Putin to stick to anything he says. It will be seen as one of the greatest self-inflicted disasters in history. 2/
Beevor: We are not going to see a 1917 February revolution in the streets. That’s impossible because a revolution depends on the collapse of willpower of the ruling elite. They know they’ve got nowhere to go except perhaps for Qatar or Dubai into exile. 3X