Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested a Wall Street Journal reporter, Evan Gershkovich, on allegations of espionage. The FSB said in a statement that Gershkovich, who is a U.S. citizen, was detained in Yekaterinburg, a city located in the Ural Mountains, approximately 900 miles east of Moscow.
For the time being, Bulgaria will not be joining in the push by other EU member states to send ammunition, equipment, and other military aid to Ukraine. While the decision has placed Bulgarian President Rumen Radev under tremendous pressure from opposing parties, he has stood firmly by his decision.
On Monday, Germany delivered 18 Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine’s border and handed them over to the Ukrainian government. The tanks, along with about 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles, were delivered in compliance with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ assurance that the tanks would be delivered by the end of March.
As Russia continues to escalate its threats of nuclear war with Ukraine and its Western allies, Moscow’s diplomatic ties in Europe continue to erode, making de-escalation or peace negotiations regarding the war in Ukraine all but impossible.
Ukraine is urging the United Nations (UN) to call an emergency Security Council meeting to condemn what the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is calling “nuclear blackmail” on the part of the Kremlin.
In a show of appreciation to Slovakia for sending Kyiv Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets, the U.S. has offered to help Bratislava finance the purchase of several attack helicopters and Hellfire missiles.
In response to the arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin that was issued last Friday by the International Criminal Court (ICC), the former Russian president and current deputy chairman of the security council, Dmitry Medvedev, has issued a stark warning that any attempt to arrest Putin would be seen as an actor of war by the Kremlin.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Army opened its first permanent garrison on NATO’s “eastern flank” at Camp Kosciuszko in Poland. NATO’s eastern border stretches from the Baltics to the Black Sea and is comprised of 8 countries, all of which are former members of the Warsaw Pact or the USSR. Now, the U.S. Army’s V Corps will have a permanent presence in the region.
The Pentagon announced this week that it intends to continue patrolling international territory despite Moscow putting the U.S. on notice after an incident last week in which an American MQ-9 Reaper drone was intercepted and then subsequently crashed into the Black Sea. The Kremlin has announced that it has closed some of the airspace over the Black Sea as part of a ‘special operation’ taking place in Ukraine.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been in Moscow meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and laying out Beijing’s 12-point peace plan to end Russia’s war in Ukraine since Monday. Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has made it known that he is also willing to meet with Xi to discuss Kyiv’s peace formula for a possible end to the war that entered its second year last month.