memeorandum: Russia Says It Won't Enter Talks Until Ukraine Stops Fighting (Anton Troianovski/New York Times)

5:30 PM ET, February 25, 2022

Top Items:

U.S. Officials Repeatedly Urged China to Help Avert War in Ukraine — Americans presented Chinese officials with intelligence on Russia's troop buildup in hopes that President Xi Jinping would step in, but were repeatedly rebuffed. — WASHINGTON — Over three months …

New York Times:

U.S. to Impose Sanctions on Putin, Official Says — It was unclear whether Russia would engage in talks with Ukraine's leadership. The E.U. sanctioned Mr. Putin, amid growing pressure to isolate him and Russia. — With Russian troops moving on Kyiv, the Kremlin sends mixed signals on talks.

Barak Ravid / Axios:

Zelensky to EU leaders: “This might be the last time you see me alive” — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told EU leaders “this might be the last time you see me alive” during a video conference on Thursday night, two European sources briefed on the call tell Axios.

Discussion: Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Financial Times, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Moscow Times, New York Post, Mediaite, Streams of Crunchiness, Insider, Conservative Brief, YouTube and Power Line

Paul Krugman / New York Times:

Laundered Money Could Be Putin's Achilles' Heel — The United States and its allies aren't going to intervene with their own forces against Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine. I'll leave it to others with relevant expertise to speculate about whether we'll send more arms to the Ukrainian government or …

Discussion: Morning Consult, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, GAB, Outside the Beltway, Washington Post and Reuters

CNN:

US to impose sanctions on Putin following Ukraine invasion — Washington (CNN)The US will impose sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin, the White House announced Friday. — The Russian leader will become the highest-profile target in the effort to impose costs on the Russian economy …

Discussion: The Hill, CNBC, Insider, Al Jazeera, Los Angeles Times, The Daily Caller, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Common Dreams and The Guardian

Anton Troianovski / New York Times:

Russia Says It Won't Enter Talks Until Ukraine Stops Fighting — MOSCOW — Russia on Friday rejected talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and made it clear that it was seeking to topple his democratically elected government, which Foreign Minister Sergey V. Lavrov said was steered by “neo-Nazis” and the West.

Discussion: Insider, Work from home for justice, TASS, Townhall and Takes & Re-Takes

Washington Post:
E.U. plans to freeze assets of Putin, Lavrov

Discussion: Financial Times, Politico, Townhall, Hackwhackers and CNBC

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Putin was playing Biden all along

Discussion: Washington Examiner, ABC News, The Liberal Patriot, Vanity Fair, National Review, The Guardian, The Bulwark, TheBlaze, Daily Mail, Tales From the Homestead, HotAir and United States Institute …

Douglas Busvine / Politico:
Putin calls on Ukraine military to overthrow government, agree peace deal

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Post, Fox News, Mediaite, Bloomberg, Pro Eight, Metro.co.uk, Daily Kos, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, KRQE-TV, Talking Points Memo and Reuters

John Paul Rathbone / Financial Times:
Ukraine war latest: Zelensky pledges to join Kyiv residents in defending independence

Discussion: Politico, Forbes and TheJournal.ie

Washington Post:
13 days: Inside Biden's last-ditch attempts to stop Putin in Ukraine

Discussion: Mediaite

The White House:

Supreme Court Nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson — On February 25, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Lexi Lonas / The Hill:
Paul Ryan praises Biden's SCOTUS pick: ‘Incredibly happy for Ketanji’

Discussion: Fox News, Slate, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Caller and Washington Post

Igor Bobic / HuffPost:
GOP Sen. Marsha Blackburn Objects To Timing Of Biden's Supreme Court Announcement, Citing Ukraine

Discussion: Insider and Townhall

Katie Rogers / New York Times:
Judge Would Be First Black Woman to Serve as Justice

Washington Post:
Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court

Errin Haines / The 19th:
Four Black women became classmates, roommates and lifelong sisters. One of them is now a historic nominee for the Supreme Court.

Discussion: The Root

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
Joe Biden Picks Ketanji Brown Jackson For The Supreme Court

Discussion: NBC News, Insider, Roll Call, Voice of America, Breitbart, WAVY-TV, TheJournal.ie, NBC Los Angeles, UPI, Deseret News and Rewire News Group

CNN:
Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to be first Black woman to sit on Supreme Court

Allahpundit / HotAir:

Tucker: Putin started this war and deserves the blame for what follows — We're all neocons now. — Well ... not quite. Carlson stressed last night that the U.S. should do everything possible to avoid being dragged into the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Discussion: The Hill, FiveThirtyEight and Washington Post

Washington Post:

Post-ABC poll finds bipartisan support for sanctions on Russia as it invades Ukraine … A large and bipartisan majority of Americans supports economic sanctions on Russia for its military invasion of Ukraine, as public antipathy toward Russia climbs to Cold War levels, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Discussion: The Hill and ABC News

Marist Poll:

NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist National Poll: The Biden Administration Heading into the State of the Union Address, February 2022 — Americans Perceive Biden's First Year in Office to Be a Failure... Want Biden's Administration to Focus on Inflation Amid Persistent Financial Concerns

Discussion: The Federalist, PBS NewsHour and Political Wire

Domenico Montanaro / NPR: A majority says Biden's first year was a failure, a new poll finds

RJ Reinhart / Gallup:
U.S. Public Sees Russia-Ukraine Conflict as Critical Threat

Discussion: HotAir

Washington Post:

On Ukraine's Snake Island, a defiant last stand against Russian forces — As the Russian military pounded targets across Ukraine with an array of bombs and missiles, a small team of Ukrainian border guards on a rocky, desolate island received an ominous message: Give up or be attacked.

Discussion: UPI, CNN, The Political Insider, BBC, HotAir, IJR, BizPac Review, GovExec.com, USNI News, Task & Purpose, The Federalist, Second Nexus, Fox News, CBS News, KRQE-TV, KTLA, The Daily Beast, The Wrap and The Guardian

YouTube:

“Русск ий кора;бль, иди нах@й" - битв а за Зміїн ий — Стал …

Discussion: The Guardian, New York Post, globalnews.ca, IJR, The Maritime Executive, Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Politico

Associated Press:
Ukraine's capital under threat as Russia presses invasion

Andee Tagle / NPR:

5 ways to cope with the stressful news cycle — Russia invaded Ukraine this week, and the world seems to have shifted. — Even after weeks of bracing for an attack amid speculation, global tensions and diplomatic attempts to stave off invasion — the reality of conflict is always a shock to the system.

Discussion: Twitchy and Althouse

New York Times:

'I'll Stand on the Side of Russia': Pro-Putin Sentiment Spreads Online — After marinating in conspiracy theories and Donald J. Trump's Russia stance, some online discourse about Vladimir Putin has grown more complimentary. — Davey Alba and Stuart Thompson, tech reporters based in New York, report on online information flows.

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and North Stars and Cowboy Bars

Chris Casteel / Oklahoman:

Sen. Jim Inhofe to resign from Senate, backs top aide Luke Holland to succeed him … Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe plans to resign the seat he has held since 1994, setting up what could be major changes in the state's political landscape just weeks before candidate filing.

Discussion: The Hill, UPI, Associated Press, Washington Post, Roll Call, Bloomberg, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, National Review, The Gateway Pundit and CNN

Charles C. W. Cooke / National Review:

Charlie Kirk Butchers the First Amendment in God's Name — The Devil's next finest trick, it seems, is to persuade us that the Constitution's free-speech protections don't actually exist. — t Newsweek, Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk has written one of the most foolish, self-serving …

Charlie Kirk / Newsweek:
Free Speech for Satanism?

Discussion: Raw Story

CNN:

House January 6 committee to subpoena Kimberly Guilfoyle after she backed out of meeting — The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot tells CNN it will issue a subpoena to compel testimony from Kimberly Guilfoyle after she ended a virtual interview on Friday.

Discussion: Bloomberg, Daily Kos, Raw Story, CBS News and Mercury News

NBC News:
Kimberly Guilfoyle, partner of Donald Trump Jr., interviewed by Jan. 6 committee

Discussion: Raw Story, POLITICUSUSA and Jenelle's Newsletter

ABC News:

CDC to ease masking recommendations for 70% of country, including inside schools — The new metrics would term the majority of the country low-to-medium risk. — Some 70% of Americans will be able to remove their masks indoors, including inside schools, under new guidance to be released …