Trump and Putin discussed ending the war in Ukraine
President Trump said yesterday that he had a “highly productive” call with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, characterizing it as the beginning of a negotiation to end the war in Ukraine.
Afterward, Trump said he spoke with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. For Putin, the talk was a major milestone, marking the collapse of Western efforts to isolate him diplomatically over the invasion of Ukraine.
Trump did not say how Ukraine’s interests would factor into the negotiations. But hours before the phone call, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a NATO meeting in Brussels that it was “unrealistic” for Ukraine to expect a peace deal that would restore its pre-2014 borders. Trump, he added, does not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO as part of a realistic peace plan.
Background: Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and backed a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine before carrying out a full-scale invasion in 2022. Russia now occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine.
Modi hopes to keep India off Trump’s target list
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to try to ease any potential friction between the U.S. and India when he meets with President Trump today in Washington. Modi has spoken of a warm relationship with the president, but Trump can be a fickle friend.
A pair of glaring issues could complicate Modi’s goals: trade and immigration. Modi “will be trying to show Trump that he is cooperating on his fixation on tariffs and illegal immigration,” Mujib Mashal, our South Asia bureau chief, told me. “Trump has singled out India as one of the main abusers of tariffs that enjoys a trade deficit with the U.S., mentioning India in the same breath as China.”
India’s trade surplus with the U.S. is growing, and Modi could offer lower duties on U.S. goods like bourbon and pecans, which are produced mainly in Republican states.
Deportations: India is also the largest source of illegal immigration to the U.S. outside of Latin America. Modi’s government has made clear it will cooperate with Trump’s deportation effort, even as it caused an uproar in India last week.
Venezuela is helping fuel violence in Colombia
In northeast Colombia, 54,000 people fled their homes, and at least 80 people died in a matter of days this month, as two rebel groups fought for territory.
The violence has its roots in disputes over land and drug money, but diplomats, analysts and Colombia’s president say there is a new factor at play. One of the rebel groups, the National Liberation Army, or ELN, has found refuge in neighboring Venezuela, which is being used as a base to unleash a new wave of destruction in Colombia.
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The new season of “The White Lotus,” a series about wealthy tourists in a skewed paradise, takes place on the resort island of Koh Samui in Thailand. Crowds have flocked to the locations of seasons past, and this year is no different: With a wave of visitors set to arrive, the roughly 68,000 residents of the island are about to get familiar with the “White Lotus” effect.
CONVERSATION STARTERS
How do we fall (and stay) in love?
For Valentine’s Day, the “Modern Love” podcast asked readers to share the moments they knew they were falling in love. Their stories spanned decades and regions.
The team also revisited one of the most iconic stories they have ever published: Mandy Len Catron’s piece about the 36 questions that can help us fall in love. Mandy joined the podcast to provide an update on her romance and to read her essay, which starts on a bridge at midnight, “staring into a man’s eyes for exactly four minutes.”
Listen to the podcast and read Mandy’s original essay here.
