JUST NOW!!! A UN Commission report says, russia's enforced disappearances of Ukrainians amount to crimes against humanity Large numbers of civilians were detained in areas under russian control or deported to russia, where some were later subjected to torture and sexual violence, according to new UN report.

"Both were perpetrated as part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population and pursuant to a coordinated state policy," says the report, which was submitted to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

"The most brutal forms of torture were used during interrogations, which were often led by the Federal Security Service and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation," the report added.

HAPPENING NOW! Trump was just asked: "... Putin is bombing Ukraine. Do you still believe him when he tells you that he wants peace? "

"... right now they're bombing the hell out of Ukraine. I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine. They don't have the guards. As you know, we're meeting in Saudi Arabia on sometime next week or and we're talking, I find that in terms of getting a final settlement, it may be easier dealing with Russia, which is surprising, because they have all the cards, and they're bombing the hell out of them right now. And I put a statement in a very strong statement, can't do that. Can't do that. We're trying to help them."

more to come... "Do you think that Vladimir Putin is taking advantage of the U.S. pause right now on intelligence and military aid to Ukraine?" — Trump was just asked.

Trump: "... I actually think he's doing what anybody else would do. I think he wants to get it stopped and settled. And I think he's hitting harder than he's been hitting. And I think probably anybody in that position would be doing that right now. He wants to get it ended. And I think Ukraine wants to get it ended, but I don't see... it's crazy. They're taking tremendous punishment. I don't quite get it"

JUST NOW!!! United States announced its largest sanctions yet on russia’s energy sector targeting Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as russian energy officials and energy traders, and 183 Russian boats known as russia’s “shadow fleet” These sanctions align with G7 commitments and are timed due to improved global oil markets and reduced inflation, senior Biden administration officials told reporters on call.

"With today’s actions, we are ratcheting up the sanctions risk associated with Russia’s oil trade, including shipping and financial facilitation in support of Russia’s oil exports," U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement.

HAPPENING NOW! Blinken wraps up G7 meetings, says G7 partners 'determined' that Ukraine has the money, munitions and mobilized forces to fight effectively in 2025 or to negotiate, but from a position of strength. Blinken re: G7 talks on Ukraine: "We're also finalizing getting out the door the $50 billion that have been secured on the basis of the Russian sovereign assets that are frozen."

NEW!!! U.S. 'concerned' by the reports of DPRK soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia, State Dept Spox tells me

"If that's true, it would mark a significant increase in the relationship between those two countries..." DoS Spox Miller on reports about DPRK soldiers fighting on behalf of Russia:

"It would also indicate a new level of desperation by Russia as it continues to suffer significant casualties on the battlefield"

NEW!! U.S. intel officials tell reporters that Moscow is "leveraging a wide range of influence actors in an effort to influence congressional races, particularly to encourage the U.S. public to oppose pro-Ukraine policies and politicians"

1/4 ODNI official: "Russian influence actors have planned, and likely created and disseminated, content, particularly over social media, intended to encourage the election of congressional candidates that Moscow assesses will oppose aid to Ukraine."

HAPPENING NOW!!!

"The bottom line is this. We want Ukraine to win!!" Blinken says in Kyiv

"We remain fully committed to Ukraine's victory — to not only ensuring that Ukraine can defend itself today, but can stand on its own feet strongly, militarily, economically, democratically for many, many days ahead to securing the path the Ukrainian people have chosen toward greater integration in the Euro-Atlantic community, including the EU and NATO, to getting a just and lasting peace Blinken: "Our support will not wane. Our unity will not break. Putin will not outlast the coalition of countries committed to Ukraine's success, and he is certainly not going to outlast the Ukrainian people."

"They've never wavered in their belief that they and they alone will decide their future. Now we have challenging moments. This is a challenging moment as well, with an expansion of attacks from Russia, humbling Ukrainian cities, citizens infrastructure with monstrous brutality, and now Putin's further empowering his aggression with the acquisition of Iranian ballistic missiles. So we're working with urgency to continue to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to effectively defend itself"

JUST NOW!!! White House says "all of our programs for Georgia are under review"

1/2 NSC's Mike Carpenter: "Frankly, when we see harassment of civil society when we see laws being passed, that limit the space for fundamental freedoms in Georgia that's not compatible with the values that undergird the NATO alliance, nor, frankly, do we think it's compatible with your Atlantic integration writ large, including the EU"

HAPPENING NOW!!! Biden just wrapped up Oval Office meeting with @NATO chief Stoltenberg

@jensstoltenberg told me he expects that NATO leaders will agree next month to have a NATO role in providing security assistance and training as well as financial support to Ukraine

1/2 WATCH!!! @NATO Chief @jensstoltenberg details a “robust package” for Ukraine, to be formally announced next month in Washington 👇🏻

#StandWithUkraine

NEW! U.S. has a message to Georgian Dream:

"If you want to be in our community, including to benefit from things like where your kids go to school, then you have to start acting like a member of that community."

Amb O'Brien's briefing just ended. Here are some quotes

1/7 "It's clear what the Georgian people want... It's also clear what the policy of the Georgian government is," @StateEUR tells me.

"It's unfortunate that a set of specific actions recently, particularly violence and threats to civil society and occasionally opposition politicians, a law that's intended to stigmatize the very groups that help Georgia prepare for its European and transatlantic aspirations, that these specific actions have led us to question whether the current leadership is interested in moving forward."

"So our focus is on the specific actions that they are taking and the hope that they will realize that their own people want to be sure that they continue on the path toward Europe and NATO"

2/7

Yesterday's blackouts in #Moldova are "yet another example of how Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine is destabilizing the region and adding to international crises," a State Department spokesperson told me.

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine
#StandWithMoldova "Russia aims to fracture the energy grid and leave millions in the region without power, water, or heat, in an attempt to reduce Ukraine’s resilience and determination during the cold winter months"

— a State Department spokesperson

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine

JUST IN:

Readout of President Biden’s Call with President Andrzej Duda

#RussianAggression POTUS also spoke by phone with @NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, per WH.
 
 #RussianAggression

'@ZelenskyyUa to G20:

"To liberate Ukrainian land, we will have to fight for a while longer"

"Ukraine should not be offered to conclude compromises with its conscience, sovereignty, territory, and independence."

#StandWithUkraine '@ZelenskyyUa to G20

"Ukraine's control over all sections of our state border with Russia must be restored."

"Russia must re-affirm the territorial integrity of Ukraine"

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine

THIS!

UN General Assembly votes to hold Russia accountable for reparations in Ukraine

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine Russia “must bear the legal consequences of all of its internationally wrongful acts, including making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts”, the resolution reads.

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine

NEW:

U.S. Sanction Russia’s Global Military Procurement Network and Kremlin-Linked Networks

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine️ Today's sanctions target 14 individuals and 28 entities, including family members of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, as well as people that it says worked as financial facilitators in Suleiman’s network.

#RussiaIsATerroristState
#StandWithUkraine️

U.K. says it discovered ‘sick’ Russian troll factory

“We cannot allow the Kremlin and its shady troll farms to invade our online spaces with their lies about Putin’s illegal war,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said in a statement.

#StandWithUkraine “The UK Government has alerted international partners and will continue to work closely with allies and media platforms to undermine Russian information operations.”

#StandWithUkraine️

Norway to close its borders and ports to Russian trucks and ships, joining sanctions imposed by the EU over the war in Ukraine...

#StandWithUkraine Norway's Arctic Svalbard archipelago, which operates under a 1920s treaty allowing expanded foreign access, will also be exempted, the country's foreign ministry said.

#StandWithUkraine

'@ZelenskyyUa announces capture of Putin ally oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk in Ukraine

#StandWithUkraine Medvedchuk is widely seen as the Kremlin’s point person in Ukraine.

He has a long-standing personal relationship with Putin.

#StandWithUkraine

Blinken says, U.S. has 'credible reports' that Russian forces may use variety of riot control agents, including tear gas mixed with chemical agents that would cause stronger symptoms, to incapacitate Ukrainian fighters & civilians, as part of aggressive campaign to take Mariupol. "... We shared that information with #Ukraine, as well as with other partners" Blinken says.

U.S. is 'not in a position' to confirm the latest reports of the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine.

#StandWithUkraine

Putin's #Russia has lost touch with reality, acting as aggressors, blaming #Ukraine for actions committed by Russian troops, @ZelenskyyUa says.

“They have destroyed the lives of millions... They started a full-scale war and act as if we are to blame for this”

#StandWithUkraine "They seized Crimea - and we are allegedly to blame.

They destroyed normal life in Donbas - and we are allegedly to blame.

They shot down a Malaysian Boeing - and we are allegedly to blame"

@ZelenskyyUa on Russian denials...

#StandWithUkraine

'@Amnesty has confirmed that a 220mm Uragan rocket dropped cluster munitions on the Sonechko nursery and kindergarten in the town of Okhtyrka in Sumy Oblast, on Feb 25, where local people were seeking safety from the fighting.

"The strike may constitute a war crime." - Amnesty “There is no possible justification for dropping cluster munitions in populated areas, let alone near a school,” @AgnesCallamard

“This attack bears all the hallmarks of Russia’s use of this inherently indiscriminate and internationally-banned weapon..."