memeorandum: Ukrainians Who Worked at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv Plead for Help (Robbie Gramer/Foreign Policy)

6:55 PM ET, February 25, 2022

Top Items:

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.

Edward Wong / New York Times:

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 …

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

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

CNN:
US to impose sanctions on Putin following Ukraine invasion

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News, CNBC, Insider, Al Jazeera, The Daily Caller, Radio Free Europe/Radio …, KTLA and Common Dreams

Paul Krugman / New York Times:
Laundered Money Could Be Putin's Achilles' Heel

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

Caroline Vakil / The Hill:
62 percent of voters say Putin wouldn't have invaded Ukraine if Trump were president: poll

Discussion: National Review, Just Ask the Question and WAVY-TV

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

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

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

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

Myah Ward / Politico:
U.S. will sanction Putin, Lavrov and other Russian officials

Discussion: Townhall, Washington Times, Political Wire and The Daily Wire

Nahal Toosi / Politico:
Putin was playing Biden all along

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

Washington Post:
Russian forces press closer to Kyiv; U.S. fears capital could fall soon

Discussion: SpyTalk, The Verge, The Guardian, IJR, KSTP-TV, Fox News, Cyprus Mail and The Daily Wire, more at Techmeme »

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

Discussion: Politico, The Guardian, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg, WINK NEWS, Washington Free Beacon, The Times of Israel, Associated Press, Denver Post, KTLA, Political Wire, WPRI-TV, WHYY, WAVY-TV, FOX 5 San Diego, Gizmodo and Тел …

Axios:
Zelensky says Russia to storm Kyiv tonight: “We have to stand our ground”

Discussion: HotAir, BBC, The Week, The Times of Israel, The RAND Blog, Political Wire, The Daily Wire, National Review and TheJournal.ie

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

Discussion: New York Post, Washington Examiner, RedState, The Wayward Rabbler, Fox News, Bloomberg, Pro Eight, Hong Kong Free Press HKFP, Daily Kos, Talking Points Memo and KRQE-TV

Hannah Grossman / Fox News:
Eric Swalwell floats kicking Russians out of US universities in retaliation to Putin invading Ukraine

Discussion: Reason, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Examiner, Twitchy and Eschaton

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, Washington Examiner, Washington Post, The Daily Caller and The Gateway Pundit

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: Associated Press and The Root

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

Discussion: Insider, Breitbart, Fox News and Townhall

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

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: TheBlaze, The Federalist, Political Wire and PBS NewsHour

Domenico Montanaro / NPR:

A majority says Biden's first year was a failure, a new poll finds — Rising inflation, a continuing pandemic, a foreign policy misstep in Afghanistan and Democratic infighting all marred President Biden's first year, and now a majority of respondents to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll say that year was a “failure.”

Discussion: CNN, RedState and Meanwhile, back at the ranch

Washington Post:
Post-ABC poll finds bipartisan support for sanctions on Russia as it invades Ukraine

Discussion: The Hill, ABC News and IJR

Julia Manchester / The Hill:
Biden's job approval hits new low: poll

Discussion: HotAir

Wall Street Journal:

CDC Eases Mask Guidelines, Reflecting Covid-19's Retreat — About half of U.S. counties meet new threshold for recommending masks indoors, including at schools, compared with 95% under earlier metrics — Federal officials eased their guidelines on Covid-19 masking, including at schools …

Discussion: Centers for Disease Control …, Washington Times, PIX11, Outside the Beltway, WSVN-TV and WHYY

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 …

Discussion: Politico, Spectrum News NY1, National Review, Fox News, NBC New York, The Gateway Pundit, Gizmodo and Toledo Blade

Associated Press:
CDC: Many healthy Americans can take a break from masks

Discussion: Washington Post, CBS News, Greensburg Tribune-Review, Al Jazeera, Townhall, Metro.co.uk, Roll Call, Kansas Reflector, STAT and Associated Press

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: The Daily Caller, Twitchy and Althouse

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: Fox News, The Hill, UPI, The Daily Wire, 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

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: POLITICUSUSA, Raw Story and North Stars and Cowboy Bars

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: Gallup, The Hill and FiveThirtyEight

Jeremy Barr / Washington Post:

Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin keeps fact-checking her colleagues on Ukraine … Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin has been pulling double duty lately. — Much like her peers at other news outfits, the national security correspondent has reported live from the Pentagon …

Discussion: Mediaite and The Daily Beast

Jim Newell / Slate:

At CPAC, “Wokeness” Is a More Dangerous Enemy Than Putin — ORLANDO, Florida—Gov. Ron DeSantis, addressing a crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference in his home state Friday afternoon, observed that people are “chafing under authoritarian rule around the world.”

Discussion: Sarasota Herald-Tribune and New York Times