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Morning opening: How to end this war?
Jakub Krupa
Defence ministers of the E5 grouping – France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom – are meeting in the Polish city of Kraków this morning.
They will be joined by their Ukrainian counterpart, Mykhailo Fedorov, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and Nato’s deputy secretary general Radmila Šekerinska.
Their meeting comes just days before the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine, as allies seek to coordinate on the next steps.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed last night that Ukraine wanted to keep Europe involved in any further peace talks with Russia and the US “to ensure that Europe’s positions are taken into account.”
But as the negotiations show limited progress, there are growing questions about the next steps in attempts to resolve the conflict.
I will bring you all the key lines here, as well as other stories from across Europe.
It’s Friday, 20 February 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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Poland leaves Ottawa Convention banning antipersonnel mines
Meanwhile, Poland has officially left the Ottawa Convention, which bans the use of antipersonnel mines, amid growing concerns about Russia’s aggressive posture.
The withdrawal means Poland will be able to lay anti-personnel mines along its eastern border in the space of 48 hours if a threat emerges, prime minister Donald Tusk said yesterday.
But Poland says it will only use mines in case of “realistic threat of Russian aggression,” AP noted.
Reuters noted that most of Russia’s European neighbours except Norway move to leave the treaty as they want to be ready to confront any potential threat from Russia.
Morning opening: How to end this war?
Jakub Krupa
Defence ministers of the E5 grouping – France, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom – are meeting in the Polish city of Kraków this morning.
They will be joined by their Ukrainian counterpart, Mykhailo Fedorov, the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, and Nato’s deputy secretary general Radmila Šekerinska.
Their meeting comes just days before the fourth anniversary of the full-scale Russian aggression on Ukraine, as allies seek to coordinate on the next steps.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed last night that Ukraine wanted to keep Europe involved in any further peace talks with Russia and the US “to ensure that Europe’s positions are taken into account.”
But as the negotiations show limited progress, there are growing questions about the next steps in attempts to resolve the conflict.
I will bring you all the key lines here, as well as other stories from across Europe.
It’s Friday, 20 February 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
