The statements of the US administration are increasingly confused on the Ukrainian issue. What is certain is that Trump’s special envoy to Russia will be Steve Witkoff and his responsibility will be the negotiations on Ukraine, while special envoy Keith Kellogg will be responsible for the dialogue with Kiev and Europe, source Reuters. And this shows that within the United States, even in the Republican Party, there are at least two souls.
The Bild newspaper also specified that there will be no representatives of the Russian Federation at the Munich Security Conference, so there should be no negotiations with it announced by Trump. This was also confirmed by the words of the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova: “Russia was not invited to the Munich Conference, representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other bodies will not be present.” And Zakharova said: “It is still very early to talk about a specific negotiation process on Ukraine.”
We learn from the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Lavrov will participate in the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in South Africa on February 20 and 21, and echoed by the words of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov: “Russia is more interested in continuing to work in the Group of 20 (G20) than in restoring the Group of Eight (G8).” The Kremlin representative was asked whether Russia would like to return to the G8, the restoration of which was supported by US President Donald Trump. Peskov replied that the association, which is now called the Group of Seven, has significantly lost its relevance. According to him, the G7 brings together countries that are currently not leaders in various parameters of economic and social growth.
The head of the Pentagon admitted that Europe will participate in the negotiations on the Ukrainian solution. US Vice President J.D. Vance in an interview with the Wall Street Journal: The United States will impose sanctions on Russia and take military action, such as deploying US troops to Ukraine, if Putin does not agree to end the war in order to ensure the independence and security of Ukraine.
Peskov also asked: “Russia also said that it expects, in contacts with the United States, to receive clarification on Vice President Vance’s words about the ‘military levers’ of pressure on Moscow.” The next meeting of US and Russian officials under one roof is in Saudi Arabia.
US Vice President Vance refused to meet with Olaf Scholz at the security conference in Munich. “He will not be chancellor for a long time anyway,” Vance said good-naturedly. And this does not help the EU-US relations. And Europe is finally starting to wake up from a four-year slumber, Macron said that Donald Trump’s return to the White House and his first steps as head of state were like a stun gun for the European Union.
The United Kingdom will allocate 4.5 billion pounds for military assistance to Ukraine in 2025, British Defense Minister John Healey announced after the Ramstein meeting. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky: “We are committed to Ukraine joining NATO.”
Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, European Council chief Antonio Costa and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte were present at the Munich conference. US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg will meet with the head of the European Commission in Brussels on February 17, an EU official said. Ursula von der Leyen repeated from Munich: “Ukraine needs ‘peace through strength’, Europe wants ‘peace through strength’”.
Meanwhile, Zelensky continues with his demands: “Ukraine needs 100,000 peacekeepers to ensure future peace: the allies have already drawn up a map”. Meanwhile, Ukrainian press sources report that the government’s entourage rejects the annexation of the territories conquered by Moscow to Russia. And Zelensky again: “80% of the price of the war is paid by Ukraine and Europe”. “European countries must participate in peace negotiations in Ukraine. Europe has provided our country with enormous military assistance to resist the aggressor. If we calculate the so-called cost of the war in percentage terms, the EU together with Ukraine has paid 80%”, he said during a visit to the Khmelnitsky nuclear power plant. This is clearly an indication that “we can do without the Americans”.
The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sibiga had a telephone conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The contents of the call are unknown. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal: “The Ukrainian army can become a real alternative to the American military presence in Europe.” The Prime Minister noted that Ukraine’s accession to the EU will mean that the Ukrainian Armed Forces can become the basis of a united European army. In his opinion, by accepting Ukraine’s accession, the EU countries will not only expand their borders, but will also receive a reliable shield: the Ukrainian army, which, with its unique combat experience, will not only withstand the first blow, but will also become a common security outpost that will protect Europe from any threat to its eastern borders.
Ukraine in Munich handed over to the United States a draft agreement on cooperation in the field of minerals and rare earth metals. The meeting between Zelensky and US Vice President Vance, which was supposed to take place at the Munich Security Conference, was postponed, according to Ukrainian media, due to the parties’ work on a draft agreement on rare earth metals.
Zelensky also said that “if we are not accepted into NATO, we will need an army of 1.5 million people.” Finally, it is learned that Zelensky will also go to Saudi Arabia: “But I will not be there at the meeting with representatives of Russia or the United States.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the Ministry of Defense and the Russian Guard to submit proposals for the development of a network of military educational institutions, taking into account the need for military personnel. According to Russian sources, a US Air Force C-37B passenger plane, which took off this morning from Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, probably with a diplomatic delegation on board, is now preparing to land in Moscow. Most likely, this is a new prisoner exchange.
On the subject of prisoners, Ukraine has returned 45 bodies of dead Russian soldiers, 757 bodies have been transferred to Ukraine, a representative of the parliamentary coordination group for military operations, State Duma deputy Shamsail Saraliev, told RBC.
And now a look at the front line as of 16:00 on February 14.
In the evening, 2 Ukrainian UAVs were destroyed in the Sochi area, five more over Crimea. At night, in the Rostov region, a drone was suppressed by electronic warfare in the Chertkovsky district. In the Belgorod region, the Russian air defense system worked over the Stary Oskol district: several Ukrainian drones were shot down.
Russian forces launched strikes on Kiev, Poltava and Odessa, using UAVs and missile systems. A UAV assembly plant was destroyed in the Fastovsky district of the Kiev region. In the Kursk region, the “Northern” group of troops continues to destroy scattered groups of the Ukrainian Armed Forces between Cherkasskaya Konopelka and the Kolmakov area farm. In the vicinity of Makhnovka, Ukrainian forces continue to accumulate reserves for another counterattack in the direction of Cherkasskaya Konopelka. Russian airborne units are completing the capture of Sverdlikovo in the western section of the wedge of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the state border. In the vicinity of Kurilovka, Ukrainian forces attempted to counterattack, but were destroyed. They report the arrival of new Ukrainian reinforcements in the Sudzhansky district (up to 250 people according to Russian social sources).
In the Belgorod direction, the number of Ukrainian drone strikes is increasing. They have intensified the use of drones along the entire front. Over the past 24 hours, at least five drone strikes have been recorded in the Belgorod region.
From the south of the Pokrovs’k direction, social media sources report successes of Russian forces in the settlement. Zaporizhzhya. East of Pokrovs’k, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the capture of Vodyane Druhe and also Dachnoye and Zelenoe Pole. In the direction of Kostyantynopil’, fighting continues in Andriivka and near the settlement.
On the Zaporizhzhya front, Russian aviation and MLRS strike the Ukrainian rear in the area of Malaya Tokmachka and Orichiv, where the Ukrainians have massed military and armored vehicles. There are no changes in the direction of Chersonesos, mutual shelling and drone strikes are ongoing. The Russian Ministry of Energy of the Zaporizhia region reported that the Ukrainian armed forces launched an artillery attack on the Zaporizhia thermal power plant. Power equipment was damaged and more than 50 thousand people were left without electricity.
Ukrainians reported Russian drone strike on Chernobyl. Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov denied Vladimir Zelensky’s claims that a Russian drone struck the destroyed unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at night and damaged the protective sarcophagus. “I have no precise information about Chernobyl. I know one thing: it is out of the question that any nuclear infrastructure or nuclear energy infrastructure would be attacked, so any claims that this happened are false,” Peskov said. “The Russian military does not do this,” the Kremlin representative stressed.
In the DPR in Horlivka, an IED attack, one injured. The Ukrainian Armed Forces carried out about 20 armed attacks. Barrel artillery with a caliber of 155 mm was used, including cluster artillery shells and attack UAVs.
Graziella Giangiulio
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