A week to kick off the future of Ukraine peace talks

According to Reuters citing data from Kyiv, the attacks were mainly concentrated near Pokrovsk City, a strategic logistics center in Donetsk that Russia has been trying to gain control of recently.

The fiercest day of fighting since the beginning of 2025

Over the weekend, the Ukrainian military recorded 261 clashes with the Russian side within 24 hours, a record high so far this year and more than double the previous average of 100 a day. The number of clashes on February 16 dropped to 117, of which 38 occurred in the Pokrovsk region, according to the Ukrainian military. Russian forces now control a strip of territory south of Pokrovsk and are pushing southwest of the city. As of yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had just captured the village of Fyholivka in Kharkiv. Kyiv has not commented on this information.

President Trump: "Russia defeated Hitler, Napoleon," but Mr. Putin wants to end the conflict in Ukraine

While Ukraine continues to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to penetrate deep into Russian territory, the Moscow government's military still applies an attack strategy using UAVs and missiles, in addition to the ground advance in the east. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also provided data showing that Russia has sharply increased the scale of airstrikes. According to the leader, Russia last week fired about 1,220 bombs from aircraft, more than 850 UAVs and 40 missiles towards Ukraine, an increase compared to the previous week's figures of 1,206 bombs, 750 UAVs and 10 missiles.

Key members of the US delegation scheduled to attend the meeting with the Russian side in Riyadh on February 18 (in photo: Mr. Steve Witkoff, Mr. Marco Rubio and Mr. Mike Waltz)

The race for influence in Ukraine

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of a planned meeting with a delegation of Russian officials in an effort to find a way out of the nearly three-year conflict in Ukraine. Reuters, citing a well-informed source, said the US delegation included Mr. Rubio, National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff. At a press conference in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Mr. Yuri Ushakov, President Putin's foreign policy adviser, represented Moscow in the meeting with the US delegation, according to TASS.

The meeting will take place on February 18 in Riyadh, Russia’s Kommersant newspaper reported. The event is part of the first high-level meetings in recent years between the US and Russia, which usually precede formal talks at the presidential level. Secretary of State Rubio said on February 16 that the coming weeks will help the US determine whether Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about restoring peace in Ukraine.

After Britain, another NATO country is open to sending troops to Ukraine.

Also on February 17, France chaired an emergency meeting of leaders of major European countries, according to AFP. The meeting was held after US President Donald Trump suddenly announced that he had called his Russian counterpart Putin to discuss Ukraine without consulting or notifying European allies in advance.

Speaking ahead of the Paris conference, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said European leaders would focus on discussing ways to prevent US-Russia peace talks from ending in a way that "rewards" Russia after nearly three years of launching a special military campaign.

Before attending the conference, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced for the first time his readiness to deploy British troops to Ukraine as part of a post-war peacekeeping force. Sweden also said yesterday that it would not rule out contributing troops if necessary.

On the same day, the Kremlin encouraged all sides to discuss ways to end the conflict in Ukraine, according to TASS. The Kremlin also said that the idea of ​​deploying European peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after the conflict ends is currently a "complicated question" and has not been thoroughly discussed.

Europe and the new security architecture

In an interview with the Financial Times published yesterday, EU Council President Antonio Costa stressed that the EU needs to be at the negotiating table with Russia on the Ukraine issue to outline the continent's "future security architecture". "If Mr. Trump really wants Europe to take on a greater role in the continent's security, then of course Europe must be the main force in designing the new security architecture," according to Mr. Costa. On the same day, French Minister for Overseas Territories Manuel Valls warned that Europe is at a turning point in its relations with the United States, which will force Europe to work harder than ever to protect Ukraine and increase defense budgets for member states.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tuan-le-khoi-dau-cho-tuong-lai-hoa-dam-ukraine-185250217230939966.htm