Rubio to Europe:

We don't want you to be dependent on us. We are not asking you to be a vassal of the United States.

We want to be your partner.

Rubio on Iran:

We're dealing with radical Shia clerics.

We're dealing with people who make geopolitical decisions on the basis of pure theology.

No one's ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we're going to try.

Rubio on Iran:

We are focused on negotiations. If that changes, it'll be obvious to everyone, and obviously, whatever the law requires us to do, we'll do.

Rubio on Syria:

We had two choices in Syria. Choice number one was to let the place fall apart into 18 different pieces: long-term civil war, instability, mass migration, a playground for terrorists, ISIS running all over the place, Iran getting back in. That was choice number one.

Choice number two is to try to see if it was possible to work with these interim authorities and President al-Sharaa and with his team. Guess what? We chose number two because it made sense.

Now, is it going to be easy? No. Is it going to be difficult? Absolutely. Is it going to have ups and downs and good days and bad days? No doubt about it.

Rubio on Syria:

When this situation erupted in the Northeast of Syria, Trump engaged personally, not once but twice, with al-Sharaa, and he said, “Stop the fighting so that we can move the ISIS prisoners that are there.”

Thousands of ISIS prisoners who, by the way, could have broken out and created havoc and chaos. “Stop the fighting so that we can move these ISIS prisoners and so that you can—we have more time to work on this reintegration, the integration of the Kurds into the national Syrian forces.” And you know, al-Sharaa did it.

Now, he's kept his word up to this point. Obviously, he has to keep doing that, but that's what we've been able to achieve. We've been able to get him to agree to do that, and that's been important because we've been able to move those prisoners into Iraq and out of harm's way so that we don't have a massive jailbreak and 4,000 or 5,000 ISIS killers running crazy all over the place and threatening us in the future.

It's given us time to work on this integration agreement, which they have agreed to between the Kurds and the Syrian authorities in Damascus. Now, you have to implement that agreement. That's not going to be easy. There are other agreements that they need to reach with the Druze, the Bedouins, the Alawites, with all the elements of a very diverse society in Syria.

We think that outcome, as difficult as it has been, is far better than a Syria that would have been broken up into 18 pieces, with all kinds of fighting going on, all kinds of mass migration. So we're very positive about that.

Rubio on Syria:

We like the trajectory. We have to keep it on that trajectory.

We've got good agreements in place. The key now is implementation, and we'll be very involved in that regard.

SDF's Mazloum Abdi:

We want to have a local Kurdish administration. Whatever the name may be.

A Brooklyn drone manufacturer that supplies Israel was forced out of the city-owned Brooklyn Navy Yard six weeks after Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp., whose board is appointed by the Mayor, declined to renew Easy Aerial’s lease.

Source: New York Post

Russia's Medvedev:

The little green insect gets to stay alive only as long as it keeps dismantling country 404.

Zelensky to POLITICO:

We had the Budapest Memorandum, which was just security guarantees.

We gave nuclear weapons and other weapons and a lot of jets — dozens of jets — and yes, we gave them, and we got security guarantees that our sovereignty would be protected.

In the end, we don’t have security guarantees, because Russia came and nobody attacked Russia. Nobody saved our independence.

Zelensky to POLITICO:

Putin found some representatives in Europe who began to fight against the unity in Europe.

So it’s, you know, internal blowings.

Zelensky to POLITICO:

Ninety percent of Ukrainians are against elections...

A Norwegian government scientist secretly built a powerful microwave device to test whether pulsed-energy weapons could cause brain injury.

In 2024, he tested it on himself — and reportedly developed neurological symptoms similar to “Havana syndrome.”

Norway informed the CIA, prompting Pentagon and White House officials to visit and review the case.

The incident has reignited debate over whether directed-energy weapons could be behind some Havana syndrome cases, which remain officially unresolved and controversial.

Source: WaPo

India has reportedly approved ~$8.6–8.7 billion in arms purchases from Israel, making Israel one of its top defense suppliers (second after France).

The package includes precision-strike systems such as:
— SPICE 1000 guided bombs (≈1,000 units)
— Rampage air-to-surface missiles
— Air LORA air-launched ballistic missiles
— Ice Breaker missile system
— Additional drones, radars, and surveillance gear

Source: Forbes India

Zelensky to POLITICO:

Europeans still didn’t put sanctions on nuclear energy of Russians, on Rosatom, on people, on their relatives, on their children which live in Europe, which live in the United States, which study in the universities of Europe, which have real estate in the United States.

So, they have a lot of real estate, they have children, relatives everywhere.

Fuck away to Russia. Go home. You don’t respect anybody in the United States, you don’t respect rules, you don’t respect democracy, you don’t respect Ukraine, Europe, etc. Go home.

Trump:

The Board of Peace has unlimited potential. Last October, I released a Plan for the permanent end to the Conflict in Gaza, and our Vision was unanimously adopted by the United Nations Security Council.

Shortly thereafter, we facilitated Humanitarian Aid at record speed, and secured the release of every living and deceased Hostage. Just last month, two dozen distinguished Founding Members joined me in Davos, Switzerland, to celebrate its official formation, and present a bold Vision for the Civilians in Gaza, and then, ultimately, far beyond Gaza — WORLD PEACE!

On February 19th, 2026, I will again be joined by Board of Peace Members at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., where we will announce that Member States have pledged more than $5 BILLION DOLLARS toward the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction efforts, and have committed thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and Local Police to maintain Security and Peace for Gazans.

Very importantly, Hamas must uphold its commitment to Full and Immediate Demilitarization. The Board of Peace will prove to be the most consequential International Body in History, and it is my honor to serve as its Chairman.

U.S. forces have boarded the Veronica III, a Panamanian-flagged oil tanker under U.S. sanctions, after tracking it from the Caribbean to the Indian Ocean.