Here's a Ukraine-related item from RFE/RL's bureau in Washington:
WASHINGTON -- Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says he is meeting with U.S. lawmakers and officials in Washington to discuss "increasing legislative pressure" to provide weapons to Ukraine.
Saakashvili wrote in a February 25 post on his Facebook page that "never have so many [U.S.] lawmakers agreed to meet with me, even when I was president: 34 meetings in three days."
Many prominent members of the U.S. Congress have advocated providing arms to the Ukrainian government in its standoff with pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine that Washington accuses Moscow of backing.
Saakashvili left Georgia after his presidency ended in November 2013 and is currently serving as an adviser to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Georgia has sought to have Ukraine extradite Saakashvili to face abuse of authority and other charges.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on February 21 that U.S. President Barack Obama would examine the possibility of arming Ukrainian forces to fight the rebels.
An item from our news desk on another development that is at least peripherally related to Ukraine.
Russia and Cyprus have signed an agreement that would give Russian military ships access to the EU member state's ports in the Mediterranean Sea.
"We signed a number of documents regarding our military cooperation. For example regarding the entrance of our ships to Cypriot ports," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on February 25 in Moscow after signing the deal with his Cypriot counterpart, Nicos Anastasiades.
The deal comes amid heightened tensions between the Kremlin and the West over Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea territory a pro-Moscow insurgency fighting Kyiv's forces in eastern Ukraine.
Putin said deal with Cyprus, which relies heavily on Russian investment, should not "cause worries anywhere."
A Cypriot government source told Reuters that Cyprus had previously allowed Russian ships to access its ports but that the deal marked the first time this arrangement was formalized in a separate agreement.
(Reuters, AP)