Monday, February 17

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to offer British troops to Ukraine for protection if needed when a peace agreement has been reached, which the US and Russia are working on.

United States President Donald Trump began negotiations over a peace deal last week, starting the process with a long phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He stated after the call that it had been "highly productive," and confirmed that Ukraine may need to give up some of the land it has lost to Russia in order to reach a peace agreement.

This quickly sparked concern among several European countries, as the US seemed to be leaving them out of negotiations. Nations like France and the UK have maintained that they must be part of the talks, as they believe that Trump could foster the creation of a pro-Russia deal, and they have also stated that they need to be part of peace talks because their security is at risk.

Additionally, these countries are urging the US to ensure that Ukraine is involved in talks, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has stated that "can be no talks on Ukraine without Ukraine."

However, the US has forged ahead with their talks with Russia, and the two sides are expected to meet sometime later this week in Saudi Arabia, a neutral zone, to discuss further. In response to this, European leaders called for an emergency meeting today in Paris, during which they will talk about their exclusion from negotiations and express their concerns with the upcoming peace agreement.

Now, the United Kingdom has taken their negotiations a step further by pledging support for Ukraine in the future. Starmer stated that any sort of ceasefire cannot be simply temporary, and he will be sending troops to Ukraine after a deal is agreed upon to discourage Russia from attacking again. This would help to guarantee that Russia would not invade after a ceasefire is established, as Ukraine would have more support behind them to defend against further attacks.

Upcoming Events:

• Global Tourism Resilience Day (Monday, February 17)

• World Day of Social Justice (Thursday, February 20)

• International Mother Language Day (Friday, February 21)

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): In the olden days, smiling in pictures was considered unsociable and a sign of poor behavior. However, similing in photos is said to have originated from a Kodak advertising scheme that focused on capturing moments of happiness with the product. Since then, it’s been normal to smile at the camera during photos.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Every moment of our life can be the beginning of great things. (Joseph Pilates)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Non sequitur (noun, NAHN-SEK-wuh-ter) - A non sequitur is a statement that either does not logically follow from, or is not clearly related to, what was previously said.

In a Sentence: We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.