United States

CNN reports: President Joe Biden on Monday urged private sector partners to strengthen their cyber defenses immediately, pointing to “evolving intelligence” that suggests Russia could conduct malicious cyber activity against American companies and critical infrastructure. While the Biden administration has been warning the nation of the prospect of cyber attacks by Russia for months, most recently as a response to …

ABC News reports: President Joe Biden has added a stop in Poland to his trip this week to Europe for urgent talks with NATO and European allies, as Russian forces concentrate their fire upon cities and trapped civilians in a nearly month-old invasion of Ukraine. Biden will first travel to Brussels and then to Poland to meet with leaders there, …

The Hill reports: Former Presidents George W. Bush and Clinton visited a Ukrainian church in Chicago on Friday, laying down flowers in a show of solidarity with the nation. A video shared by the George W. Bush Presidential Center shows the 42nd and 43rd presidents each carrying yellow sunflowers in their hands, wrapped in blue and yellow cloth to represent …

The New York Times reports: Four U.S. Marines were killed in Norway during a NATO training exercise, Norwegian police said on Saturday. The Marines had been taking part in a long-planned exercise called Cold Response on Friday when their MV-22B Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashed south of Bodo, in the northern county of Nordland, the Royal Norwegian Air Force said in …

CNBC reports: President Joe Biden held a nearly two-hour phone call on Friday morning with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The call was seen as a critical test of whether Biden can convince China to stay on the sidelines of the conflict in Ukraine, and to turn down Russian requests for military or economic aid. …

Axios reports: Ukraine’s top national security official asked earlier this month for the U.S. to go beyond traditional military aid and provide the country with the funding, training and weaponry to support a long-term resistance movement, according to a letter obtained by Axios. Russia’s advances on the battlefield have largely stalled, prompting fears of a long, grinding war of attrition. …

Politico reports: President Joe Biden will speak to China’s Xi Jinping on Friday, the two leaders’ first call since Russia invaded Ukraine and one that could play an outsize role in determining the trajectory of the war. During the conflict’s early weeks, Russia has aligned itself with China, and Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin reinforced their nations’ ties during …

Reuters reports: Russia warned the United States on Thursday that Moscow had the might to put the world’s pre-eminent superpower in its place and accused the West of stoking a wild Russophobic plot to tear Russia apart. Dmitry Medvedev [photo], who served as president from 2008 to 2012 and is now deputy secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said the United …

ABC News reports: Speaking just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on him to be a “leader for peace,” President Joe Biden on Wednesday is expected to detail how much military aid the U.S. is already providing — or will provide — to Ukraine. But it was unclear how much he would directly address Zelenskyy’s emotional and direct appeal …

The Washington Post reports: President Volodymyr Zelensky renewed his plea for air support to protect the skies over Ukraine and push back against Russia’s attacks during a virtual speech to U.S. lawmakers Wednesday, as suspected Russian munitions struck another apartment building in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, in an attack that has become part of a daily pattern. “Ukraine is grateful …

CBS News reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will address both Houses of Congress virtually on Wednesday morning as his country continues to try to fight off the Russian assault. “It’s one of the highest honors of any Congress to welcome remarks by foreign heads of state, but it is nearly unheard of, unheard of in modern times that we hear …

NPR reports: In an interview with NPR, Blinken spoke of Western sanctions that cratered the Russian ruble, led global firms to shutter their Russian operations, and closed the Moscow stock market. He said the unplugging of much of Russia’s economy from the West is beginning to wreak long-term effects that are “growing over time.” He insisted that U.S. sanctions against …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal, a rare show of unity in the deeply divided Congress. The resolution, introduced by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and backed by senators of both parties, encouraged the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and other nations to target the …

CBS News reports: President Joe Biden will travel to Europe next week for face-to-face talks with European leaders about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Tuesday. Biden will meet with NATO and European leaders at a summit in Brussels on March 24. He will also attend a scheduled European Council summit, where efforts to …

Politico reports: The Treasury Department on Tuesday announced additional sanctions targeting the president of Belarus, his wife and a number of Russian officials, the latest in a package of penalties intended to punish the Kremlin and its allies for Moscow’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. “We are taking action against this autocratic attack on democracy,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said …

The Washington Post reports: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver a virtual address to members of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday morning, House Speaker Nancy Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced in a joint letter to their colleagues. “The Congress, our country and the world are in awe of the people of Ukraine, who …

CBS News reports: An American journalist was killed and another journalist was wounded by Russian forces in the town of Irpin outside the capital of Kyiv on Sunday, Ukrainian police said. Brent Renaud, a 50-year-old filmmaker, was killed when Russian troops opened fire, according to Andriy Nebytov, the head of Kyiv’s regional police force. Nebytov posted a graphic photo purportedly …

The Associated Press reports: The State Department says it’s paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide, both of whom face “serious and credible” threats from Iran. The department told Congress in a report that the cost of protecting Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian …

CNN reports: President Joe Biden announced Friday that the US, along with the G7 and European Union, will call for revoking “most favored nation” status for Russia, referred to as permanent normal trade relations in the US. Biden said the move and said it would hold Russian President Vladimir Putin “even more accountable for his aggression against Ukraine.” “Each of …

ABC News reports: Astronaut Mark Vande Hei, who holds the ongoing record for longest space flight, is set to end his 355 days in space in just three weeks. The plan is for him to land in Kazakhstan with two Russian cosmonauts on a Russian spacecraft. After Russia invaded Ukraine two weeks ago, President Joe Biden announced new sanctions, including …