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What did 27 February 2025 mean for Ukraine's security?
Summary
A look back at a day of Washington diplomacy, set against a week of UN voting, European rearmament talk and a drone strike on a Russian refinery.
What was the security picture for Ukraine on 27 February 2025? It was a day of diplomacy in Washington, shaped by events in the days just before it.
On 27 February 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump met UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington, D.C. Their talks included the peace negotiations over the Russo-Ukrainian war. Starmer also presented a letter from King Charles III inviting Trump to visit London later that year.
The week leading up
The meeting followed a crowded few days. On 24 February 2025, the United Nations General Assembly voted 93–18, with 65 abstentions, to pass a resolution condemning Russia's war against Ukraine. The 18 countries voting against included the United States, Russia, Israel, Belarus and North Korea.
The same day, German chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz declared the rapid re-militarization of Germany and Europe as a whole to be an immediate priority. The aims he set out were to provide military support for Ukraine against Russia and to pursue European military independence from the United States and possibly NATO.
Fighting continued
The war itself went on alongside the diplomacy. Also on 24 February 2025, the Ryazan Refinery in Ryazan, Russia, suspended operations after an overnight Ukrainian drone attack destroyed its main crude distillation unit. Locals reported hearing at least five explosions.
Taken together, these reports show how the talks of 27 February 2025 sat within a wider set of pressures: a divided vote at the UN, European calls to build up military strength, and continuing strikes on Russian territory.
