Ukraine's war, three years on

 

Too many conflicts...

I'm juggling between Sudan, the DRC, Palestine, and now Ukraine... Newsroom's short of staff...

Here are a few elements on Ukraine, as the sad anniversary of the start of the war, in 2022, nears.

France's Macron, UK's Starmer to visit

Washington amid Ukraine talks, US official says

 Feb 19 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will visit Washington next week, amid other meetings aimed at bringing an end to Russia's war in Ukraine, US national security advisor Mike Waltz said on Wednesday.

Asked about the chances of reaching a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, Waltz told Fox News in an interview: "We're engaging on all sides, and then the next step is we're going to put technical teams forward to start talking more details."

The EU launches new sanctions package on Russia

EU envoys have agreed on a series of bans on Russian imports in a new sanctions package, as heads of states prepare to meet again in Paris to discuss the future of European security and of the war in Ukraine.

EU envoys agreed on a 16th package of sanctions against Russia on Wednesday, EU diplomats said, including a ban on primary aluminium imports, sales of gaming consoles and the listing of 73 shadow fleet vessels.

The package, which largely sticks to the European Commission's proposal, is expected to be adopted by EU foreign ministers on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The EU is clamping down even harder on circumvention by targeting more vessels in Putin’s shadow fleet and imposing new import and export bans," Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on social media.

"We are committed to keep up the pressure on the Kremlin," she added.

More talks

The French president contacted the American conservative leader on the phone before Monday’s mini-summit in Paris.

Emmanuel Macron still hopes to convince US President Donald Trump that nothing can be negotiated without the Ukrainians and that the Europeans must be able to "put forward their own solutions."

New talks are taking place in Paris this Wednesday.

The talks were set to take place Wednesday afternoon, with most participants taking part by video link, according to the Elysee.

This progress on the latest EU sanctions comes after Trump's administration said on Tuesday it had agreed to hold more talks with Russia on ending the war in Ukraine.

This came after an initial meeting that excluded Kyiv, a departure from Washington's previous approach that rallied US allies to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin.