Israel reportedly assassinated a very senior Hezbollah official in Lebanon.

The Kremlin said that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Yuri Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to Putin, will on Tuesday take part in talks with U.S. officials in Saudi Arabia on restoring U.S.-Russia relations.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov:

Western brands will be able to return to the Russian Federation on a competitive basis, this would be in the interests of Russian consumers.

Russia will likely maintain a reduced military presence in Syria.

Russia is close to a deal with the new Syrian government that would allow it to maintain some staff and equipment in the country.

Russia hopes to keep the same naval and air bases it used in Syria until the fall of the Assad regime.

Source: Bloomberg

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu:

Ousting Bashar al-Assad was not in Israel's interest.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov:

Europe has already had several chances to be involved in a settlement of Ukraine.

If Europe wants to continue the war in Ukraine, then why would they be invited to the negotiations?

Iraqi government spokesman:

We will invite Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa to attend the Arab Summit.

Israel reportedly killed Muhammad Shahin (Abu Imad), the person responsible for training security personnel for Hamas' military wing outside Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has arrived in Saudi Arabia, he will meet Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov tomorrow.

NATO Military Chief Giuseppe Cavo Dragone:

A withdrawal of some of the 100,000 US troops stationed in Europe could be on the agenda because of some commitments that the US has far away from here, in the Pacific.

Still, The US will not pull out of NATO.

NEW: Arab diplomats say Riyadh Arab summit in response to Trump Gaza plan postponed to Friday, AFP reported.

BIG: Zelensky says Ukraine "knew nothing" about the talks in Saudi Arabia and will not recognise them.

Poland will not send its troops to Ukraine but will support countries that do, says Polish Prime Minister.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky just ONE hour to accept a proposed economic deal in exchange for continued U.S. support.

Zelensky had expected discussions on financial aid, but instead, Bessent pushed for U.S. access to $500 billion worth of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals.

Unaccustomed to such direct pressure, Zelensky refused.

However, during the Munich Security Conference (Feb 14–16), the U.S. again demanded control over Ukraine’s resources as repayment for military aid.

By February 15, the Ukrainian delegation agreed to delay negotiations but accepted to start talks.

Source: The Economist

Netanyahu:

As I promised - the day after the war in Gaza, there will be no Hamas or Palestinian Authority.

I am committed to US President Trump's plan to create a different Gaza.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected territorial concessions to Ukraine.

Lavrov said there would be no talk of territorial concessions to Ukraine, around 20% of which is controlled by Russian forces.

"Territorial concessions to what is now called Ukraine were made by the Soviet leadership during the formation of the USSR," he added.

“Leave one, eliminate the rest” – Russian forces execute Ukrainian POWs.

Three Ukrainian soldiers surrendered, but Russian commander ordered his troops to spare only one and execute the other two.

Ukrainian President Zelensky will visit Turkey tomorrow.

Scenes from Nigerian paratrooper exercises.