Ukraine to have a national day of unity on Wednesday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday declared that Wednesday will be a national day of unity.
Choosing Feb. 16 is no coincidence — several U.S. officials told Politico on Friday that intelligence seems to point at Russia launching an attack against Ukraine on that day. Zelensky's office released a decree calling on every town and village in Ukraine to fly the country's flag, with all residents singing the national anthem at 10 a.m.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On Sunday, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN that Russia could invade Ukraine "any day now," and that "includes this coming week." Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday had U.S. embassy staff temporarily relocate from Kyiv to Lviv in western Ukraine, due to the "dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces." Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters he didn't want to discuss any specific dates, because "I don't think that would be smart. I would just tell you that it is entirely possible that [Russian President Vladimir Putin] could move with little to no warning."
Russia has said it raised several security concerns it wants addressed by the West and NATO, and wants Ukraine to be permanently barred from joining NATO. The United States and its allies have warned of harsh sanctions if Russia invades Ukraine, and on Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Putin during a televised exchange that there is still hope for diplomacy, and "it seems to me that our possibilities are far from exhausted."
-
The environmental cost of GLP-1sThe explainer Producing the drugs is a dirty process
-
Greenland’s capital becomes ground zero for the country’s diplomatic straitsIN THE SPOTLIGHT A flurry of new consular activity in Nuuk shows how important Greenland has become to Europeans’ anxiety about American imperialism
-
‘This is something that happens all too often’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
US, Russia restart military dialogue as treaty endsSpeed Read New START was the last remaining nuclear arms treaty between the countries
-
What happens now that the US-Russia nuclear treaty is expiring?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Weapons experts worry that the end of the New START treaty marks the beginning of a 21st-century atomic arms race
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
EU and India clinch trade pact amid US tariff warSpeed Read The agreement will slash tariffs on most goods over the next decade
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Ukraine, US and Russia: do rare trilateral talks mean peace is possible?Rush to meet signals potential agreement but scepticism of Russian motives remain
