British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday he was ready to send British troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force as talks aimed at ending the conflict were set to begin this week.Starmer said he had not taken the decision to consider putting British servicemen and women "in harm's way" lightly, but securing a lasting peace in Ukraine was essential to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday said Ukraine and Europe would be part of any "real negotiations" to end Moscow's war, signaling that US talks with Russia this week were a chance to see how serious Putin is about peace.The end of Russia's war with Ukraine "when it comes, cannot merely become a temporary pause before Putin attacks again," Starmer wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.Starmer is expected to join German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and other European leaders in Paris after French President Emmanuel Macron convened the talks on Ukraine.US President Donald Trump stunned European allies in NATO and Ukraine last week when he announced he had held a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin without consulting with them and would start a peace process. Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, then suggested Ukraine and other European leaders would have no place at peace negotiations.

Russia's air defense units intercepted and destroyed 90 Ukrainian drones overnight, the Russian defense ministry said on Monday.Thirty-eight of the drones were downed over the Sea of Azov, 24 over the southern Russia region of Krasnodar, and the rest over several other regions in the south and west of the country, as well as over the Crimean Peninsula, the ministry said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.The ministry said that its defense units also destroyed a guided missile over the Sea of Azov.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives in Saudi Arabia on Monday ahead of expected talks with Russian officials aimed at ending Moscow's nearly three-year war in Ukraine.The talks come after President Donald Trump last week spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone and ordered top officials to begin negotiations on the war, which he repeatedly vowed to end during his presidential campaign.Rubio, who spoke by phone with his Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday, will meet Russian officials in Saudi Arabia alongside Trump's national security adviser Mike Waltz and White House Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, a US lawmaker and a source told Reuters. It was not immediately clear who they would meet from Russia.The talks will be among the first high-level in-person discussions in years between Russian and US officials and are meant to precede a meeting between the US and Russian presidents.

Israel has defeated its "enemies" militarily, however, "victory has not yet been secured —we need political action to turn the defeat into a victory,” former defense minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday in a post on X/Twitter to mark the 500th day since October 7.500 ימים למלחמת ״שבע החזיתות״לפני 500 ימים, ידענו את היום הקשה ביותר מאז עצמאותנו - מתקפת הטרור הרצחנית ביום השבעה באוקטובר.מדינת ישראל כשלה במשימה הראשונה והחשובה ביותר בחוזה הבלתי כתוב עם אזרחיה - הבטחת שלומם והגנה מפני כל איום.כשר הביטחון בשבעה באוקטובר, אני נושא עמי… pic.twitter.com/huwVTJGudI— יואב גלנט - Yoav Gallant (@yoavgallant) February 17, 2025"As defense minister on October 7, I carry with me with immense pain the difficult feelings about the murder, loss, kidnapping, and injury of so many," he said. Gallant said that Israel has dismantled Hezbollah's power, exposed "every vulnerable point in Iran to Israeli strikes" and strengthened Israel's position against terror organizations in Syria, Yemen, and the West Bank. "Bringing the hostages home, returning the residents of the south and north safely, and ending Hamas’s reign of terror require decisive political action to transform our military achievements into victory," Gallant said.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) killed a senior operative of the terror organization Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, during a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria that took place on Saturday, CENTCOM announced in an official X/Twitter post on Sunday evening.CENTCOM added that the airstrike was part of an ongoing commitment "to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the US, our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond."CENTCOM Forces Kill Senior Operative of Al-Qaeda affiliate Hurras al-DinOn Fed. 15, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din… pic.twitter.com/MTsJ5TbIe1— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 16, 2025

US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he believes he could meet "very soon" with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.Speaking to reporters, Trump said he was working hard to achieve peace and that he believes both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy want to stop fighting.His comments come as the United States and Russia are preparing for initial talks in Saudi Arabia in the coming days.

US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff informed Egypt that negotiations for phase two of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas have begun, according to sources close to the Arabic channel Al Ghad, the channel reported on Sunday night. The sources also reportedly mentioned that Witkoff clarified that the second phase would include 19 living soldiers who were kidnapped, as well as Hamas returning the kidnapped bodies.The negotiations will also define the positions of both sides to reach an agreement to end the war.