Russia-Ukraine War: Key Events on Day 1,097 | Latest Updates on the Conflict

Here are the key developments on the 1,097th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Here is the situation on Tuesday, February 25:

Fighting

Politics and Diplomacy

• Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner, Tatyana Moskalkova, stated that Moscow and Kyiv have reached an agreement with the Red Cross to evacuate residents from the occupied Russian region of Kursk.
• The United Kingdom announced 67 new sanctions against Russia on its government website. The targets include global companies supplying the Russian military and an extension of the shipping regime to 40 vessels.
• Washington and Moscow officials are set to meet again in Saudi Arabia, according to an AFP news agency report citing an anonymous diplomatic source. Senior US and Russian officials met in Riyadh last week to discuss ending the war.
• Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said it has filed a new claim against Russia at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the arbitrary arrest and deportation of 19 Ukrainian journalists.

• The European Union’s foreign ministers adopted a 16th package of sanctions against Russia. The measures include targeting cryptocurrency exchanges for the first time and banning third-country airlines that continue operations in Russia.
• The United States sided with Russia twice in United Nations votes, signaling a shift in Washington’s stance on the war. The two countries opposed a European-drafted resolution, passed by the UN General Assembly, that condemned Russia and supported Ukraine’s territorial integrity. However, they pushed through a US-drafted resolution at the UN Security Council calling for an end to the conflict without criticizing Russia.

• US President Donald Trump said he would meet with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as early as this week to sign a rare earth deal in exchange for US aid. Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin stated that Russia was not concerned about the US-Ukraine agreement on rare earth elements.
• President Vladimir Putin said Russia is not opposed to Europe’s involvement in peace talks. However, he noted that Brussels had previously declined to engage in dialogue with Russia.