- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia's military failed to achieve its aims last year and currently lacks the capability to seize all of eastern Ukraine and southern regions, despite Moscow's unchanged objectives.
- Zelensky confirmed that trilateral peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the US are still planned as “no one has cancelled” the meeting, but the venue might shift from Abu Dhabi to Turkey or Switzerland due to the escalating conflict in the Gulf region.
- Several European nations, including Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, and the Netherlands, are supporting French President Emmanuel Macron's initiative to boost France's nuclear arsenal and foster European dialogue on nuclear deterrence.
- The Ukraine-Russia conflict has increasingly been shaped by drones, with Russia using Iranian-designed Shahed drones to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences, while Ukraine recently launched a massive drone attack on the Russian city of Novorossiysk, injuring five and damaging 20 buildings.
- A US-based think tank reported Russia's slowest advance on the war frontline in nearly two years, while Ukrainian troops achieved several localised breakthroughs, particularly in the south and Dnipropetrovsk region.
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