The President's Daily Brief
February 19th, 2025: Russia Plays Hardball In Riyadh & Iran Vows Another Attack On Israel
Wed, 19 Feb 2025
In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: Russia is playing hardball in negotiations with the U.S. over ending the war in Ukraine, demanding the West abandon Ukraine’s NATO ambitions and rejecting NATO peacekeepers. Iran is vowing another direct attack on Israel while taunting the U.S. over its nuclear program—what’s behind Tehran’s latest threats? Hamas says it will return the bodies of four hostages, including the youngest victims of October 7th, but what does this move signal? And in today’s Back of the Brief: North Korea is making bold new promises to expand its nuclear arsenal, dismissing U.S. efforts to curb its ambitions. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: What are Russia's demands in the Ukraine negotiations?
It's Wednesday, 19 February. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. Today, we're starting with the negotiations between the US and Russia over ending the war in Ukraine. Now, Moscow appears to be playing hardball.
There's a surprise demanding that the West scrap Ukraine's NATO ambitions and rejecting any talk of NATO peacekeepers. Oh, is that all you want, Putin? We'll examine Russia's stated position, which essentially appears to be that they get what they want and Ukraine doesn't. Later in the show, Iran is vowing yet another attack on Israel, while Tehran claims that the U.S.
and Israel, quote, can't do a damn thing to stop its nuclear ambitions. Okay, well, technically, that's not correct. The question is whether the U.S. and Israel have the political will to do a damn thing regarding Iran's nuclear ambitions. We'll tell you what's behind the Iranian regime's threats.
Chapter 2: Why is Iran threatening another attack on Israel?
Chapter 3: What is the significance of Hamas returning hostages' bodies?
Chapter 4: How is North Korea responding to U.S. denuclearization efforts?
Plus, more hostage news in Israel, as Hamas says it's returning the bodies of four hostages, including the youngest victims of the brutal 7 October attacks. And in today's Back of the Brief, North Korea, we haven't heard from them for a short while. Well, they're making bold new promises to expand their nuclear arsenal, brushing off U.S. denuclearization efforts. But first, today's PDB Spotlight.
Chapter 5: What happened during the U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh?
Senior US and Russian officials convened Tuesday in the capital of Saudi Arabia, that would be Riyadh, for landmark talks on reviving their diplomatic and economic ties and bringing the Putin regime's war on Ukraine to an end. But Moscow is already playing hardball, using the discussions to escalate their demands regarding a potential settlement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov led the Kremlin's delegation opposite U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. Both Rubio and Lavrov said the initial discussions, which lasted nearly five hours, proved productive and that both sides listened to each other's concerns. That's nice.
That's according to a report from Reuters. Witkoff was even more effusive, describing the talks as positive, upbeat and constructive. That sounds downright chummy. Adding, quote, everybody was there to get to the right outcome, end quote. Well, yeah, the invading country, that would be Russia, is certainly there to get what they would like.
Rubio told reporters that they agreed to pursue three broad goals restoring staffing at their respective embassies in Washington and Moscow, exploring economic cooperation and, of course, pursuing high level negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.
But Rubio stressed that the talks served only as a starting point and that the road to achieving these ambitious goals would be a long one, particularly after more than three years of frozen diplomacy due to Putin's invasion of Ukraine.
With that in mind, Rubio said restaffing the embassies will be the first priority, noting that, quote, for us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally.
Now, the talks have alarmed leaders in Kiev who were not invited to participate, along with their NATO allies, also not invited, who fear Putin is trying to use the bilateral talks to foist a dictated peace on Europe. And when was the last time you heard anybody say the word foist?
But Rubio told reporters on Tuesday that no one was being sidelined, that the EU and Ukraine would join the negotiating process as discussions progress, and that any settlement would need to be approved by all parties. Despite these assurances, however, remarks by Russian officials proved that Kyiv is right to be wary of Moscow's motivations.
Lavrov and the Russian delegation used Tuesday's talks to harden their stance regarding a negotiated settlement to the war, outlining concessions they suggested are non-negotiable. Now their chief objection is Ukraine's pursuit of NATO membership.
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Chapter 6: What are the implications of Iran's latest military threats?
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Israeli assertions that Iran's military strength is weakened. On Monday, IRGC Deputy Commander Ali Farabi declared that, quote, Operation True Promise 3 will occur at the right time. Oh, it's a sequel. Though he offered no specific timeline.
His remarks reinforce Iran's defiance in the face of Israeli airstrikes and Western pressure, signaling that Iran remains undeterred despite repeated attempts to weaken its military infrastructure. This latest threat from the regime follows two prior missile barrages on Israel.
You'll remember that back in April of 2024, Iran launched Operation True Promise One, firing over 300 missiles and drones at Israeli military installations in retaliation for the targeted killing of two IRGC generals in Damascus, Syria. The attack, though largely stopped by Israel's air defense, marked Iran's first direct military engagement with Israel.
Later that year, in October, the Iranian regime followed up with Operation True Promise No. 2, since they couldn't be bothered to come up with a brand new name for the operation, unleashing roughly 200 missiles on Israeli positions after the assassination of high-profile Iranian-aligned figures, including, of course, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
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