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National

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is prepared to discuss adopting a neutral stance as part of a peace deal with Russia, according to Reuters.

Be smart: Ukraine would not be able to join NATO if it adopted a neutral stance. Zelensky made the remarks during a 90-minute video call with Russian reporters, which Russian authorities had warned Russian media to refrain from participating in, per Reuters. 

The Ukrainian president spoke Russian throughout the call. 

Driving the news: A neutral stance would have to be guaranteed by third parties and put to a referendum, Zelensky said in remarks aired on Sunday. 

"Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state. We are ready to go for it. This is the most important point," Zelensky said. 

Zelensky said he denied other Russian demands, like the demilitarization of Ukraine. 

Be smart: Ukraine had previously sought to join NATO, and approved an amendment to its constitution in 2019 that added membership in the European Union and NATO as strategic goals for the country.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly opposed Ukraine joining NATO.

Go deeper: What neutrality means for Ukraine (Al Jazeera)

Zelensky opens the door for Ukraine neutrality in Russia peace deal

Ukraine would not be able to join NATO if it adopted a neutral stance.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky holds a virtual address with the U.S. Congress. Photo: UKRINFORM/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Russia

Conflicts, policies and powers are intersecting and shaping the world. Breaking news and analysis of national security, foreign policy and global crises.

World

Progressive strategists have quietly built a massive network of social media communities in political battleground states that can activate ahead of elections and policy fights, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The network, operating under the name Real Voices Media, uses apolitical, nonideological content to build up audiences. It then leverages the crowd on behalf of clients in what experts say is a potent persuasion strategy. President Biden and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer are beneficiaries.

During an interview with Axios, RVM managing director Heather Holdridge provided previously unreported details about its mission and structure.

What's happening: Facebook and Instagram users in Michigan started seeing ads last month promoting stories by a new news site, the Main Street Sentinel.

The aggregated content — from both news sources and the White House itself — touched on skyrocketing gas prices and broader price inflation, blaming corporate price gouging and Russia's invasion of Ukraine and mirroring lines from the Biden administration.

It's also run multiple stories touting key presidential legislative efforts, including infrastructure spending and domestic manufacturing support.

But most of its content is aimed at backing Whitmer, a fellow Democrat — and attacking her Republican challengers.

It's not clear who's behind the site. Its listed publisher, Star Spangled Media LLC, was formed last month in New York and lists a registered agent service as its only officer.

The Sentinel did not respond to requests for comment.

The Sentinel has spent about $120,000 on ads since last month. Most have run on its flagship Facebook and Instagram pages.

But it's also paid to run dozens of ads through Michigan-specific pages overseen by Real Voices Media, including Stand Up 4 Michigan’s Middle Class, A Working Michigan and Michigan Black & Bougie.

Those are just a few of the more than 400 pages that RVM oversees, according to Holdridge, who said its combined audience is about 1.9 million people.

Founded in 2019, RVM received early investment from Will Robinson, a Democratic strategist and partner at The New Media Firm, but isn't affiliated with that firm, Holdridge said. She declined to name other investors.

RVM pages have hosted thousands of Facebook and Instagram ads since 2019, with $500,000 spent on paid posts on the platforms, according to political advertising data from Meta, the social media sites' parent company.

How it works: RVM oversees the digital properties under its umbrella. But their front-facing content is produced by creators recruited and trained to originally build social media followings focused on specific states and topics.

Many focus on politically competitive states such as Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.

Others target specific groups, some in granular detail: African Americans, Spanish speakers, LGBT people, seniors, parents, students, veterans, teachers, homeschoolers, small-business owners, medical professionals, service workers, local sports fans, gamers and foodies.

Most of the pages build up audiences with typical, apolitical social media fare — news stories, memes, discussion of local issues or shared interests.

"Our community managers have wide latitude over what they might be posting on any given day," Holdridge told Axios.

Between the lines: Those organic roots are what make RVM a potentially potent persuasion tool.

"The fact that we have built up these communities around nonpolitical things, but just around everyday interests, every day affinities where they live ... that presents an opportunity for folks who want to reach everyday people."

During the 2020 cycle, influence among nonpolitical obsessives was used to serve voter registration and turnout ads in key swing states through a host of RVM pages.

Last year, a number of them focused on the Virginia governor's race, where scores of ads attacking Republican Glenn Youngkin ran on RVM pages devoted to women's health, veterans issues and personal finances, among others.

More recently, an RVM page targeting mothers in West Virginia has plugged efforts to revive the Child Tax Credit.

One focused on household finances recently activated to oppose major airlines' efforts to restrict 5G spectrum for cellphone carriers.

Scoop: Progressives build massive, cloaked online powerhouse

The network uses apolitical, nonideological content to build up audiences.

Progressives

2024 will be an election year like no other, as President Biden seeks re-election amid economic uncertainty, two wars and questions about his age. His likely foe, former President Trump, faces felony charges and vows revenge on his political enemies. Meanwhile, Americans generally are dissatisfied with those choices and are divided over immigration, race, education and more.

Politics & Policy

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's new sentence — nine years in a more remote prison colony — could potentially endanger his life and sever his contacts with the outside world, according to Vladimir Ashurkov, the director of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.

Driving the news: Navalny protested Putin's invasion of Ukraine in court and on social media before a judge handed down the sentence, on fraud charges that were widely seen as politically motivated. Navalny has been in prison since returning to Russia in January 2021 after recuperating from an assassination attempt by Russia's security services.

What he's saying: "Yes, we are dismayed by the sentence. But we knew that with Putin in power it’s unlikely that Alexei can get out. So it’s important for us to continue our work," Ashurkov told Axios in a Zoom interview from London, where he lives in exile.

The foundation continues to post investigations into the alleged wealth and corruption of Kremlin insiders, most recently of a $700 million yacht linked to Putin.

And Navalny, who has faced harsh treatment in prison and held a three-week hunger strike last year to demand proper medical care, has remained one of Putin's sharpest critics. “He is thin, he is frail, but he is as fiery as ever," Ashurkov said.

Up to now, Navalny's lawyers have been able to visit him at his prison colony outside Moscow for around an hour each day, during which time he could write and receive messages from his family and colleagues and help guide the work of his organization.

He will now be moved to a more secure and more remote facility. It's unclear whether he will appear regularly in court, or have steady access to his lawyers — who were briefly detained following his sentencing on Tuesday.

“This trickle of communication and information has been vital for us," Ashurkov said. “It’s possible this will be taken away."

Asked about Navalny's personal safety, Ashurkov noted that he is himself in danger even in London.

Ashurkov in 2018. Photo: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty

"Nobody has any doubt that Russian security services can undertake assassinations in any part of the world. We’ve seen it in Germany, we’ve seen it in U.K. So a Russian prison cell is not a secure place — it’s probably the least secure place.” 

Ashurkov left Russia in 2014 after facing politically motivated charges for his work with Navalny. The entire Anti-Corruption Foundation moved its staff and operations to Lithuania last year after being declared an "extremist" organization.

Ashurkov noted that many more Russians are moving into exile as Putin steps up his repression at home during the invasion in Ukraine. "Any dissident, any independent voice in Russia is unfortunately in great danger.”

What's next: Navalny is calling for protests over the Ukraine invasion, and Ashurkov expects a new wave of demonstrations to begin in the next few months as sanctions bite and discontent over the war grows. He believes that will destabilize the regime and, over time, lead to its downfall.

His team is preparing for that day to ensure it has a "seat at the table" when the direction of post-Putin Russia is set. 

The bottom line: “People who are involved in Russian opposition politics have learned not to expect quick wins. They are in for the long run and have braced for long battles."

Go deeper: Putin rebuilds the Iron Curtain.

Navalny won't be freed until Putin is gone, top aide says

"A Russian prison cell is probably the least secure place.”

 Alexei Navalny appears in a court hearing at his penal colony. Photo: Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

Alexei Navalny

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) resigned his House seat on Saturday after he was convicted of three felonies earlier this week.

Why it matters: The resignation marks the end of Fortenberry's nearly two decades in Congress, and comes after both party leaders in the House called on him to step down.

“This appeal starts immediately,” Fortenberry told reporters after the verdict on Thursday, citing “concerns about the fairness of the process.”

Driving the news: Fortenberry told his House colleagues in a letter that his resignation is effective March 31.

"Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer effectively serve," he wrote.

The letter includes a poem from Mother Teresa, which reads in part, "People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway."

The backdrop: A federal jury in California found Fortenberry guilty of two counts of making false statements and one count of concealing information.

Fortenberry lied in two interviews with FBI agents about $30,000 in illegal campaign donations he received from Nigerian Lebanese billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, prosecutors said.

Fortenberry and his attorneys argued the prosecution was politically motivated and that Fortenberry misremembered details of a call with an associate who informed him of the illegal donations.

Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for June 28.

What they’re saying: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, speaking at a GOP retreat in Florida on Friday, said Fortenberry “had his day in court” and should make his appeal as a “private citizen.”

“I think when someone's convicted, it's time to resign,” he said at a press conference, adding that he planned to speak with Fortenberry later in the day.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi followed suit in a statement in which she said Fortenberry “must resign from the House.”

“Congressman Fortenberry’s conviction represents a breach of the public trust and confidence in his ability to serve. No one is above the law.”

Editor's note: This story and headline have been updated to reflect Fortenberry's resignation. 

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry resigns after conviction

"Due to the difficulties of my current circumstances, I can no longer effectively serve," the GOP congressman said.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry speaks to reporters at the Capitol

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry speaks to reporters at the Capitol in 2013. Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images 

Kevin McCarthy

President Biden said Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" during a speech in front of the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland.  

Driving the news: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power," Biden said to a crowd gathered in Warsaw. While meeting with refugees earlier, he told reporters that Putin was "a butcher."

A White House official said after Biden's remarks: "The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change."

What he's saying: Biden invoked a message of solidarity with Ukraine: "We stand with you. Period," he said. 

"We must remain unified today and tomorrow and the day after. ... It will not be easy. There will be cost, but it's a price we have to pay because the darkness that drives autocracy is only no match for the flame of liberty that lights the souls of free people everywhere," Biden added. 

"In the perennial struggle for democracy and freedom, Ukraine and its people are on the front lines, fighting to save their nation and their brave resistance is part of a larger fight for essential democratic principles that unite all free people."

The big picture: Biden's speech comes on the last day of the president's trip to Europe, where he met with NATO allies and European Union leaders to offer support for Ukraine one month after Russia began its invasion. 

 Biden earlier on Saturday met with Ukrainian refugees and Polish President Andrzej Duda, to whom Biden expressed his commitment to protecting NATO allies as "a sacred obligation." 

"I'm always surprised by ... the depth and strength of the human spirit," Biden told reporters after meeting with Ukrainian refugees, per the White House. 

"Each one of those children said something to the effect, 'Say a prayer for my dad, for my grandfather, for my brother who’s back there fighting,'" Biden said.

State of play: The war, now in its fourth week, has led more than 3.7 million refugees to flee Ukraine in what the UN refugee agency has labeled the fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Biden says Putin "cannot remain in power"

He also invoked a message of solidarity with Ukraine, saying "we must remain unified today and tomorrow and the day after."

President Joe Biden delivers a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland on March 26, 2022.

President Biden delivers a speech at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, Poland, on March 26. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Joe Biden

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with energy-producing countries gathered in Doha, Qatar, for an increase in the supply of oil and natural gas exports to Europe, the Associated Press reported.

Driving the news: In an unscheduled appearance Saturday at the annual summit, Zelensky asked attendees to help replace Europe’s supply of fossil fuels that's been badly affected by sanctions on Russian exports amid the country’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

What he’s saying: “The responsible states, in particular the state of Qatar, you are reliable and reputable suppliers of energy resources,” Zelensky said in his video address. 

“And you can contribute to stabilizing the situation in Europe. There is much that can be done to restore justice,” he added.

“The future of Europe depends on your efforts. I urge you to increase energy production to make Russia understand that no state should use energy as a weapon and to blackmail the world,” Zelensky said.  

Zelensky also alluded to how the ongoing war could spur a food crisis that would have a ripple effect in the Middle East, Latin America and elsewhere. 

The big picture: Qatar is one of the world’s leading producers of natural gas.

Zelensky seeks more energy exports at Doha summit

He asked attendees to help replace Europe’s energy supply that's been affected by sanctions on Russian exports.

Axios

Sunday's top stories