Rubio leads US delegation to Saudi Arabia for Russia-Ukraine peace talks

Possible peace talks aimed at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine are set to commence this week under the leadership of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. And a deadly polar vortex is expected to drive wind chills below 50 degrees in parts of the U.S. this week. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Monday, Feb. 17, 2025.

Rubio leads US delegation to Saudi Arabia for Russia-Ukraine peace talks

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio continues his tour of the Middle East on Monday, Feb. 17, with a stop in Saudi Arabia. While there, he’s expected to meet with Russian officials to discuss ending the Ukraine war. 

Rubio leads a delegation that includes National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff. The trip has heightened concerns worldwide over the Trump administration’s apparent attempts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine without including Ukraine or Europe in the talks. 

In an interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday, Feb. 16, Rubio dismissed those concerns. 

“Ultimately, look, if at any point in time, there’s an opportunity to continue the work that President Trump started last week, to begin to create an opening for a broader conversation, that it would involve Ukraine and would involve the end of the war, and would involve our allies all over the world, particularly in Europe, we’re going to explore it, if that opportunity presents itself,” Rubio said.

He added, “Ultimately, it will reach a point when you are — if it’s real negotiations, and we’re not there yet, but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved because they’re the one that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well, and- and they’ve contributed to this effort. We’re just not there yet. We really aren’t, but hopefully we will be, because we’d all like to see this war end.” 

On Sunday, Feb. 16, Trump told reporters he expects to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saudi Arabia “very soon” to discuss ending the war in Ukraine, but didn’t give any specifics. 

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the United Arab Emirates on Monday. It comes after he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Ukraine “will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia” if Ukraine does not participate in negotiations. 

The UAE has been proposed as a potential location for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, as it is home to a significant number of Russian and Ukrainian expatriates who have relocated there since the war began, along with the country’s prior efforts in prisoner exchanges.

European leaders gather for emergency summit amid Trump-Putin peace talks

European leaders are meeting in Paris on Monday for an emergency summit to discuss “European security” as U.S. peace talks with Russia move forward without them. 

French President Emmanuel Macron will host the “informal meeting,” which will include leaders from the U.K., Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Denmark, as well as the presidents of the European Council, the European Commission and NATO.  

The European diplomatic efforts follow Trump’s “lengthy” phone call with Putin last week, during which he announced that negotiations to end the Ukraine war would start “immediately.” When asked if Europeans had a role in talks between Russia and Ukraine, Trump’s envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, said over the weekend, “I’m [from] a school of realism. I think that’s not gonna happen.”

Netanyahu signals support for Trump’s plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled he’s on board with Trump’s plan to remove the Palestinian population from Gaza, calling it “the only viable plan to enable a different future” for the war-torn enclave. 

Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Israel on Sunday before Rubio moved on to Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu said he and Trump have a “common strategy” for Gaza, saying “the gates of hell would be open” if Hamas doesn’t release dozens of remaining hostages who were taken when the militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 

This week marks 500 days of the war. 

Israel and Hamas are currently in the first phase of a ceasefire, though the second phase is in doubt since talks have yet to begin. Israel’s security cabinet is meeting Monday to discuss the second phase. 

Negotiators will also be in Cairo this week as mediators aim to broker a lasting peace deal in the Gaza Strip.

Polar vortex to bring ‘life-threatening cold’ to parts of US

Harsh weather moves west after pummeling the eastern U.S. over the weekend, killing at least 10 people. Nine deaths were in Kentucky, where heavy rain led to flooding. 

The National Weather Service warned that the storm system would bring “life-threatening cold” to the Rockies and northern Plains. Northeastern Montana is expected to experience the worst of it, with temperatures set to dip as low as 45 degrees below zero and wind chills down to 60 degrees below zero. 

Forecasters said not only will this be the 10th polar vortex event this season, but it will also be the coldest. Places like eastern North Dakota and western Minnesota will see wind chills between -40 and –50 degrees. 

The dangerous cold will then move back toward the east later this week. According to the NWS, “sub-zero wind chills will likely extend as far south as Texas, Arkansas, and western Tennessee and Kentucky.”

Hundreds of FAA employees fired, nuclear workers told to return: Reports

While federal workers are out of the office on Monday for President’s Day, it appears some will not return to work when offices reopen on Tuesday, Feb. 18. The union representing Federal Aviation Administration employees said several hundred probationary workers started receiving layoff notices on Friday, Feb. 14.

They could be barred from FAA facilities come Tuesday. 

The move is part of the Trump administration’s goal of shrinking the federal workforce. The union represents workers who install, inspect and maintain air traffic control communications, radio and computer systems, as well as develop flight procedures.  

These reported firings come as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Elon Musk’s SpaceX team members will visit the FAA’s air traffic control command center in Warrenton, Virginia, on Monday to learn about the current system. 

As Straight Arrow News reported last week, the federal government employs at least 200,000 probationary workers. These workers have been on the job for less than one year and have little protection against firing. 

At the same time, the Trump administration has halted the firings of hundreds of federal employees who work for the nation’s nuclear program. The Associated Press reported that up to 350 employees at the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) were abruptly laid off on Thursday, Feb. 13, as part of the Department of Government Efficiency’s purge of the Department of Energy.

However, by late Friday night, the acting administrator of the NNSA issued a memo rescinding all but 28 of the firings.

Trump attends Daytona 500; Byron wins after hours of rain delays

This year’s Daytona 500 is over after two weather delays delayed the race by three-and-a-half hours. 

Trump was present for the start of this year’s race. He led drivers on two laps around the track in his heavily armored presidential limousine, known as “The Beast.”  

William Byron walked away the winner for the second consecutive year with a smooth final lap, while others crashed. Byron is now the fifth driver to win back-to-back Daytona 500s and the first since Denny Hamlin in the 2019/2020 season.