US News

• Mayor Pete will end his presidential bid. [Link]
• Trump will invoke a federal defense law to increase the production of medical equipment needed to combat the coronavirus. [Link]
• Trump wants to hold arms control talks with Russia, China, the UK, and France. [Link]

Ukraine

• Ukraine and Russia are working to swap all remaining prisoners of the Ukrainian Civil War. Both sides hope that the swap will allow for talks to end the conflict. [Link]

Afghanistan Peace Deal

• The Taliban and the US officially signed a “peace agreement.” The Afghan government was not a signatory of the agreement and did not participate in the negotiations. The agreement calls for a reduction in US forces from 13,000 to 8,600 within 135 days. During this phase of the withdrawal, NATO forces will be reduced from 16,000 to 12,000 troops. The deal also calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 Taliban captives in exchange for the Taliban releasing 1,000 prisoners by March 10th. Afghanistan’s president says his government will not participate in the prisoner exchange. Taliban officials were able to meet with diplomats from several other countries as they look to increase their international legitimacy. [Link] The deal calls for a full withdrawal of US and coalition forces within 14 months. [Link]
• Trump says he plans to meet with Taliban leaders soon. [Link]

Syria

• Turkey wants world leaders to impose a no-fly zone over Idlib, Syria. [Link]
• Russia hopes Turkey’s President Erdogan will meet him for talks in Moscow on March 5th or 6th. [Link]
• Turkey briefly arrested the editor-in-chief of a Russian-state media organization based in Turkey. [Link]
• Refugees who had been living in Turkey are now clashing with Greek police. Turkey had restrained the refugees from continuing their journey into Europe; however, Turkey started to allow the refugees to flow into Europe after they were denied European assistance in fighting Assad in Syria. Greek police fired tear gas to prevent refugees from crossing the border and refugees threw stones at police. [Link]
• Turkey says it took out Syrian air defense systems, destroyed 100 tanks, and shot down two military planes. Turkey says 2,200 Syrian soldiers have been killed, wounded, or captured. Turkey named its operation Spring Shield. [Link]
• A Turkish drone strike killed nine Hezbollah fighters in Idlib. [Link]
• Syria says it has shot down 3 Turkish drones. [Link]
• Secretary of State Pompeo said the US condemns the violence by Russia and Syria in Idlib. He also said the US is reviewing options to assist Turkey with the aggression. [Link]