President Biden said Monday his weekend statement that Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power" did not reflect new U.S. policy, but rather an expression of his "personal feelings" and "moral outrage" about Russia's atrocities in Ukraine.
Why it matters: Biden's off-the-cuff remark during a major speech in Poland on Saturday triggered global headlines and sent White House officials scrambling to clarify that the U.S. was not pursuing regime change in Russia.
Ukrainian forces have retaken control of Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, the city's mayor said in a video Monday.
Why it matters: Irpin was one of a number of towns west of the capital that endured heavy fighting as Russian troops attempted to advance toward Kyiv in the early days of the invasion, per the Guardian.
The U.S. will deploy six U.S. Navy Growler aircraft and 240 support troops to Germany to help bolster NATO's eastern flank, Pentagon press secretary John Kirby announced Monday.
Why it matters: NATO leaders committed at a summit in Brussels last week to "significantly strengthen" the alliance's long-term force posture in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including through major new troop deployments in the east.
Secretary of State Tony Blinken and the foreign ministers of Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates pledged at the end of an unprecedented meeting on Monday to strengthen security and economic cooperation and try to bring more countries on board.
Why it matters: Although most participants didn’t say it directly, the summit in the Negev desert was another means of strengthening regional cooperation against Iran and of increasing engagement with the Biden administration amid concerns of a U.S. retreat from the region.
Pope Francis on Monday met with Indigenous leaders from Canada who are seeking an apology for the Catholic Church's involvement in running residential schools that abused Indigenous children for decades.
Driving the news: Pope Francis has so far declined to apologize for the church's role in Canada's past policy of removing Indigenous children from their families to attend the state-funded residential schools.
German authorities may designate displaying the letter "Z" in support of Russia's war in Ukraine as a criminal offense liable for prosecution, an Interior Ministry spokesperson told reporters Monday, Reuters reported.
Why it matters: The symbol Z, indicating support for Russia's unprovoked invasion, has become ubiquitous within Russia and has been seen painted on Russian tanks in Ukraine, the Washington Post reported.
A majority of Americans believe President Biden has not been "tough enough" on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine but are concerned about the U.S. being drawn into an all-out war with Russia, according to a poll published on Monday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Why it matters: The results indicate that those polled believe the U.S. should continue sending humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine while increasing sanctions on Russia, even at the risk of damaging the U.S. economy.
Russia's Novaya Gazeta newspaper, whose editor was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year, announced on Monday that it will temporarily cease all its operations until the end of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Why it matters: Novaya Gazeta, which has been recognized as "the only truly critical newspaper with national influence in Russia today" by the Committee to Protect Journalists, did not shy from covering issues like government corruption and human rights violations.
Turkey's National Defense Ministry said Monday it defused a mine off of the coast of the northern Igneada district, located near the border with Bulgaria.
Why it matters: It's the second mine recently disabled by Turkey and comes after a warning from Russia that hundreds of mines had broken off cables near Ukrainian ports and drifted into the Black Sea.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he's looking for peace "without delay" when negotiations resume with Russian officials in Turkey this week, but "Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt."
Driving the news: Zelensky's comments in a televised address late Sunday came hours after he told Russian journalists that he was prepared to discuss adopting a neutral stance as part of a peace deal with Russia and put an agreement that Ukraine couldn't join NATO to a referendum.
The only clear path to peace in Ukraine is a deal between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, but the red lines drawn by the Russian and Ukrainian leaders do not intersect.
The big picture: The scope of the fighting is narrowing, and both sides have signaled some flexibility on Ukraine's post-war status, yet experts say this war is likely to keep raging, and may become even bloodier.
Driving the news: Hours after Zelensky posted the 90-minute interview in which he spoke Russian to his Telegram channel, Russia's government issued a statement warning Russian news outlets "about the necessity of refraining from publishing" Zelensky's 90-minute interview with the journalists, per state media.
Police said Sunday that gunmen killed at least two Israelis and wounded several others in what officials described as a "terrorist attack" in the central Israeli city of Hadera. Militant group ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack.
The big picture: The shooting took place as Secretary of State Tony Blinken visits the country to attend a historic series of meetings with the foreign ministers of Israel, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in southern Israel.
