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Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & NatSec newsletter

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Defense &
National Security

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The Big Story

Trump’s sudden Ukraine shift reveals new frustrations with Putin

President Trump’s abrupt shift on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine could end is exposing his newly increased frustrations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s sudden determination on Tuesday that Ukraine could win back all of its land — and perhaps more — came after meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the United Nations, leaving Zelensky pleased and surprised.

Some GOP foreign policy hawks signaled that they are all in on the president’s latest posture and argued that it could change the course of the war.

But they also cautioned the White House would need to back up Trump’s tough talk with action.

“Reality has been unmistakable: passivity in the face of aggression will not stop Putin. Self-imposed constraints will only delay the peace the president rightly seeks,” Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), one of the foremost GOP Ukraine hawks in Congress, said in a statement Wednesday. He called on all in the administration to back Ukraine or risk “undermining President Trump’s efforts to end the war.”

“The world is watching to see if President Trump’s administration translates his rhetoric into action,” McConnell added.

Trump’s Tuesday social media post marked the latest shift in his approach to Putin after coming into office touting his relationship with the Russian leader and vowing to use it to quickly end the war. The following months were marked by both an explosive Oval Office meeting with Zelensky and evidence of increasing frustration with Moscow.

Trump hosted Putin in Alaska in August for a historic summit, rolling out the red carpet and having Putin ride in the presidential limousine from the tarmac in Anchorage to the meeting site. The president had billed the meeting as a discussion on swapping territories as part of potential peace talks with Ukraine, but the two did not reach a deal.

Days later, Trump and European allies hosted Zelensky at the White House to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine.

Throughout the war, however, Trump has remained consistent in signaling that any deal would need to include Ukraine ceding territory to Russia, while Zelensky insisted doing so was a nonstarter.

This week, Trump’s tune changed. The president affirmed Ukraine’s ability to “fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form” in a Tuesday post on Truth Social while comparing Russia’s war advancements to that of a “paper tiger.”

When asked on Fox News’s “Fox & Friends” about the shift for Trump, Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said, “I think you’re seeing the president’s frustration and disappointment, frankly, with Putin.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, on Fox News’s “Jesse Watters Primetime,” said Trump has “most recently … been incredibly frustrated” with Putin, who “continues to talk nice and then we wake up every morning, and in the West Wing we’re receiving reports about how Russia bombed Ukraine, and they continue to kill innocent civilians.”

Senate GOP allies view the latest effort as one to heap pressure on Russia in a bid to turn the tide in the fighting to bring the war to a conclusion.

Read the full report at TheHill.com.

Welcome to The Hill’s Defense & National Security newsletter, I’m Ellen Mitchell — your guide to the latest developments at the Pentagon, on Capitol Hill and beyond.

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Essential Reads

How policy will affect defense and national security now and in
the future:

Hegseth seeking death penalty for convicted Fort Hood shooter

Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth is seeking the death penalty for former Army Maj. Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 people and injured dozens of others at Texas’s Fort Hood nearly 16 years ago. Hegseth is asking President Trump for final approval for the military execution of Hasan, an ex-Army psychiatrist who gunned down 13 people and wounded 32 others at the Army base near Killeen, Texas, in November 2009. …

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Air Force launches new ‘culture of fitness’ initiative with scoring system

The U.S. Air Force launched a new “Culture of Fitness” initiative, altering the current physical fitness assessments by adding a 2-mile run and making the test biannual for all service members. At the start of 2026, the Air Force will halt all physical fitness assessment testing to transition into the updated program. On March 1, the service will start testing service members under the new assessment standards. All fitness …

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Zelensky tells UN: ‘International institutions are too weak’ in stopping Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday blasted the United Nations as a weak institution that is helpless in stopping war amid his country’s 3 1/2-year defense against Russian invading forces. Zelensky addressed the United Nations General Assembly warning that the podium is only good for words and not meaningful action. “Nations can speak about their pain from stages like this, but even during bloodshed, there …

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Hegseth: Russian incursion into NATO airspace ‘unacceptable’

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that a Russian incursion into NATO airspace is “unacceptable,” only a few days after multiple Russian fighter jets entered Estonian airspace. “Important call yesterday with my Estonian counterpart @HPevkur,” Hegseth wrote in a post on the social platform X. “The Russian incursion into Nato airspace is unacceptable. The Department of War stands in solidarity with Estonia and commends …

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In Other News

Branch out with a different read from The Hill:

Raskin demands DOJ turn over any Homan tapes

House Judiciary Committee Democrats are demanding the tapes and other investigative materials reportedly showing border czar Tom Homan accepting $50,000 in cash from undercover FBI agents. The ask ignites a probe into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI’s handling of the matter, with Trump officials …

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On Our Radar

Upcoming things we’re watching in and around the defense world:

The U.S. Nuclear Industry Council will hold its 2025 Space Nuclear Industry Symposium at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies will discuss “Trump and the Autocratic Axis,” focussing on Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, tomorrow at 11 a.m.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will speak at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at 12 p.m. tomorrow.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) will deliver the keynote remarks at the Arms Control Association’s annual meeting tomorrow at 12:15 p.m.
The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft will have a conversation on “What does China want?” at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace will host a talk focusing on the Israel-Hamas war and prospects for a two-state solution tomorrow at 4 p.m.

What We’re Reading

News we’ve flagged from other outlets:

The Pentagon, the press and the fight to control national security coverage (The New York Times)
Veterans who lack citizenship fear being swept up in Trump’s deportations (The Associated Press)
Here’s how looming government shutdown could affect troops, families (Military Times)

Opinions in The Hill

Op-eds related to defense & national security submitted to The Hill:

A realistic plan to bring Russia and China back to nuclear arms negotiations
Trump may be abandoning Taiwan to China’s tender mercies
Congress must investigate the blowing up of drug boats