NATO Invites Ukraine For Brussels Summit; Russia Says it Will Scale Back Near Kyiv | Key Updates

On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics requested help in defending themselves.

NATO Summit: North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday invited Ukraine to participate in the summit scheduled to be held in Brussels on April 6 and 7. Other non-member states invited are Georgia, Finland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was earlier invited to virtually address the NATO summit that took place on Thursday, last week. During the summit, President Zelensky discussed the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

“Russia has accumulated tremendous military resources, men, air bombs, missiles. They have invested huge money in death, while the world was investing into life. But Ukraine is holding on at the cost of lives, destroyed cities and tens of millions of displaced persons — many of them are in your territories, in the countries of NATO. I’m grateful for their support. And people, unfortunately, continue leaving their homes, seeking refugee from the terror the occupiers have brought,” Zelensky said.

On February 24, Russia began a special military operation in Ukraine after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics requested help in defending themselves. What followed the military operation was a slew of sanctions imposed by the western countries targeting the Russian economy.

Top Updates:

• Russia announced Tuesday it will “fundamentally” scale back military operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as talks to end the grinding war brought the outlines of a possible deal into view.

• The Kremlin-backed leader of the Russian province of Chechnya has called for storming the Ukrainian capital. Ramzan Kadyrov’s statement came Tuesday as the Russian military announced after a round of talks with Ukrainian negotiators in Istanbul, Turkey that it would scale back its combat operations near the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv.

•  Poland’s government decided Tuesday to block imports of coal from Russia, part of an overarching strategy to reduce energy dependence on Russia that gained new urgency after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

• President Joe Biden on Tuesday sought to assure Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that his administration remains focused on the Indo-Pacific region even as they deal with the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• In what appeared to be a coordinated action to tackle Russian espionage, at least four European allies expelled dozens of Russian diplomats on Tuesday. The expulsions come as relations between Russia and the West have plunged into a deep freeze following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russia says it will scale back near Kyiv as talks progress

Russia’s military announced Tuesday it will “fundamentally” scale back operations near Ukraine’s capital and a northern city, as talks brought the outlines of a possible deal to end the grinding war into view.

Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin said the move was meant to increase trust in the talks after several rounds of negotiations failed to halt what has devolved into a bloody campaign of attrition.

The announcement was met with skepticism from the U.S. and others.

While Russia portrayed it as a goodwill gesture, it comes as the Kremlin’s troops have become bogged down in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance that has thwarted President Vladimir Putin’s hopes for a quick military victory. Late last week, and again on Tuesday, Russia seemed to roll back its war aims, saying its “main goal” now is gaining control of the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.