There’s a new US ambassador to Poland, after a year in which the post was vacant. Marek Brzezinski was sworn in yesterday at the White House by US vice president Kamala Harris. The diplomat was previously the USA’s ambassador to Sweden during Barack Obama’s presidency, and he was on Bill Clinton’s National Security Council as Director for Russia. Brzezinski has previously been awarded Poland’s Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit.

His father was a national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter.

Source: PAP, state.gov

US president Joe Biden says he believes Vladimir Putin will order a Russian invasion of Ukraine—and that he will regret having done it. In a press conference last night, Biden said he thinks Putin will continue to test the West and NATO “as significantly as he can”.

His remarks go much further than current US intelligence assessments, which conclude that Putin hasn’t yet made a decision about whether to invade.

Biden acknowledged that NATO allies could be split on how to respond to a Russian incursion, depending on how far it went.

And the president added that the US will increase its troop presence in Poland if Russia moves in on Ukraine, saying his country has a “sacred obligation” to defend its NATO allies.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet tomorrow with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Geneva.

Source: nytimes.com

The minister for climate and the environment, Anna Moskwa, says yesterday’s round of talks with the Czech government over the Turów mine were very fruitful. On the same day the EU started the process of imposing fines on Poland for ignoring a court order to close the mine.

Minister Moskwa said her Czech counterpart “still has to make arrangements” and that she hoped agreements would come “as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile the European Commission will begin proceedings to hold back the first penalty of 15 million euros from payments to Poland.

The European Court of Justice last year imposed a fine of half a million euros per day on Poland as long as the mine continues to operate.

Source: PAP, AP

Two desert cats have left Gdańsk zoo to make their way in the world—by moving to another zoo in France.
The 7-month-old brothers, called Simba and Samir, are from a litter of four cats.

They were born to Abu, who came from Berlin, and Maolie, a female desert cat who came from a French feline park.
The remaining siblings, Sahir and Zabi, are staying for now in Gdańsk zoo with their mother.

Source: radiogdansk.pl

Weather

It’ll be a freezing day today in the Tri Cities, with a fresh breeze and the possibility of some light sleet or snow. The temperature in Gdańsk will peak at 0°C, 32°F. Overnight could bring snow before a cloudy day with some clear spells tomorrow, and temperatures staying around freezing.

RGEN/AGC