World Briefing: February 20, 2025
President Trump called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "a dictator without elections" — as the White House negotiates a deal with the Kremlin to end Russia's nearly three-year war with its western neighbor. Trump's attack marks a new low in the deteriorating U.S.-Ukraine relationship. Trump's administration has been seeking to broker a deal without Kyiv's participation. Trump referred to Zelensky as a "modestly successful comedian" and claimed he "talked the U.S." into spending billions of dollars to "go into a War that couldn't be won." After Trump slammed him at Mar-a-Lago yesterday, Zelensky earlier today said the president is living in a "disinformation space" created by the Kremlin. Zelensky was democratically elected in a fair and free election. Under its constitution, Ukraine can postpone a scheduled election in wartime, and it did so last year because of the Russian invasion. Trump has never called Russian President Vladimir Putin a dictator.
Donald Trump said that "Ukraine has broken the rare earth metals agreement." According to him, this agreement was necessary so that the United States could return the money spent on supporting Ukraine. During his speech at the Future Investment Initiative summit in Miami, Trump again called Zelensky a "dictator." In addition, he said that Zelensky must "act quickly, otherwise he will have no country left."
The response from Republicans on Capitol Hill to Mr. Trump toppling some of their most-cherished foreign policy principles has been muted, in some cases to the point of silence, the New York Times reported. There has been little G.O.P. pushback on Mr. Trump’s efforts to draw closer to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia or blame Ukraine as he seeks to bring a quick end to the war that began when Russia invaded the country. While some Republicans have expressed dismay at Mr. Trump’s moves and statements, there has been no concerted effort to challenge him from G.O.P. leaders or senators who play pivotal roles in overseeing military and foreign policy in Congress. “Right now, you have got to give him some space,” Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican and majority leader, said at a news conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday after a closed-door Senate lunch with Vice President JD Vance. Even Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former party leader who worked to establish himself as a principal Republican voice in support of Ukraine and a counterweight to Mr. Trump’s “America First” approach to foreign policy, has remained publicly silent in the face of the president’s move toward Russia. It is a striking turn for Republicans, who for decades defined themselves as the party of a strong defense and argued that the United States had a pivotal role to play as a beacon of freedom and defender of democracies around the globe.
The Trump administration has temporarily suspended the processing of immigration applications filed by migrants from Ukraine and a number of other countries who were allowed to enter the United States under special programs approved during the Biden presidency.
Just hours after Donald Trump’s envoy for Europe arrived in Kyiv, the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa was hit hard by a barrage of Russian drones for almost one hour. Air raid sirens were triggered Wednesday evening in Kyiv as well due to drones in the region. A large fire could be seen at an undisclosed location in Odesa late yesterday evening. The night before, Russian strikes cut off hundreds of homes from electricity, heating and power. For a second consecutive day Thursday the entire Kyivskiy region in Odesa (population about 250,000) is without power).
As Russia and the US held talks in Saudi Arabia this week over the future of the conflict in Ukraine, countries on the Baltic Sea released a flurry of intelligence reports warning of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plans to expand military conflict further into Europe. Estonia’s Foreign Intelligence Service warned that Russia is expanding its armed forces in a way that “prepares for a potential future war with NATO”. Danish intelligence, meanwhile, have forecast that Russia would be ready to wage a "large-scale war" in Europe within five years, if it perceived NATO as weak. A weakening of the trans-Atlantic alliance now feels inevitable. Following a withering attack on Europe delivered by US Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference last week, and Russia-US talks on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia this week, rumours swirled that the US under new President Donald Trump planned to pull its NATO troops from the Baltic States. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are all former Soviet States and share a land border with Russia. “There is a feeling that, if the trans-Atlantic bridge is not falling apart, it has been seriously damaged,” says Dr. Māris Andžāns, director of the Center for Geopolitical Studies Riga, Latvia. “Biden travelled to Kyiv during the war and now Trump is ready to travel to Moscow. It’s quite a turn-around.” - France 24
Donald Trump is considering a broader US-China deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to more than half a dozen current and former advisers and others familiar with Mr. Trump’s thinking. The New York Times reports that Elon Musk “had expressed confidence that deals could be made, and that it was important for the United States to find ways to work with China to avoid heightened tensions”.
Hamas transfers the bodies of four hostages to the Red Cross in Gaza, in the first release of dead hostages since the ceasefire began. A Red Cross convoy is now driving the coffins back to Israel. Hamas says the dead include three members of the Bibas family - mother Shiri and her young children Kfir and Ariel, who were aged nine months and four years when they were abducted. Hamas alleges that the three Bibas family members were killed in an Israeli strike in November 2023 - Israel has not confirmed this, and says it will only confirm their identities after forensic tests. The fourth body is that of Oded Lifschitz, 84, a veteran peace activist, the group says - BBC
The United Arab Emirates president and ruler told visiting US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday that it opposes the forced displacement of Palestinians, UAE's state media reported. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan "reaffirmed the UAE's firm stance, rejecting any attempts to displace the Palestinian people from their land", the Emirati state's news agency WAM said. President Nahyan told Rubio during a meeting in Abu Dhabi that it was important to link the reconstruction of Gaza “to a path that leads to a comprehensive and lasting peace based on the two-state solution" to ensure stability in the region - Middle East Eye
Brazilian authorities are searching for a British journalist who went missing two weeks ago, reports The Mirror. 32-year-old Charlotte Peet did not reply to her family’s attempts to contact her after she told a friend she was going to Rio de Janeiro. Feb. 8 is the last known date she contacted anyone. She asked a friend in the city if she could stay with her but the friend was unable to let her stay. Several days after her last known contact, Peet’s family told her friend they lost contact with her. The Brazilian Foreign Press Association expressed concern about the disappearance. In a statement, they said, “The case was initially registered at Rio de Janeiro’s Tourist Attention Centre on February 17 before being passed on to Sao Paulo which is the last place Charlotte was supposed to have been before she disappeared.” The State Department of Homicides and Personal Protection is investigating the case. Peet is a journalist with nine years of experience. She previously lived in Rio for two years as a freelance correspondent. - Daily Beast
Florence is cracking down on short-term holiday rentals in a bid to curb over-tourism, ordering the removal of self check-in keyboxes by February 25. The move targets the increasingly popular practice of using keyboxes, commonly employed by platforms like Airbnb, which allow guests to access properties without meeting the owner or a representative. While convenient for both property owners and tourists, the keyboxes have drawn criticism for their perceived unsightliness and the potential security risks associated with the lack of face-to-face interaction during check-in. City officials argue that this measure will help manage the influx of tourists and maintain a better balance between visitors and residents. “Next week we will go ... to check where the ban on keyboxes is not respected, and then we will remove them,” Florence Mayor Sara Funaro told a local television channel on Wednesday. Fines of up to 400 euros ($417.20) will be imposed on non-compliant owners, according to the city council’s decision - Independent
