BRAVE MAG

ShowBiz & Sports

Hot

Saturday, February 14, 2026

Zelenskyy says Ukraine, not Russia, is facing pressure to make concessions to end war

February 14, 2026
Zelenskyy says Ukraine, not Russia, is facing pressure to make concessions to end war

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyyhas accused the U.S. of focusing on Ukrainian concessions to bringan end to the war, rather than pressing Russia.

NBC Universal Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Michael Probst / AP)

His comments came as Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. prepared for a further round of trilateral talks next week, and after Trump urged Zelenskyy on Friday to "get moving," saying that Russia was ready to make a deal.

"The Americans often return to the topic of concessions," Zelenskyy said as he addressed key allies at the Munich Security Conference. "Too often those concessions are discussed in the context only of Ukraine, not Russia."

Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. held theirfirst trilateral talkson a peace deal last month, and further talks are set to take place on Tuesday.

"We truly hope that the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, helpful for all of us, but honestly, sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completing different things," Zelenskyy added.

Trump told reporters on Friday: "Russia wants to make a deal, and Zelenskyy'sgonna have to get moving. Otherwise, he's going to miss a great opportunity."

Conference moderator Christiane Amanpour put Trump's latest comments to the Ukrainian president in a Q&A after his speech, asking if he was feeling the pressure.

"A little bit," Zelenskyy replied.

Zelenskyy later met with a bipartisan group of U.S. senators.

He said in a post on X that they discussed security guarantees and increasing pressure on Russia through sanctions, adding: "I thank the Senators for their unwavering bipartisan support for Ukraine and Ukrainians."

Hours before Zelenskyy's speech, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the conference that the "hardest questions" still need to be answered before peace can be achieved.

Advertisement

"We don't know the Russians are serious about ending the war. They say they are," Rubio said in a short Q&A after his speech, adding: "We're going to continue to test it."

He added: "What we can't answer, but we're going to test, is whether there is an outcome that Ukraine can live with and that Russia will accept, and I would say it's been elusive up to this point."

While officials described the trilateral talks in January as constructive, major obstacles remain, chief among them the future of territory in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has shown little sign of softening its demands.

The Kremlin said in January that Kyiv's military would have to pull out of the region for any deal to end the war.

President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff said before the talks that the negotiations were "down to one issue." While he did not elaborate, many took it to mean territorial concessions by Ukraine.

"The good news is that the issues that need to be confronted to end this war have been narrowed," Rubio said in Munich. "The bad news is they've been narrowed to the hardest questions to answer and work remains to be done on that front."

Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine's national territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion. Polls show that the majority of Ukrainians oppose a deal that hands Moscow land.

"I don't think anybody in this room would be against a negotiated settlement to this war, so long as the conditions are just and sustainable, and that's what we aim to achieve," Rubio added.

Zelenskyy said in Munich that it was an illusion to believe the war could be ended by dividing Ukraine, and that he thinks it can be ended with dignity for his country.

Peace can only be built on clear security guarantees, he added, saying that where there is no clear security system, "war always returns."

"Europe needs a real common defense policy, just as it already has so much in common in the economy, in law and in social policy," he said, before finishing his speech and asking the crowd: "Please pay attention to Ukraine."

Read More

US military reports a series of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria

February 14, 2026
US military reports a series of airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. military on Saturday reported a series of strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria in retaliation for the December ambush that killed two U.S. soldiers and one American civilian interpreter.

U.S. Central Command said in a statement that American aircraft had conducted 10 strikes against more than 30 IS targets between Feb. 3 and Thursday, hitting weapons storage facilities and other infrastructure.

At least 50 members of IS have been killed or captured, while more than 100 IS targets have been struck since the United States began its strikes after the Dec. 13 ambush, according to Central Command. That attack killed Sgt. Edgar Brian Torres-Tovar, Sgt. William Nathaniel Howard, and Ayad Mansoor Sakat, the civilian interpreter.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Defense Ministry said Thursday that government forcestook control of a basein the east of the country that was run for years by U.S. troops as part of the fight against IS. The Al-Tanf base played a major role after IS declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014.

The U.S. military on Friday completedthe transfer of thousands of IS detaineesfrom Syria to Iraq, where they are expectedto stand trial. The prisoners were sent to Iraq at therequest of Baghdad, in a move welcomed by the U.S.-led coalition that had for years fought against IS.

Read More

British airline bans two 'disruptive' passengers for life after midair brawl

February 14, 2026
British airline bans two 'disruptive' passengers for life after midair brawl

British airline Jet2 announced that it banned two travelers for life after they started brawling on flight bound for Manchester, England, on Thursday, resulting in its diversion.

NBC Universal A commercial jet flies during a pink and purple sunset. (Jon Hobley / MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The flight was traveling from Antalya, Turkey, when the midair fight broke out, according to the airline.

The cause of the brawl was not immediately clear Saturday.

The flight was diverted to Brussels, Belgium's capital city, as a result of the disruption, the airline said.

Advertisement

Jet2, a budget-friendly airline behind last year's viral "Nothing Beats a Jet2 Holiday" jingle, called the behavior of the two passengers "appalling."

"They were both offloaded by police in Brussels and the flight continued to Manchester," the airline said in the statement. "We can confirm that the two disruptive passengers will be banned from flying with us for life, and we will also vigorously pursue them to recover the costs that we incurred as a result of this diversion."

Videos depicting the altercation could be seen circulating online. In one video, two men start exchanging blows before additional passengers get involved. Many could be heard urging the men to stop.

"As a family friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to disruptive passenger behaviour, and we are very sorry that other customers and our colleagues onboard had to experience this too," the airline said.

Read More