European Union foreign policy head Kaja Kallas arrives for a Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels, Belgium, February 23, 2026 (Virginia Mayo/AP)
Monday’s Coverage: Russia Kills Policewoman, Wounds 25 in “Terrorist Attack” in Lviv
UPDATE 0942 GMT:
Addressing the European Parliament in Brussels via video link, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says that Russia has “a mentality of an unstable dictatorship that cannot accept that in Europe every life matters, human rights are important, and nations are protected, big or small”.
He explains that Vladimir Putin is actively “choosing” war and conflict, whether in Chechnya, Georgia, Syria, Africa, or Iran: “Putin cannot accept one simple thing: that somewhere people can live differently and enjoy a life that is not the one he prefers.”
“we must be just as determined and strong as we were when the invasion began [as] the threat hasn’t become smaller,” the President says. Europe can only respond by working with the US, even as it “is not an easy task to maintain transatlantic unity and cooperation in the current conditions”.
UPDATE 0800 GMT:
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the Trump Administration to see through Vladimir Putin’s negotiating “games”.
I see it, because they are very poor actors. They are playing with Trump and playing with the entire world….
Putin thinks he looks convincing and that he can be trusted. No — he is a bad actor.
Zelensky warned that without firm security guarantees for Ukraine, Russia will use a ceasefire to rebuild for another assault.
The President urged the European Union to confirm Ukraine’s accession to the bloc as early as 2027.
I want a date. I am asking for it.
Let us not allow the next leaders or the next generation to face a situation where Russia blocks Ukraine’s EU membership for 50 years.
Zelensky dismantled the Kremlin’s claims that it is “winning”, pointing out that Russia’s slow advances in 2025 cost “an average of 167 people per kilometer of occupied territory”.
He pushed back Moscow’s exaggerations and disinformation, “You can see immediately what they are occupying and what they are not. Where they claim to be holding positions, you can see they are not holding anything.”
The President added, “On the contrary, we have advanced,” referring to the liberation of around 400 square km (154 square miles) in the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine.
UPDATE 0729 GMT:
A Russian police officer was killed and two wounded when a man detonated an explosive device beside a patrol car in central Moscow at 12:05 a.m.
The blast was on the square of the Savyolovsky station, one of Moscow’s main railway hubs. The attacker died at the scene.
An explosion on Monday evening in Mykolaiv in southern Ukrainie city wounded seven Ukrainian police officers, two critically.
On Sunday, a 23-year-old policewoman was killed and 25 people wounded, including six other law enforcement personnel suffering serious injuries, in a double explosion in Lviv in western Ukraine.
Authorities have arrested a Ukrainian woman, saying Russia directed the “terrorist attack”.
UPDATE 0718 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has posted a video message marking the 4th anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion:
Looking back at the beginning of the invasion and reflecting on today, we have every right to say: we have defended our independence, we have not lost our statehood; Putin has not achieved his goals.
He has not broken Ukrainians; he has not won this war. We have preserved Ukraine, and we will do everything to secure peace and justice.
Glory to Ukraine!
Today marks exactly four years since Putin started his three-day push to take Kyiv. And that says a great deal about our resistance, about how Ukraine has fought all this time. Behind those words stand millions of our people, immense courage, incredibly hard work, endurance, and… pic.twitter.com/9qiqACurhx
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) February 24, 2026
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Holding Ukraine and the European Union to ransom over its gas supplies from Russia, Hungary has blocked the EU’s 20th package of sanctions over Moscow’s invasion.
EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas confirmed that Monday’s meeting of foreign ministers could not overback the veto of Hungary, led by Vladimir Putin’s ally Viktor Orbán.
It’s not easy. It’s never easy, but the work continues.
I really regret that we didn’t [secure] an agreement today considering that tomorrow is the sad anniversary of the start of this war, and we really need to send strong signals to Ukraine that we keep on helping Ukraine, but also putting more pressure on Russia.
Hungary and Slovakia are demanding the reopening of the Druzhba pipeline, running from Russia, which was damaged on January 27 by a Russian drone strike on western Ukraine.
Rather than blaming Moscow, Budpest and Bratislava, led by pro-Kremlin Prime Minister Robert Fico, are threatening punishment of Ukraine, including the cutoff of electricity supplies.
Hungary said over the weekend that it will also block the EU’s €90 billion loan to maintain Kyiv’s finances through 2027.
European Council president António Costa appealed to Orbán to honor the EU decision in December for the loan.
When leaders reach a consensus, they are bound by their decision. Any breach of this commitment constitutes a violation of the principle of sincere cooperation.
No Member State can be allowed to undermine the credibility of decisions taken collectively by the European Council.
But Slovakia’s Fico reiterated in a Facebook video that he plans to halt electricity to Ukraine, whose energy infrastructure has been badly damaged by Russian missile and drone strikes amid freezing temperatures.
He said the suspension will be lifted as soon as Ukraine resumes oil transit via the Druzhba pipeline, insisting that it remains operational. He warned he is ready to escalate the dispute further if Kyiv does not respond.
Ukrainian national power company Ukrenergo said any suspension by Slovakia will have no effect on the grid.
EU in Kyiv for 4th Anniversary of Invasion
EU leaders had hoped to confirm the sanctions before their visit to Kyiv on Tuesday for the 4th anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said, referring to Hungary’s Parliamentary elections in April:
I would have expected a much greater feeling of solidarity from Hungary for Ukraine. Instead, with the help of state propaganda and private-but-controlled-by-the-government media, the ruling party managed to create a climate of hostility towards the victim of aggression, and…now is trying to exploit that in the general election.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said he was “astonished” by the Hungarian position. Estonian counterpart Margus Tsahkna emphasized, “If we are not able to put the sanctions on Russia, then Russia will be happy.”
