Trump touts agreement after ‘very good and productive’ phone call with Putin, while critics say he’s being played, bigly– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link
Democrats Turn to Legally Dubious Ruling Coauthored by DEI Activist To Protect California’s EV Mandate– freebeacon.com Source Link Excerpt:
Democrats are relying on a recent memo from the Government Accountability Office to argue that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans can’t pass a bill repealing a Biden-era waiver allowing California to mandate electric vehicles in the state. But legal experts say the memo—whose authors include a prominent DEI activist—isn’t legally binding and relies on dubious reasoning.
The Government Accountability Office—which conducts audits and analyses for Congress but has minimal legislative authority—published the memo earlier this month just two weeks after Democratic senators Adam Schiff (Calif.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (R.I.) asked it to investigate the issue. Media outlets then reported that the memo determined a bill to reverse the Biden-era action is “illegal” and that the office, therefore, “blocks” such a bill.
The office’s memo presents a potential roadblock to Trump’s energy agenda, a key tenet of which involves revoking electric vehicle mandates. Democrats, who cheered the opinion immediately after it was published, may request that the Senate parliamentarian weigh in on the issue and consult the Government Accountability Office’s opinion.
Trump and Putin discuss Ukraine war, White House says the talks are going well– www.channelnewsasia.com Source Link Excerpt:
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed moves to end the Ukraine war on Tuesday (Mar 18) and the White House said their phone call was going well.
Zelensky arrives in Saudi Arabia for crucial peace talks with US officials– www.france24.com Source Link Excerpt:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has arrived in Saudi Arabia for crucial talks on ending the war with Russia. He is scheduled to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before joining US and Ukrainian officials for negotiations on a peace framework and potential ceasefire. The talks in Jeddah mark the first meeting between the two sides since Zelensky’s White House visit last month. Here is Philip Turle’s analysis.
News24 | Ukraine launches drone attack wave on Moscow, killing one and shutting down airports– www.news24.com Source Link Excerpt:
Ukraine has launched a “massive” drone attack against Moscow that killed at least one person, injured several others and saw the shutdown of airports and damaged residential buildings, officials and aviation authorities said.
Russian Army Reports Major Advances in Kursk Region After ‘Operation Pipeline’– www.themoscowtimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Russia has reclaimed more than 100 square kilometers (38.6 square miles) of territory and 12 villages from Ukrainian forces in the southwestern Kursk region over the past 24 hours, the Russian military said Tuesday.
“The North Group of Forces has liberated 12 settlements during offensive actions… and more than 100 square kilometers of the Kursk region,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a daily briefing.
The retaken settlements include Agronom, Bogdanovka, Bondarevka, Dmitryukov, Zazulevka, Ivashkovskiy, Kolmakov, Kubatkin, Martynovka, Mikhaylovka, Pravda and Yuzhny, all located just north or east of the Ukrainian-held city of Sudzha.
Russia’s significant advances this past month, which analysts say put Ukrainian forces at risk of encirclement, appear to have taken advantage of U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspension of military aid and intelligence sharing to Ukraine.
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Playing his ‘Trump card,’ Putin goes for the kill to force Zelensky’s hand– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
PUTIN’S POWER PLAY: Emboldened by President Donald Trump’s suspension of military aid and intelligence to Ukraine, Russian forces have stepped up the pace of air attacks and redoubled efforts to take back captured territory in the Kursk region in what appears to be an attempt to solidify its battlefield position ahead of a forced surrender by Kyiv.
Ukrainian troops in the field suspect that the U.S. is not just hurting Ukraine, but helping Russian forces in the Kursk region, who seem to have new intelligence about Ukrainian positions as they attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces and retake the tiny sliver of Russian territory that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hoped to use as one of his few bargaining chips in any peace negotiation. Ukrainian soldiers in the border region have complained on X that they come under instant heavy attack as soon as they activate their Starlink terminals.
“Throughout this week, Russia has carried out hundreds of attacks against our people using various types of weapons: around 1,200 guided aerial bombs, nearly 870 attack drones, and over 80 missiles of different types,” Zelensky posted on X over the weekend, ahead of a scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia today. Zelensky said a Saturday attack in Dobropillya, a city in the Donetsk region, was “one of the most brutal” striking civilians targets, including nine residential buildings, a shopping center, and killing 11 people.
Musk and Rubio spar with Polish minister over Ukraine’s use of Starlink – BBC.com Source Link Excerpt:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Elon Musk have clashed with Poland’s foreign minister over the use of the tech billionaire’s Starlink satellite internet system in Ukraine.
Musk said on X that Ukraine’s “entire front line” would collapse if he turned the system off. Radoslaw Sikorski responded, saying his country paid for its use in Ukraine and a threat to shut it down would result in a search for another network.
Rubio dismissed Sikorski’s claims and told him to be grateful, while Musk called him a “small man”.
The exchange appeared to lead to Polish PM Donald Tusk calling on his country’s allies to show respect for their weaker partners, rather than arrogance.
Starlink’s system is part of SpaceX’s venture to provide high-speed internet to remote and underserved areas. It has been used extensively by the Ukrainian military.
Elon Musk floats drastic measure against Ukraine that would ‘immediately’ end war with Russia – Daily Mail Source Link Excerpt:
Tech titan Elon Musk has suggested crippling sanctions on Ukraine’s oligarchs is the key to halting the nation’s bloody conflict with Russia
Musk, 53, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, called for sanctions targeting Ukraine’s wealthiest elite in a post on X Sunday morning.
The stunning intervention was a radical departure from the current strategy focused on punishing Russia for its unprovoked invasion of the country.
‘Place sanctions on the top 10 Ukrainian oligarchs, especially the ones with mansions in Monaco, and this will stop immediately. That is the key to the puzzle,’ Musk wrote bluntly.
The remark comes at the end of a week of intensive debate in Washington over whether continued US financial and military aid to Kyiv is sustainable as the war drags on with no clear end in sight.
Republican Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) recently argued that the US shouldn’t offer ‘another penny’ to Ukraine – a view echoed by growing segments of the American public weary of the seemingly endless bloodshed and multibillion-dollar aid packages.
US demanding Ukraine trade land for peace, as talks with Rubio open in Saudi Arabia– www.washingtonexaminer.com Source Link Excerpt:
RUBIO: ‘THERE IS NO MILITARY SOLUTION’: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Saudi Arabia for face-to-face talks with a delegation consisting of Ukraine’s foreign minister, defense minister, and national security adviser to determine what concessions Ukraine is willing to make to end the three-year war with Russia.
Rubio told reporters en route to Jeddah that Ukraine must utter no magic words, but he is looking for signs that Ukraine is ready to make painful concessions to achieve a lasting peace deal. “I mean, right now, we’re really in listening mode,” Rubio said. “We have to understand the Ukrainian position and just have a general idea of what concessions they’d be willing to make, because you’re not going to get a ceasefire and an end to this war unless both sides make concessions.”
“We’re not going to be sitting in a room drawing lines on a map, but just get a general sense of what concessions are in the realm of the possible for them and what they would need in return, and then find out what the Russian position is in that regard,” Rubio said. “At some point soon, obviously, we’ll have to go back and establish a process by which we can determine what the Russian positions are in this regard and see how far apart we are,” he said.
Zelensky Says ‘Sorry’ To Trump For Oval Office Showdown: Big Revelation Before U.S.-Ukraine Talks – The Times of India Source Link Excerpt:
U.S. President’s special envoy Steve Witkoff has said that the Ukrainian President apologized to Trump in a letter after the unruly public argument during an Oval Office meeting. “Zelensky sent a letter to the president. He apologized for that whole incident that happened in the Oval Office,” Witkoff told Fox News, adding that that was an important step toward rapprochement between both sides. The revelation comes just hours before Zelensky is set to meet Marco Rubio in Saudi Arabia for talks to end Russia’s war.
Russian Lawmakers Pass Local Government Reform Bill Designed to Further Strengthen Kremlin Control– www.themoscowtimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Russia’s State Duma passed a bill Wednesday overhauling the country’s constitutionally mandated two-tier system of local self-government, further consolidating the Kremlin’s control six years after President Vladimir Putin proposed the reforms.
The bill, which has been amended over 1,000 times since its introduction in 2021, allows regional authorities to decide whether to abolish lower-tier urban and rural municipal governments, shifting toward a single-tier system.
One of the bill’s co-authors said that more than half of Russia’s regions, as well as four partially occupied Ukrainian regions and annexed Crimea, have already adopted or plan to adopt the new system.
The remaining regions — primarily ethnic republics — are expected to either retain the two-tier system or partially transition to the new model.
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Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling on Europe to build a common army. This comes as President Trump has expressed no interest in talking to Zelinsky about terms for a peace treaty. Trump has also recently “offered” ways Ukraine can pay the U.S. back for the billions they’ve invested in the country.
Zelensky said “The armed forces of Europe must be created. Without Ukraine’s army, Europe’s army’s will not be enough to stop Russia. Only our army in Europe has real, modern battlefield experience but our army alone is not enough too. And we need what you can provide weapons, training, sanctions, financing, political pressure and unity.”
Zelenksy calls for ‘Army of Europe’ to take on Russia without US as Trump urges him to make a deal with Putin– www.thesun.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
… Speaking in Germany today, Zelensky proposed a new plan to achieve safety for Ukraine going forwards.
He said: “Many leaders have talked about Europe and that needs its own military, an army of Europe and I believe the time has come.
“The armed forces of Europe must be created.
“Without Ukraine’s army, Europe’s army’s will not be enough to stop Russia.
“Only our army in Europe has real, modern battlefield experience but our army alone is not enough too.
“And we need what you can provide weapons, training, sanctions, financing, political pressure and unity.”
Trump & Putin’s Ukraine deal – ‘they’ll try to redraw the map of Europe’
The Ukrainian president said Europe should be looking to create such a military separate from Nato in case “America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it”.
He added that after three years of fighting, Ukraine has managed to build up the foundations of a European army and should now act on it.
“As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security we must build the armed forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” he said.
“Europe has everything it takes but it needs to come together.
“We need confidence in our own friends so that others have no choice but to respect Europe’s power and without European army that is impossible.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk appeared to support Zelensky’s calls as he said Europe urgently needs a plan over security.
Trump likely expects concessions from both Ukraine and Russia to end war: Analysts– www.channelnewsasia.com Source Link Excerpt:
Larres, who is also a distinguished professor of history and international affairs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, added that this could mean Moscow having to give up some captured territory, although it is unclear to what extent.
Russia partially occupies Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions – around a fifth of Ukraine. Moscow has demanded Kyiv cede more territory and be rendered permanently neutral under any peace deal.
Ukraine has demanded Russia withdraw from captured territory – including Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Kyiv also wants NATO membership or equivalent security guarantees to prevent Moscow from attacking again.
Trump says he and Putin could do something ‘significant’ toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine– www.bostonherald.com Source Link Excerpt:
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Friday said his administration has already had “very serious” discussions with Russia about its war in Ukraine and that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin could soon take “significant” action toward ending the grinding conflict.
“We will be speaking, and I think will perhaps do something that’ll be significant,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office. “We want to end that war. That war would have not started if I was president.”
Trump did not say who from his administration has been in contact with the Russians but insisted the two sides were “already talking.”
Asked if he has already spoken directly with Putin, Trump was coy: “I don’t want to say that.”
Trump has said repeatedly he wouldn’t have allowed the conflict to start if he had been in office, even though he was president as fighting grew in eastern Ukraine between Kyiv’s forces and separatists backed by Moscow, ahead of Putin sending in tens of thousands of troops in 2022.
News24 | Biden set to push new Russia sanctions before Trump era begins– www.news24.com Source Link Excerpt:
President Joe Biden is expected to unveil new sanctions targeting Russia’s economy this week, according to a US official, as part of measures to bolster Kyiv’s war effort against Moscow before Donald Trump takes office.
Joy Reid, Adam Schiff Politicize L.A. Fires to Bash Trump– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
Leave it to MSNBC’s Joy Reid to indulge her Trump derangement with no restraint, even in the middle of an ongoing disaster. Such was the case when she and Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) disgustingly politicized the horrific Los Angeles fires in order to score cheap dunks on President-Elect Donald Trump.
WATCH the exchange between Reid and Schiff (click “expand” to view transcript):
The EU will be without cheap Russian gas following a decision by Ukraine to no longer allow Russia’s gas transferal to occur on Ukraine soil. President Volodymyr Zelensky called the decision “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats.” The “Brotherhood pipeline” shutdown will allegedly cause Russian gas giant Gazprom more than $6 billion yearly.
EU on brink of gas war after Ukraine cuts off Russia’s £5bn supply | World | News– www.express.co.uk Source Link Excerpt:
Ukraine will no longer allow Russian gas to pass through en route to European neighbours in a move that will hurt both the Kremlin and EU states dependent on Putin’s energy supply.
On January 1, the 2019 deal, which saw gas transit through Ukraine to states like Slovakia and Austria, expired.
President Zelensky heralded the move as “one of Moscow’s biggest defeats”, while his energy minister branded it “historic”.
The closure of the Urengoy–Pomary–Uzhhorod, which is also known as the Brotherhood pipeline, will cost Russian gas company Gazprom around £5bn a year – a bitter blow for Putin’s creaking war economy.
However, it’s not just Russia that is reeling following the expiration of the gas deal. Several European states are heavily dependent on Russian gas transported through Ukraine.
Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, as well as Moldova, are reliant on the steady flow of energy through Ukraine. Now that that is no longer possible, the only route remaining into Europe from Russia is via the TurkStream pipeline and the BlueSteam pipeline, under the Black Sea.
Adam Schiff Reveals Democrats Plan to Impeach Trump in 2nd Term: ‘We’ll Vigorously Push Back’– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Senator Adam Schiff (D-CA) has revealed that the Democrats are considering plans to impeach President Donald Trump during his second term in the White House.
Despite Trump not being sworn back into power yet, Schiff suggested that the Democrats are planning to use the same tactics they used to disrupt his first term.
Schiff revealed the anti-Trump agenda during an appearance on CNN’s “January 6th: Congress Certifies the Election.”
The newly elected senator commented after Trump’s historic election victory was officially certified on Monday.
In response, Schiff said that the Democrats are ready to “fight” Trump.
“We keep a focus on trying to get positive affirmative things done for the country,” Schiff told CNN’s Dana Bash.
Russia appears to have shot down an Azerbaijan airlines passenger plane that killed all 38 people on board. The incident occurred in Western Kazakhstan, about two miles from the city of Aktau.
Russia is now blaming Ukrainian terrorist activity that led to the plane being shot down, claiming, “Ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure… at the time… The pilot was offered alternative airports. He took the decision to go to Aktau airport”
‘Ukrainian military was carrying out terrorist attacks when Azerbaijani flight tried to land’: Russia claims– timesofindia.indiatimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Russia on Friday claimed that Ukrainian drones were attacking the city of Grozny as an Azerbaijani Airlines plane attempted to land, before its subsequent crash in Kazakhstan.
Chief of Russia’s civil aviation authority Dmitry Yadrov via Telegram noted that severe fog enveloped Grozny during the plane crash incident, stating that “conditions that day and in those hours around the airport were very complicated”.
The Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft crashed in western Kazakhstan, resulting in the death of 38 amongst the 67 occupants. Various news sources have reported Azerbaijani officials suggesting that a Russian air defence missile might have caused the incident, AFP reported.
“Ukrainian military drones were carrying out terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure… at the time,” Yadrov said, adding that the plane made two unsuccessful attempts to land.
Plane crash probe in Kazakhstan underway as speculation mounts about possible Russian involvement– www.cbsnews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Azerbaijan on Thursday observed a nationwide day of mourning for the victims of the plane crash that killed 38 people and left 29 survivors injured, as speculation mounted about the cause of the disaster — including whether possible Russian air defense operations may have played a role.
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted, for reasons that are still unclear, and crashed while trying to land in Aktau, in western Kazakhstan, after flying east across the Caspian Sea. The plane went down about 2 miles from Aktau.
A U.S. official told CBS News there are early indications a Russian anti-aircraft system may have struck the plane. The official, who asked not to be publicly identified, said that if these indications prove true, it would further underscore Russian recklessness in its invasion of Ukraine.
Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before smashing into the ground in a fireball. Other footage and photos showed part of its fuselage ripped away from the wings and the rear half of the aircraft lying upside down in the grass.
US sets conditions for Ukrainian NATO membership — RT World News– www.rt.com Source Link Excerpt:
Washington has long insisted that Kiev will join the bloc, but never clarified the exact timeline
Ukraine can only hope to join NATO if it reforms its military and succeeds in improving its democratic institutions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said.
Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Wednesday, Blinken rejected the idea that the US, Germany, or other NATO allies are “standing in the way” of Kiev’s accession to the bloc. Ukraine has long aspired to become a full-fledged NATO member, and formally applied to join in the autumn of 2022 after four of its former regions overwhelmingly voted to join Russia.
The bloc, Blinken insisted, has “put Ukraine on a path to NATO membership” and taken concrete steps to advance this goal, while stopping short of clarifying the accession timeline.
“We set up for the first time in NATO’s history a dedicated command whose purpose is to help Ukraine along that path, to take the practical steps that it needs to take – in continuing to build and reform its military institutions, to continue to strengthen its democracy – that are necessary for membership,” he said.
The secretary of state admitted that it would be “very challenging for Russia” to agree to a peace deal over Ukraine that would not explicitly remove the prospect of Kiev joining NATO. However, he argued that Ukraine could potentially receive “other kinds of assurances, commitments, guarantees” that would be similar to Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which states that an attack on one member of the bloc is an attack on all.
In October, Politico reported that some NATO allies were not particularly happy with Vladimir Zelensky’s ‘victory plan’, which calls for Ukraine to receive an immediate invitation to join the bloc. The article identified the US and Germany as the countries opposed to his request over fears that it would draw them into a direct conflict with Russia.
Publicly, NATO has ruled out full membership for Ukraine as long as it is embroiled in the conflict with Russia. However, some Western officials have floated an option of “partial membership” for Kiev, an idea rejected by Zelensky, who argued that this would essentially mean that the country recognizes all of its territorial losses to Russia.
Moscow has long been opposed to NATO expansion towards its borders, seeing it as an existential threat. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Kiev’s ambition to join the bloc is one of the key reasons for the conflict, with Ukrainian neutrality, along with demilitarization and denazification, being Moscow’s main goals.
Georgian lawmakers elected a Pro-Russian politician, Mikheil Kavelashvili after a controversial election that has triggered off mass protests that have not been abating. The move comes after the newly “elected” government voted to cancel the country’s bid to join the EU.
Anti-Western politician Mikheil Kavelashvili elected Georgia’s new president– timesofindia.indiatimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
Georgian lawmakers on Saturday elected former soccer player and anti-Western politician Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s new president. Kavelashvili’s election comes amidst ongoing protests sparked by the government’s decision to pause the country’s bid to join the European Union.
Kavelashvili, a former soccer player known for his critical stance toward the West, received 224 out of 225 votes from the electoral college. All opposition parties boycotted the vote, citing concerns about the fairness of the October parliamentary elections, which Georgian Dream officially won.
The ruling Georgian Dream party’s decision to postpone EU accession until 2028 has angered many Georgians who support joining the EU. Before the vote, hundreds protested outside parliament, some symbolically playing soccer and waving red cards in reference to Kavelashvili’s athletic past….
The recent protests, which have drawn thousands nightly for over two weeks, have occasionally led to clashes with police. The government claims the protests are an attempt to seize power. Hundreds of protesters have been detained, and the interior ministry reports that over 150 officers have been injured. Parliament recently approved new restrictions on protests, including increased fines and bans on certain items.
Georgia’s president will not step down until ‘illegitimate’ election rerun | Politics News– www.aljazeera.com Source Link Excerpt:
Pro-EU critic of governing Georgian Dream party says she won’t leave office next month as parliament elected fraudulently.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said she will not leave office when her term ends because the parliament is “illegitimate”, while the prime minister warned against a “revolution” amid continuing pro-European Union protests.
Thousands of Georgians protested on Saturday for a third straight night after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced the government will suspend talks on EU accession.
The goal to join the 27-member is now enshrined in Georgia’s constitution, but the prime minister – who has been building closer ties with Russia – suspended the talks for four years and accused Brussels of “blackmail”.
In an address on Saturday, Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of the Georgian Dream governing party, said parliament had no right to elect her successor when her term ends in December, and that she would stay in post.
An unnamed South Korean “official” is telling the press the Russians are trading high-tech anti-air missile systems for North Korean troops that are now being used and prepared for war in Ukraine.
A top South Korean official says Russia has supplied anti-air missiles to North Korea in return for it sending troops– abcnews.go.com Source Link Excerpt:
A top South Korean official says Russia has supplied anti-air missiles to North Korea in return for it sending troops
As multiple embassies close, including the U.S. embassy, within Kyiv, Ukraine counters by claiming foreign countries are being spooked by a Russian psyop. They continue to up the long-range assault, deploying British long-range missiles in the latest attack. Poland appears to believe war might be inevitable as it ramps up its ammo production. The Biden admin hopes to leave Ukraine a $275 million package on the way out.
After lame-duck President Joe Biden decided to dramatically change U.S. policy to suddenly allow Ukraine to use American-made long-range missiles to attack Russia, Ukraine allegedly attacked Russia soon after. In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin has formally lowered his nation’s standards for when nuclear strikes can be ordered.
In response to Russia’s nuclear deterrent policy, Germany’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, stated “… Germany in particular made the mistake back then, especially politically, of allowing itself to be intimidated by this fear and, above all, not listening to its partners, especially our Eastern European partners, who made it clear at the time: We must not rely on promises from the Kremlin. We must invest in our own security and protection.”
