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Tag: WAR

  • Trump-Zelenskyy talks will address security guarantees, reconstruction, Ukraine leader says

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    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacksZelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”The meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago.An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

    KYIV, Ukraine —

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.

    Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacks

    Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”

    The meeting will take place at Mar-a-Lago.

    An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”

    The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.

    Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

    “We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.

    The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

    Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.

    “It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.

    Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

    Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

    Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.

    On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

    One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.

    Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

    Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

    Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.

    “Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.

    Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.

    Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

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  • Trump-Zelenskyy talks will address security guarantees, reconstruction, Ukraine leader says

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    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacksZelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.“We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.“It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.“Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

    KYIV, Ukraine —

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that he will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida over the weekend.

    Related video above: Ukraine and U.S. discuss peace proposals on Christmas Day amid Russian attacks

    Zelenskyy told journalists that the two leaders will discuss security guarantees for Ukraine during Sunday’s talks and that the 20-point plan under discussion “is about 90% ready.”

    An “economic agreement” also will be discussed, Zelenskyy said, but added that he was unable to confirm “whether anything will be finalized by the end.”

    The Ukrainian side will also raise “territorial issues,” he said. Moscow has insisted that Ukraine relinquish the remaining territory it still holds in the Donbas — an ultimatum that Ukraine has rejected. Russia has captured most of Luhansk and about 70% of Donetsk — the two areas that make up the Donbas.

    Zelenskyy said that Ukraine “would like the Europeans to be involved,” but doubted whether it would be possible at short notice.

    “We must, without doubt, find some format in the near future in which not only Ukraine and the U.S. are present, but Europe is represented as well,” he said.

    The announced meeting is the latest development in an extensive U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the nearly four-year Russia-Ukraine war, but efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

    Zelenskyy’s comments came after he said Thursday that he had a “good conversation” with U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

    Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday that the Kremlin had already been in contact with U.S. representatives since Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev recently met with U.S. envoys in Florida.

    “It was agreed upon to continue the dialogue,” he said.

    Trump is engaged in a diplomatic push to end Russia’s all-out war, which began on Feb. 24, 2022, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

    Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would be willing to withdraw troops from Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland as part of a plan to end the war if Russia also pulls back and the area becomes a demilitarized zone monitored by international forces.

    Though Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that there had been “slow but steady progress” in the peace talks, Russia has given no indication that it will agree to any kind of withdrawal from land it has seized.

    On the ground, two people were killed and six more wounded Friday when a guided aerial bomb hit a busy road and set cars aflame in Ukraine’s second biggest city, Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov wrote on Telegram.

    One person was killed and three others were wounded when a guided aerial bomb hit a house in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, while six people were wounded in a missile strike on the city of Uman, local officials said Friday.

    Russian drone attacks on the city of Mykolaiv and its suburbs overnight into Friday left part of the city without power. Energy and port infrastructure were damaged by drones in the city of Odesa on the Black Sea.

    Meanwhile, Ukraine said that it struck a major Russian oil refinery on Thursday using U.K.-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.

    Ukraine’s General Staff said that its forces hit the Novoshakhtinsk refinery in Russia’s Rostov region.

    “Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit,” it wrote on Telegram.

    Rostov regional Gov. Yuri Slyusar said that a firefighter was wounded when extinguishing the fire.

    Ukraine’s long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries aim to deprive Moscow of the oil export revenue it needs to pursue its full-scale invasion. Russia wants to cripple Ukraine’s power grid, seeking to deny civilians access to heat, light and running water in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to “weaponize winter.”

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  • Pope Leo XIV urges faithful on Christmas to shed indifference in the face of suffering

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    We’re holding *** few activities for the children to help with their mental health. We just want to relieve the children from the shock that they have experienced in the last two years of war and the conditions that completely swallowed them. They couldn’t control it, but those were our conditions. They have suffered *** lot, so we’re trying *** different touch this holiday season, different activities, so that they can feel some amount of joy. It is true that we always have hoped that it will get better and Gaza will become better, that we go back to our homes, celebrate, go back to the same way we were before the war, go to pray and celebrate, that we would reunited again as *** family around the table tomorrow or at dinner on Christmas Day, and we would talk, relax, and laugh. Every time I remember those moments, I feel sad of what our lives have become.

    During his first Christmas Day message Thursday, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, like in Gaza, those who are in impoverished, like in Yemen, and the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea and the American continent for a better future.Related video above: Gaza’s tiny Christian community tries to revive holiday spirit during ceasefireThe first U.S. pontiff addressed some 26,000 people from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square for the traditional papal “Urbi et Orbi” address, Latin for “To the City and to the World,” which serves as a summary of the woes facing the world.While the crowd gathered under a steady downpour during the papal Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the rain had subsided by the time Leo took a brief tour of the square in the popemobile, then spoke to the crowd from the loggia.Leo revived the tradition of offering Christmas greetings in multiple languages that was abandoned by his predecessor, Pope Francis. He received especially warm cheers when he made his greetings in his native English and Spanish, the language of his adopted country of Peru, where he served first as a missionary and then as archbishop.Someone in the crowd shouted out, “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope!” before he retreated into the basilica. Leo took off his glasses for a final wave.Leo surveys the world’s distressDuring the traditional address, the pope emphasized that everyone can contribute to peace by acting with humility and responsibility.“If he would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change,” the pope said.Leo called for “justice, peace and stability” in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Syria, prayers for “the tormented people of Ukraine,” and “peace and consolation” for victims of wars, injustice, political stability, religious persecution and terrorism, citing Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Congo.The pope also urged dialogue to address “numerous challenges” in Latin America, reconciliation in Myanmar, the restoration of “the ancient friendship between Thailand and Cambodia,” and assistance for the suffering of those hit by natural disasters in South Asia and Oceania.“In becoming man, Jesus took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent,” the pontiff said.He also remembered those who have lost their jobs or are seeking work, especially young people, underpaid workers and those in prison.Peace through dialogueEarlier, Leo led the Christmas Day Mass from the central altar beneath the balustrade of St. Peter’s Basilica, adorned with floral garlands and clusters of red poinsettias. White flowers were set at the feet of a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day.In his homily, Leo underlined that peace can emerge only through dialogue.“There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other,” he said.He remembered the people of Gaza, “exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold” and the fragility of “defenseless populations, tried by so many wars,’’ and of “young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them, and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.’’Thousands of people packed the basilica for the pope’s first Christmas Day Mass, holding their smartphones aloft to capture images of the opening procession.This Christmas season marks the winding down of the Holy Year celebrations, which will close on Jan. 6, the Catholic Epiphany holiday marking the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.___Barry reported from Milan.

    VATICAN CITY —

    During his first Christmas Day message Thursday, Pope Leo XIV urged the faithful to shed indifference in the face of those who have lost everything, like in Gaza, those who are in impoverished, like in Yemen, and the many migrants who cross the Mediterranean Sea and the American continent for a better future.

    Related video above: Gaza’s tiny Christian community tries to revive holiday spirit during ceasefire

    The first U.S. pontiff addressed some 26,000 people from the loggia overlooking St. Peter’s Square for the traditional papal “Urbi et Orbi” address, Latin for “To the City and to the World,” which serves as a summary of the woes facing the world.

    While the crowd gathered under a steady downpour during the papal Mass inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the rain had subsided by the time Leo took a brief tour of the square in the popemobile, then spoke to the crowd from the loggia.

    Leo revived the tradition of offering Christmas greetings in multiple languages that was abandoned by his predecessor, Pope Francis. He received especially warm cheers when he made his greetings in his native English and Spanish, the language of his adopted country of Peru, where he served first as a missionary and then as archbishop.

    Someone in the crowd shouted out, “Viva il papa!” or “Long live the pope!” before he retreated into the basilica. Leo took off his glasses for a final wave.

    Leo surveys the world’s distress

    During the traditional address, the pope emphasized that everyone can contribute to peace by acting with humility and responsibility.

    “If he would truly enter into the suffering of others and stand in solidarity with the weak and the oppressed, then the world would change,” the pope said.

    Leo called for “justice, peace and stability” in Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Syria, prayers for “the tormented people of Ukraine,” and “peace and consolation” for victims of wars, injustice, political stability, religious persecution and terrorism, citing Sudan, South Sudan, Mali, Burkina Faso and Congo.

    The pope also urged dialogue to address “numerous challenges” in Latin America, reconciliation in Myanmar, the restoration of “the ancient friendship between Thailand and Cambodia,” and assistance for the suffering of those hit by natural disasters in South Asia and Oceania.

    “In becoming man, Jesus took upon himself our fragility, identifying with each one of us: with those who have nothing left and have lost everything, like the inhabitants of Gaza; with those who are prey to hunger and poverty, like the Yemeni people; with those who are fleeing their homeland to seek a future elsewhere, like the many refugees and migrants who cross the Mediterranean or traverse the American continent,” the pontiff said.

    He also remembered those who have lost their jobs or are seeking work, especially young people, underpaid workers and those in prison.

    Peace through dialogue

    Earlier, Leo led the Christmas Day Mass from the central altar beneath the balustrade of St. Peter’s Basilica, adorned with floral garlands and clusters of red poinsettias. White flowers were set at the feet of a statue of Mary, mother of Jesus, whose birth is celebrated on Christmas Day.

    In his homily, Leo underlined that peace can emerge only through dialogue.

    “There will be peace when our monologues are interrupted and, enriched by listening, we fall to our knees before the humanity of the other,” he said.

    He remembered the people of Gaza, “exposed for weeks to rain, wind and cold” and the fragility of “defenseless populations, tried by so many wars,’’ and of “young people forced to take up arms, who on the front lines feel the senselessness of what is asked of them, and the falsehoods that fill the pompous speeches of those who send them to their deaths.’’

    Thousands of people packed the basilica for the pope’s first Christmas Day Mass, holding their smartphones aloft to capture images of the opening procession.

    This Christmas season marks the winding down of the Holy Year celebrations, which will close on Jan. 6, the Catholic Epiphany holiday marking the visit of the three wise men to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem.

    ___

    Barry reported from Milan.


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  • Major Russian drone, missile attack on Ukraine kills at least 3 people, cuts power

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    Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

    KYIV, Ukraine —

    Russia fired more than 600 drones and three dozen missiles at Ukraine in a large-scale attack that began during the night and stretched into daylight hours Tuesday, officials said. At least three people were killed, including a 4-year-old child, two days before Christmas.

    The barrage struck homes and the power grid in 13 regions of Ukraine, causing widespread outages in bitter temperatures, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, a day after he described recent progress on finding a peace deal as “quite solid.”

    The bombardment demonstrated Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intention of pursuing the invasion of Ukraine, Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. Ukrainian and European officials have complained that Putin is not sincerely engaging with U.S.-led peace efforts.

    The attack “is an extremely clear signal of Russian priorities,” Zelenskyy said. “A strike before Christmas, when people want to be with their families, at home, in safety. A strike, in fact, in the midst of negotiations that are being conducted to end this war. Putin cannot accept the fact that we must stop killing.”

    For months, U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressing for a peace agreement, but the negotiations have become entangled in the very different demands from Moscow and Kyiv.

    U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said Sunday he held “productive and constructive” talks in Florida with Ukrainian and European representatives. Trump was less effusive Monday, saying, “The talks are going along.”

    Initial reports from Ukrainian emergency services said the child died in Ukraine’s northwestern Zhytomyr region, while a drone killed a woman in the Kyiv region, and another civilian death was recorded in the western Khmelnytskyi region, according to Zelenskyy.

    Russia launched 635 drones of various types and 38 missiles, Ukraine’s air force said. Air defenses stopped 587 drones and 34 missiles, it said.

    It was the ninth large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine’s energy system this year and left multiple regions in the west without power, while emergency power outages were in place across the country, acting Energy Minister Artem Nekraso said. Work to restore power would begin as soon as the security situation permitted, he said.

    Ukraine’s largest private energy supplier, DTEK, said the attack targeted thermal power stations in what it said was the seventh major strike on the company’s facilities since October.

    DTEK’s thermal power plants have been hit more than 220 times since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. Those attacks have killed four workers and wounded 59.

    Authorities in the western regions of Rivne, Ternopil and Lviv, as well as the northern Sumy region, reported damage to energy infrastructure or power outages after the attack.

    In the southern Odesa region, Russia struck energy, port, transport, industrial and residential infrastructure, according to regional head Oleh Kiper.

    A merchant ship and over 120 homes were damaged, he said.

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  • Russia strikes Ukrainian port with ballistic missiles, killing 8 and wounding dozens

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    A Russian missile strike on port infrastructure in Odesa in southern Ukraine killed eight people and wounded 27, Ukraine’s emergency service said Saturday, as a a Kremlin envoy was set to travel to Florida for talks on a U.S.-proposed plan to end the nearly four-year war.

    The discussions are part of the Trump administration’s monthslong push for peace that also included meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin earlier this week. Ukraine’s chief negotiator said late Friday that his delegation had completed separate meetings in the U.S. with American and European partners.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said much will depend on the U.S. posture after discussions with the Russians.

    Speaking at a news conference in Kyiv with Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, Zelenskyy said that “the key question remains how the United States responds after consultations with the Russians. At this point, I honestly don’t know, but I will know later today.”

    Ukraine and Portugal signed an agreement to establish joint production of maritime drones, Zelenskyy said. “This is one of the most promising areas of defense cooperation. What matters now is delivering results, and all parts of Europe must have sufficient capabilities to counter any threats,” he said.

    Ukraine targets a Russian oil rig and a patrol ship

    Some of those wounded in Odesa were on a bus at the center of the strike late Friday, the emergency service said in a Telegram post. Trucks caught fire in the parking lot and cars were also damaged.

    The port was struck with ballistic missiles, said Oleh Kiper, the head of the Odesa region.

    Moscow did not immediately acknowledge reports of the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday that over the previous day, it had struck unspecified “transport and storage infrastructure used by the Ukrainian armed forces,” along with energy facilities and those supplying Kyiv’s war effort.

    Elsewhere, Ukrainian drones hit a Russian oil rig, the military patrol ship Okhotnik and other facilities, Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement Saturday. It said the ship was patrolling in the Caspian Sea near an oil and gas production platform. The extent of the damage was still being clarified, it said.

    A general view of the port on the Black Sea on July 7, 2025 in Odesa, Ukraine.

    Valentyna Polishchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images


    The drilling platform at the Filanovsky oil and gas field as also hit. The facility is operated by Russian oil giant Lukoil. Ukrainian drones also struck a radar system in the Krasnosilske area of Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

    There was no immediate comment from the Russian government or Lukoil. The company is one of two Russian oil majors — alongside state-owned Gazprom — recent U.S. sanctions that aim to deprive Moscow of oil export revenue that helps it sustain the war.

    Kyiv has used similar arguments to justify months of long-range strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, which it says both funds and directly fuels the Kremlin’s all-out invasion, soon to enter its fifth year.

    Trump’s peace push set to continue Saturday

    U.S. President Donald Trump has unleashed an extensive diplomatic push to end the war, but his efforts have run into sharply conflicting demands by Moscow and Kyiv.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signaled he is digging in on his maximalist demands on Ukraine, as Moscow’s troops inch forward on the battlefield despite huge losses.

    On Friday, Putin voiced confidence that the Kremlin would achieve its goals militarily if Kyiv doesn’t agree to Russia’s conditions in peace talks.

    European Union leaders on Friday agreed to provide $106 billion to Ukraine to meet its military and economic needs for the next two years, although they failed to bridge differences with Belgium that would have allowed them to use frozen Russian assets to raise the funds. Instead, they were borrowed on capital markets.

    After almost four years of war, the International Monetary Fund estimates that Ukraine will need $161 billion in 2026 and 2027. The government in Kyiv is on the verge of bankruptcy, and desperately needs the money by spring.

    Meanwhile, Kirill Dmitriev, who heads Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, is set to meet with Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner in Miami on Saturday, according to a U.S. official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview a meeting that hasn’t yet been publicly announced.

    The official said Witkoff and Kushner will sit down with Dmitriev, after meetings with Ukrainian and European officials in Berlin for talks on U.S. security guarantees for Kyiv, territorial concessions and other aspects of the American-authored plan.

    Ukraine’s chief negotiator Rustem Umerov said late Friday that a Ukrainian delegation had met with American and European partners in the U.S. He gave few details, but said they agreed to continue “joint work in the near future.”

    Asked about the meeting in Miami, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that Moscow was preparing for contacts with the U.S. to learn about the results of the meetings in Berlin, but he didn’t give details.

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  • Human Trafficking Victims Caught in Thailand-Cambodia Conflict

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    Posted on: December 20, 2025, 09:49h. 

    Last updated on: December 20, 2025, 09:49h.

    • The Thailand-Cambodia conflict reportedly has innocent civilians in its crossfire
    • Thailand is targeting suspected scam centers where trafficked persons work

    Thousands of people suspected to be human trafficking victims who have been forced to work in slave-like conditions in Cambodia along the Thailand border have been caught in the crossfire of the ongoing conflict.

    human trafficking Cambodia Thailand conflict
    A casino in Cambodia near the Thailand border, suspected to be a scam center, is bombed by Thai F-16 fighter jets. Human trafficking victims are said to be in the conflict’s crossfire. (Image: Royal Thai Military)

    Thailand has targeted border casinos in Cambodia that the Thai army claims have been retrofitted to serve as arsenals and firing positions for the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. Thailand has bombed or struck at least four casinos in Cambodia just across the border.

    The territorial dispute, which has endured for more than a century, escalated into armed conflict earlier this year after Thai soldiers in February prevented Cambodian tourists from singing their national anthem at the Prasat Ta Muen Thom, an ancient temple along the border. The incident resulted in the death of a Cambodian soldier.

    A leaked phone call between Paetongtarn Shinawatra, then the prime minister of Thailand, and Hun Sen, the most powerful person in Cambodia, recorded the prime minister blaming her own army for the February incident. The informal conversation that was made public led to Shinawatra’s impeachment and intensified tensions between the two sides.

    Casino Scam Centers

    While there are many casinos on the Cambodia side of the Thai-Cambodia border, the United Nations says the casinos have also served as scam centers where an estimated 100,000 victims of human trafficking have been forced to perpetrate online scams in what’s believed to be a multibillion-dollar industry.  

    Amnesty International, an international human rights organization based in London, says the Cambodian government has allowed slavery and torture to “flourish inside hellish scamming compounds.” The organization has managed to visit 52 scamming compounds in Cambodia, with many of the buildings previously serving as casinos and hotels that were repurposed by criminal gangs from China.

    Most victims had been lured to Cambodia by deceptive job advertisements posted on social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram. After being trafficked, survivors said they were forced to contact people using social media platforms and begin conversations aimed at defrauding them. These included fake romances or investment opportunities, selling products that would never be delivered, or building trust with victims before financially exploiting them, known as ‘pig-butchering,’” Amnesty reports.

    “Our findings reveal a pattern of state failures that have allowed criminality to flourish and raise questions about the government’s motivations,” said Amnesty International’s Regional Research Director Montse Ferrer.

    UN Advisory

    The United Nations confirmed this week that civilians and human trafficking victims in Cambodia remain at risk, and some have likely been killed in the Thailand-Cambodia conflict.

    Casino complexes and suspected scam centers in Cambodia have reportedly been hit,” the UN advised.

    “I am alarmed by reports that areas around villages and cultural sites are being struck by fighter jets, drones, and artillery. “Under international humanitarian law, it is very clear that protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure is paramount,” added Volker Türk, the UN’s high commissioner for human rights.  

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    Devin O’Connor

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  • ‘Very serious retaliation’: U.S. strikes ISIS targets in Syria

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    ‘Very serious retaliation’: U.S. strikes ISIS targets in Syria

    The Trump administration launched more than 70 strikes against ISIS targets in Syria on Friday, responding to an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter last week.

    Updated: 6:44 AM PST Dec 20, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    The Trump administration struck more than 70 ISIS targets in Syria on Friday, according to the Pentagon, in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. and Syrian forces last week.On Friday evening, President Donald Trump told a crowd in North Carolina, “Just 2 hours ago, we hit the ISIS thugs in Syria who were trying to regroup after their decimation by the Trump administration 5 years ago. We hit them hard.”Trump further described the operation as successful and precise. In a social media post ahead of his speech, he called it a “very serious retaliation.” That sentiment was echoed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, also known as the secretary of war, in another post. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said. The strikes were in response to an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter last weekend. The president blamed the attack on a member of the Islamic State, although the group has not claimed responsibility. Trump said the U.S. retaliation was fully supported by Syria’s new leader, who has overseen warming relations with the West since the fall of the Assad regime last year. Following the U.S. strikes, Syria’s foreign ministry reiterated its commitment to fighting ISIS and underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism.In a recent national security strategy document, the Trump administration argued that the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy are over. The administration has sought to build ties with countries like Syria, including in the counterterrorism space, but contends that the threats can be contained “without decades of fruitless ‘nation-building’ wars.” The Trump administration is instead looking to focus closer to home, shifting military resources away from the Middle East and towards South America, as tensions mount with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Asked if the Trump administration would rule out regime change in Venezuela, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in an interview Friday, “The president has spoken about his concerns when it comes to the illegitimate regime in Venezuela, his concerns about the gangs we have seen come from Venezuela, the concerns about the narcotrafficking that we’ve also seen.”

    WASHINGTON —

    The Trump administration struck more than 70 ISIS targets in Syria on Friday, according to the Pentagon, in retaliation for a deadly attack on U.S. and Syrian forces last week.

    On Friday evening, President Donald Trump told a crowd in North Carolina, “Just 2 hours ago, we hit the ISIS thugs in Syria who were trying to regroup after their decimation by the Trump administration 5 years ago. We hit them hard.”

    Trump further described the operation as successful and precise. In a social media post ahead of his speech, he called it a “very serious retaliation.”

    That sentiment was echoed by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, also known as the secretary of war, in another post.

    “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said.

    The strikes were in response to an ambush attack that killed two U.S. troops and an American civilian interpreter last weekend. The president blamed the attack on a member of the Islamic State, although the group has not claimed responsibility.

    Trump said the U.S. retaliation was fully supported by Syria’s new leader, who has overseen warming relations with the West since the fall of the Assad regime last year.

    Following the U.S. strikes, Syria’s foreign ministry reiterated its commitment to fighting ISIS and underscored the need to strengthen international cooperation to combat terrorism.

    In a recent national security strategy document, the Trump administration argued that the days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy are over. The administration has sought to build ties with countries like Syria, including in the counterterrorism space, but contends that the threats can be contained “without decades of fruitless ‘nation-building’ wars.”

    The Trump administration is instead looking to focus closer to home, shifting military resources away from the Middle East and towards South America, as tensions mount with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.

    Asked if the Trump administration would rule out regime change in Venezuela, State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in an interview Friday, “The president has spoken about his concerns when it comes to the illegitimate regime in Venezuela, his concerns about the gangs we have seen come from Venezuela, the concerns about the narcotrafficking that we’ve also seen.”

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  • Podcast: Should libertarians support federal AI regulation?

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    This week, editors Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch are joined by associate editor Liz Wolfe to discuss President Donald Trump’s executive order blocking states from enforcing their own artificial intelligence regulations. The panel debates whether a single national framework for AI is necessary to keep American tech companies competitive or whether it represents a serious blow to federalism. They also examine the White House potentially reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug and what that change could mean for the cannabis industry, tax policy, and federal drug enforcement.

    The editors then turn to mass shootings in Australia and at Brown University, including the actions of a bystander credited with saving lives at Bondi Beach, and what these incidents suggest about gun control debates. They discuss the U.S. seizure of a Venezuelan oil tanker and threats of land strikes against the Nicolás Maduro regime, and cover the conviction of Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai under China’s national security law and what it signals for press freedom and U.S.-China relations. A listener asks whether modern socialism reflects moral aspirations that could be redirected toward liberty rather than centralized power.

     

    0:00—Trump blocks states from regulating AI

    10:31—Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug

    18:39—Mass shootings in the U.S. and Australia

    26:59—U.S. seizes Venezuelan oil tanker

    36:48—Listener question on optimism for socialism

    46:08—Jimmy Lai found guilty by Hong Kong court

    57:12—Weekly cultural recommendations

     

    Mentioned in This Podcast

    “Donald Trump Tries To Override State AI Regulations via Executive Order,” by Jack Nicastro

    “Trump Will Let Nvidia Sell Chips to China—but the Feds Will Get 25 Percent of the Profits,” by Tosin Akintola

    “Trump’s Plan To Reclassify Marijuana Would Leave Federal Prohibition Essentially Untouched,” by Jacob Sullum

    “Stoner King Trump,” by Liz Wolfe

    “Shootings at Bondi and Brown,” by Liz Wolfe

    “Trump Dares Congress To Take Its War Powers Seriously in Venezuela,” by Matthew Petti

    “Trump Is Still Claiming He Saves ‘25,000 American Lives’ When He Blows Up a Suspected Drug Boat,” by Jacob Sullum

    “Mark Clifford: A Political Prisoner Fights for Free Speech in China,” by Billy Binion

    “Is Free Speech Doomed in Hong Kong?” By Jack Nicastro

    “‘I Owe Freedom My Life’: Jimmy Lai Is Imprisoned for Criticizing the Chinese Government,” by John Stossel

    “Hong Kong’s Free Press Is Dying,” by Liz Wolfe

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    Peter Suderman

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  • Video shows Israeli soldiers execute 2 Palestinians as they surrender in West Bank raid, rights group says

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    Israeli human rights group B’Tselem shared a video on Thursday that it says shows Israeli soldiers executing two Palestinian men who had surrendered during a raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

    The video, which B’Tselem credits to Palestine TV and which CBS News has not independently verified, appears to show Israeli soldiers surrounding a garage-style door on a building as two men emerge with their hands in the air. The men can be seen lifting their shirts and kneeling on the ground as the soldiers approach. 

    One of the soldiers kicks one of the men before both men start moving back into the building through the large open door, seemingly at the orders of the soldiers. Gunshots are then heard, and one of the men still visible in the doorway can be seen slumping to the floor.

    B’Tselem identified the two men as Yusef ‘Asa’sah, 39, and al-Muntaser bel-lah ‘Abdallah, 26, both of whom the group said were wanted by the Israel Defense Forces.

    The IDF says a Nov. 27, 2025 incident in which two Palestinian men were killed during an operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, is being investigated.

    AP


    The IDF acknowledged an operation to apprehend wanted individuals in Jenin on Thursday, saying the men had “carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces.”

    “The forces entered the area, enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located, and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours. Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited. Following their exit, fire was directed toward the suspects,” the IDF said in a statement shared with CBS News. “The incident is under review by the commanders on the ground, and will be transferred to the relevant professional bodies.”

    Israeli security forces have been accused on many occasions since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack of using excessive, often lethal force against Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. 

    Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the national police, praised the Israeli forces after the release of the video showing the Thursday incident, saying they acted “exactly as they are expected to — terrorists must die!”

    The executive director of B’Tselem, Yuli Novak, said the killings were the result of “an accelerated process of dehumanization of Palestinians and the complete abandonment of their lives by the Israeli regime.”

    Israel Palestinians

    Israeli soldiers are seen during an army raid in the West Bank town of Tubas, Nov. 26, 2025.

    Majdi Mohammed/AP


    In the West Bank’s capital city Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas’ office issued a statement accusing Israel of executing the two men “in cold blood,” blasting the shooting as “an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

    The shooting came amid a larger operation in the northeast of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel’s military for decades. The operation has seen more than 100 people detained since Tuesday in the town of Tubas alone, according to Abdullah al-Zaghari, a spokesman for the advocacy group Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

    The IDF has called the ongoing operation a response to “attempts to establish terrorist strongholds and construction of terror infrastructures in the area.” 

    On Nov. 19, Palestinian attackers stabbed an Israeli to death and wounded three more at a West Bank intersection before being shot by security forces.

    Violence has flared in the West Bank, the much larger of the two Palestinian territories, since the war in Gaza started, and Israeli raids have continued there despite a ceasefire in Gaza.

    According to B’Tselem, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023. 

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  • Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak has home raided by anti-corruption officials

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    Ukrainian anti-corruption units have raided the home of Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, amid a major investigation into a $100 million energy sector corruption scandal involving top Ukrainian officials. Two national agencies fighting entrenched corruption in Ukraine said they had searched Yermak’s office. 

    Yermak himself — a powerful figure in Ukraine and a key participant in ongoing talks with the U.S., as the Trump administration pushes for a ceasefire to end Russia’s nearly four-year war on the country — also confirmed that authorities had searched his apartment.

    “The investigators are facing no obstacles,” Yermak wrote in a post on the messaging app Telegram. He added that he was cooperating fully with them and his lawyers were present.

    The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office are Ukrainian anti-corruption watchdogs.

    Andriy Yermak was present at top-level peace negotiations between U.S. and Ukraine in Geneva this past weekend.

    Martial Trezzini/AP


    Two of Yermak’s former deputies — Oleh Tatarov and Rostyslav Shurma — left the government in 2024 after watchdogs investigated them for financial wrongdoing. A third deputy, Andrii Smyrnov, was investigated for bribes and other wrongdoing but still works for Yermak.

    The scandal has heaped more problems on Zelenskyy as he seeks continued support from Western countries for Ukraine’s war effort and tries to ensure continued foreign funding. The European Union, which Ukraine wants to join, has told Zelenskyy he must crack down on corruption.

    Zelenskyy faced an unprecedented rebellion from his own lawmakers earlier this month after investigators published details of their energy sector investigation. 

    In July, Zelenskyy faced the first major protests against himself and his government since Russia launched its full-scale invasion over a bill he signed into law giving Ukraine’s prosecutor general, a political appointee roughly equivalent to the U.S. attorney general, more power over the two anti-corruption agencies.

    Some critics argued that the new law was political retribution following the charges being filed against his former deputy Smyrnov, and the move fueled concern that Ukraine could backslide into some degree of the authoritarianism that was the default under former, pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who was known for his close ties to oligarchs.

    U.S. Senators visits Ukraine's Kyiv

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (center) meets with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (3rd from right), Sen. Richard Blumenthal (4th from left) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (3rd from left) in Kyiv, Ukraine, Jan. 20, 2023. Head of the Presidential Administration of Ukraine Andriy Yermak (2nd from left) and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba (right) also attended the meeting.

    Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty


    Although Yermak has not been accused of any wrongdoing, several senior lawmakers in Zelenskyy’s party said Yermak should take responsibility for the energy sector scandal in order to restore public trust. Some said that if Zelenskyy didn’t fire him, the party could split, threatening the president’s parliamentary majority. But Zelenskyy defied them.

    The president urged Ukrainians to unite and “stop the political games” in light of the U.S. pressure to reach a settlement with Russia.

    Yermak met Zelenskyy over 15 years ago when he was a lawyer venturing into the TV production business and Zelenskyy was a famous Ukrainian comedian and actor. He oversaw foreign affairs as part of Zelenskyy’s first presidential team and was promoted to chief of staff in February 2020.

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  • International Judo Federation drops ban on Russian athletes competing under their national flag

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    The International Judo Federation has decided to allow Russian athletes to compete under their national flag again in its competitions starting this weekend, the IJF said Thursday, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine that, for years, had forced them to take part under a neutral banner.

    The IJF executive committee voted to “reinstate full national representation” of Russian athletes, with their anthem and symbols, beginning with the 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, taking part from Nov. 28 – 30.

    “Athletes have no responsibility for the decisions of governments or other national institutions, and it is our duty to protect the sport and our athletes,” the IJF said in a statement.

    Contacted by CBS News, the IJF declined to offer any further explanation for the reversal in policy.

    Following President Vladimir Putin’s orders to launch the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022 — escalating the war he refers to as only a “special military operation” — many Russian athletes have been banned from entering competitions in various sports, or barred from competing under the Russian flag. 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin is known to be a keen judoka. FILE PHOTO

    Mikhail Svetlov / Getty Images


    The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended since 2023 by the International Olympic Committee for breaking the Olympic charter by using an administrative land grab to incorporate regional sports bodies in occupied eastern Ukraine.

    Russians will be allowed to compete at next year’s Milan-Cortina Winter Games, but the IOC will maintain the system it used at the 2024 Paris Games, permitting them to compete only as individual, neutral athletes, not for Team Russia.

    Sergey Soloveychik, president of the Russian judo federation, praised what he called an “historic decision.”

    “Thanks to the IJF for this long-awaited, fair and courageous decision,” he said in a statement.

    The IJF said it had previously reinstated full national representation for Belarusian athletes. Belarus has allowed Moscow to use its territory as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine, and later allowed the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear missiles on its soil.

    The IJF said it now considers it “appropriate to allow the participation of Russian athletes under equal conditions,” emphasizing that the sport “cannot allow itself to become a platform for geopolitical agendas.”

    Tennis - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 9

    Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider became silver medallists as Team Individual Neutral Athletes during the Tennis Women’s Doubles at the Paris 2024 Olympics Games.

    Oscar J Barroso/Europa Press/Getty


    “Historically, Russia has been a leading nation in world judo, and their full return is expected to enrich competition at all levels while upholding the IJF’s principles of fairness, inclusivity and respect,” the federation said.

    Russian President Vladimir Putin is a keen judoka and attended events in the sport at the 2012 London Olympics.

    Soon after Russia launched its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, however, the IJC stripped the Russian leader of his most senior title in world sports.

    The IJF cited “the ongoing war conflict in Ukraine” in suspending Putin’s honorary president status in the federation, and Soloveychik, who at the time was president of the European Judo Union, resigned from his post.

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  • Why Pope Leo XIV’s Lebanon visit matters amid Israeli bombardment

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    BEIRUT  — When Pope Leo XIV visits the Middle East this week, he comes to a conflict-weary region struggling to find peace even as the specter of war stalks it once again.

    In his first international trip since assuming the papacy in May, the Chicago-born pope will travel Thursday to Turkey, where he will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed — a foundational declaration of Christian belief and unity — was written in AD 325.

    But perhaps the real test of Leo’s international debut lies in Lebanon. His coming fulfills a promise to visit the country made by his boldly charismatic predecessor Pope Francis, who raised the papacy’s international profile with dozens visits abroad and a propensity for frankness in his commentary that endeared him to the faithful, especially in the Middle East.

    But Christians — estimated to be about 30% of Lebanon’s population — are not the only ones looking forward to Leo’s arrival.

    A view of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, which Pope Leo XIV will see during his visit to Turkey, which begins Nov. 27, 2025.

    (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    Many here hope his visit will be a portent for peace, bringing attention to this tiny Mediterranean nation as it contends with a Job-like succession of crises: First the economy, which crashed in 2019, tanking the banking system and the currency with it; then the port explosion in 2020; and the war between the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel, which flared in 2023 before intensifying late last year and left thousands dead and wide swaths of Lebanon’s south and east pulverized.

    Despite a ceasefire brokered last November, Israel has launched near-daily attacks on its northern neighbor, justifying its strikes as a bid to stop Hezbollah from reconstituting itself, even as the United Nations tallied more than 10,000 air and ground violations in Lebanese territory and 127 civilians killed in the year since the ceasefire took effect.

    Israel’s attacks have also paralyzed reconstruction efforts, meaning most residents of Lebanese border towns — whether dominated by Christians, Muslims or Druze — have been unable to piece back their prewar lives. The U.N.’s human rights office says around 64,000 Lebanese remain displaced.

    The Israeli army violated the ceasefire by launching more than ten airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih

    The Israeli army launched more than 10 airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih in southern Lebanon, causing extensive damage, on Oct. 11.

    (Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Safety concerns for the pope have been paramount in people’s minds for months. In October, in what appeared to be a hot mic moment, Jordan’s Queen Rania asked the pope during a photo-op at the Vatican whether it was safe to go to Lebanon. “Well, we’re going,” Leo gruffly replied.

    Alarms were raised again over the weekend when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, barely two miles away from where the pope would be landing on Sunday. The attack, the first one in months near the capital, killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and coincided with a general uptick in Israeli strikes and drone activity in recent weeks — all indicators, observers say, of an impending all-out assault.

    Nevertheless, the trip is still on, Lebanese officials say.

    For Oumayma Farah, development director of the Order of Malta Lebanon, which aids communities of all religions and nationalities through humanitarian projects, that’s a “sign of courage and resilience to the Lebanese population and Christians in the region as a whole.”

    “Whatever happens, the pope will come,” Farah said.

    “The Church teaches us to not be afraid, so he’s the first example.”

    A woman walks her dog past a billboard displaying a picture of a man in white religious robes

    A woman walks her dog past a billboard in Beirut touting Pope Leo’s upcoming visit to Lebanon.

    (Anwar Amro / AFP/Getty Images)

    Like most of the countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic lethargy — not to mention a relatively easier path to emigration — have dwindled Lebanon’s Christian population over the decades.

    Across the Middle East, the number of Christians has gone from 20% of the population to a mere 5%; Lebanon remains the Arab country with the highest proportion, with Christians making up about 30% of the population, according to estimates from various research groups and the U.S. State Department.

    The pope’s insistence on coming to Lebanon, Farah said, was “re-centering the importance of this country” and a “wake-up call” for its politicians. After spending three days in Turkey, the pope will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday and depart Tuesday.

    In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and other areas on the pope’s itinerary, signs abound of furious logistical activity and preparations: Police and security personnel have intensified their presence. A two-day holiday was announced to allow participation in public prayer events, even as parishes and schools across the country have been involved in bringing the faithful to attend Mass near the site of the Beirut port blast, which was deemed an accident caused by negligence, and elsewhere.

    Meanwhile, roadworks and maintenance, all but abrogated in recent years due to the government’s financial woes, have been in full swing. The joke around town is that people want another papal visit if only so the government finishes repaving all the country’s pothole-stricken streets. A bitter corollary is another joke that the refurbished roads will last only till the pope leaves — because they’ll be destroyed in a new Israeli campaign.

    People in dark clothes standing in the foreground of a grand white mosque with blue domed roofs

    Along with visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Pope Leo will travel to the Turkish city of Iznik, ancient Nicaea, to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

    (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    The gallows humor reflects the uncertainty of the moment, with the U.S. and Israel pushing the Lebanese army to fully disarm Hezbollah, even as the group insists it will disarm only in the country’s south.

    Lebanon’s government, in turn, says that it cannot persuade Hezbollah to give up its arms so long as Israel keeps occupying Lebanese territory, and that doing so by force would lead to civil war.

    The hope is that the pontiff can help break the logjam. But though few expect change to come so quickly, the visit is still important, said a Maronite parish priest, Father Tony Elias, from Rmeish, a village located just across the border from Israel.

    “When the pope visits a country that has been in pain for so long, this is truly enough to lift that pain,” Elias said.

    Rmeish, which maintained a resolutely neutral stance during the war, is relatively unscathed, an exception in the wasteland that has become Lebanon’s border area after years of Israeli bombardment.

    Elias said he would have wanted the pope to visit the south, but he wasn’t disappointed, as he and about 200 others from the village would travel to Beirut and join the pontiff.

    “If he can’t come to the south, we can come to him,” Elias said.

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    Nabih Bulos

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  • The century-old mystery of the Lusitania

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    Beneath the waves off the Irish coast, the remains of a luxury liner rest on the ocean floor. The Lusitania was sunk by a German torpedo during World War I, killing nearly 1,200 people. But details surrounding the ship’s demise remain murky. Martha Teichner re-examines the deadly catastrophe.

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  • Israel identifies the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or

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    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel had identified the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or.That leaves the bodies of two hostages in Gaza as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears a conclusion.Palestinian militants released Or’s remains Tuesday.Israel has agreed to release 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage returned.Dror Or was killed by Islamic Jihad militants who overran his home in Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military said. His wife, Yonat Or, was also killed in the attack.That day, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza. Kibbutz Beeri was one of the hardest-hit farming communities in that attack that started the war in Gaza.Two of Or’s children, Alma and Noam, were abducted by the militants on Oct. 7 and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. The remains of two — one Israeli and one Thai national— are still in Gaza.Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 69,700 Palestinians have been killed and 170,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has increased during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel had identified the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or.

    That leaves the bodies of two hostages in Gaza as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears a conclusion.

    Palestinian militants released Or’s remains Tuesday.

    Israel has agreed to release 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage returned.

    Dror Or was killed by Islamic Jihad militants who overran his home in Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military said. His wife, Yonat Or, was also killed in the attack.

    That day, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza. Kibbutz Beeri was one of the hardest-hit farming communities in that attack that started the war in Gaza.

    Two of Or’s children, Alma and Noam, were abducted by the militants on Oct. 7 and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

    Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. The remains of two — one Israeli and one Thai national— are still in Gaza.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 69,700 Palestinians have been killed and 170,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has increased during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.

    The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

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  • Opinion | The Truth About the War in Sudan

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    By

    Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

    Khartoum, Sudan

    Sudan is a country with a long memory: Our history stretches back to the biblical Kingdom of Kush, one of Africa’s greatest civilizations. The war now waged by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia is unlike anything we’ve ever faced. It is tearing the fabric of our society, uprooting millions, and placing the entire region at risk. Even so, Sudanese look to allies in the region and in Washington with hope. Sudan is fighting not only for its survival, but for a just peace that can only be achieved with the support of partners who recognize the truth of how the war began and what is required to end it.

    Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

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    Abdel Fattah al-Burhan

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  • Opinion | Can Trump Deliver Putin?

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    The hysterics will get hysterical all over again when it turns out peace isn’t nigh.

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    Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

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  • Ukrainian Men Approaching Military Age Are Fleeing in Droves

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    In the midst of such an acute manpower shortage, the Ukrainian government’s decision to give thousands of young men the option to go abroad has divided military experts. Zelensky has defended the new travel rule by saying that it will help dissuade young men from leaving at an even earlier age. “If we want to keep Ukrainian boys in Ukraine, then we need them to finish school here, and parents must not take them abroad,” he said at a press briefing after the rule went into effect. “But they are beginning to take them abroad before they graduate. And this is very bad, because at that time they lose their connection with Ukraine.” He went on to say that the change would have no impact on the country’s defense capabilities. Simon Schlegel, the Ukraine program director at the Center for Liberal Modernity, in Berlin, told me that while that might be true for now, the new rule could lead to problems in the future. “It narrows the mobilization pool for three years down the road when these men would become eligible,” he said.

    The new rule has also been criticized by some of Ukraine’s closest partners. In a phone call on November 13th, the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, asked Zelensky to do something to prevent so many young Ukrainian men from coming to Germany. They should “serve their country,” Merz said after the call, though he may have his own country in mind, too. Although figures vary, the number of Ukrainian men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two entering Germany rose from nineteen per week in mid-August to between fourteen hundred and eighteen hundred per week in October, per the German Interior Ministry. (Since the war began, Germany has granted what’s known as temporary protection to more than 1.2 million Ukrainians, the most of any country in the European Union.) Poland, too, has seen a major influx of Ukrainian men in the same age range—more than a hundred and twenty-one thousand since the end of August, according to the Polish Border Guard, up from about thirty-four thousand over the previous eight months. Many of those men will pass through Poland on their way to somewhere else, but others, like Milchenko, have decided to stay. “It feels like I’m starting a new life,” he said.

    Klim Milchenko by the Oder River.

    Photograph courtesy Klim Milchenko

    In early November, I went to visit Milchenko in Wrocław. We met at a café across from a KFC in the city’s Old Town. A bronze statue of a gnome, one of more than eleven hundred scattered around the city, stood out front. Milchenko, who is tall and slender, with short light-brown hair, was wearing a black sweater, gray jeans, and sneakers. He was only slightly more relaxed than he had been on the train. Sipping a pumpkin-spice latte, he told me that he had been spending much of his time since arriving in Wrocław looking for work. “I’ve sent my C.V. to thirty different places,” he said. “So far, I’ve only heard back from a swimming pool. I told them that I had worked as a lifeguard in Kyiv, and was certified, but they said they wanted someone else.”

    Milchenko speculated that the swimming pool was looking for someone older—or a native Pole. He’d heard stories of Ukrainians in Poland being discriminated against, and worse. In September, someone spray-painted “to the front” on the hood of a Ukrainian woman’s car, and a thirty-two-year-old Polish man was charged with shooting and seriously injuring a Romanian man whom he thought was Ukrainian. Both incidents occurred in Wrocław. Nationwide, polls show that public support for accepting Ukrainian refugees has been slowly but steadily declining. It’s currently at its lowest level since Russia annexed Crimea, in 2014 . Poland’s new President, Karol Nawrocki, has vowed to tighten restrictions on the government support they receive, and the far-right Confederation Party has accused Ukrainian men who moved to Poland of “burdening Polish taxpayers with the costs of their desertion.” (A study conducted by Poland’s National Development Bank found that Ukrainians actually pay more in taxes than they receive in benefits.)

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    Michael Holtz

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  • Ukraine agrees to peace proposal, with only

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    A U.S. official told CBS News on Tuesday that Ukraine’s government had “agreed to a peace deal” brokered by the Trump administration to stop Russia’s nearly four-year assault. The American official and Ukraine’s national security adviser Rustem Umerov said a common understanding on a proposal had been reached, with details still to be worked out. 

    Umerov voiced optimism that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy could travel to Washington before the end of November to finalize an agreement. CBS News was first to report on Sunday that U.S. and Ukrainian officials had previously discussed a potential visit to the U.S. this week by Zelenskyy.

    “The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal,” the U.S. official told CBS News. “There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”

    The news came as U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll was in Abu Dhabi to meet with Russian officials, two U.S. officials and two diplomatic sources who were not authorized to speak publicly told CBS News. A fifth source with knowledge of the talks also confirmed Driscoll’s presence in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

    There was no immediate reaction from Russia, the invading force, to what was agreed to in Abu Dhabi.

    Speaking during a press briefing earlier on Tuesday, veteran Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that while Russia “appreciates the U.S.’ position, which is taking the initiative in resolving the Ukrainian conflict,” Moscow “operates professionally, not leaking information before formal agreements are reached … Russia expects the U.S. to inform it of the results of consultations with Ukraine and Europe in the near future.” 

    President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Rustem Umerov, and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major General Andrii Hnatov (L to R), attend a briefing at the Office of the President following a meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Nov. 7, 2025.

    Ukrinform/NurPhoto/Getty


    A U.S. military official in Abu Dhabi told CBS News Driscoll spent hours negotiating Tuesday with Russian representatives, going in and out of meetings all day. 

    “We remain very optimistic,” the official said. “Secretary Driscoll is optimistic. Hopefully, we’ll get feedback from the Russians soon. This is moving quick.”

    It is not clear who else is in the U.S. delegation in Abu Dhabi. A U.S. official told CBS News on Tuesday that a Ukrainian delegation was also there and has been in contact with Driscoll and his team. 

    Umerov said in a social media post on Tuesday that the country’s negotiators had “reached a common understanding on the core terms” of an agreement discussed among U.S., European and Ukrainian officials in Geneva over the weekend.

    The apparent progress in Abu Dhabi comes amid an intensified push by President Trump to secure a ceasefire in the almost four-year-long Russia-Ukraine war.

    “We now count on the support of our European partners in our further steps. We look forward to organizing a visit of Ukraine’s President to the U.S. at the earliest suitable date in November to complete final steps and make a deal with President Trump,” Umerov said in his Tuesday post on X.

    A source with knowledge told CBS News that Driscoll was working in Abu Dhabi off of a revised version of the White House’s 28-point proposal, following productive negotiations in Geneva.

    Over the weekend, Driscoll, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Mr. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and diplomats from Ukraine and European allies attended talks in Geneva, Switzerland. Driscoll’s meeting with Russian officials also follows a visit to Ukraine’s capital last week.

    U.S. and Ukrainian officials had previously discussed a potential visit to the U.S. this week by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, CBS News reported on Sunday.

    Last week, CBS News obtained a draft of one Trump administration-backed proposal to end the war. The proposed plan included several provisions that Zelenskyy has rejected in the past, such as a requirement that Ukraine give up its entire Donetsk region — including parts that aren’t occupied by Russia — and an end to the country’s push to join NATO.

    There is also an accompanying document related to security guarantees, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., told “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday the document specifies that the U.S. intends to offer “security assurances” that she said are along the lines of Article 5 of the NATO treaty, which commits members to come to the defense of a NATO state that is attacked.

    On Saturday, a group of NATO members and other U.S. allies released a joint statement calling the proposed peace plan “a basis which will require additional work.”

    The White House said in a statement Sunday night that U.S. and Ukrainian officials had “drafted an updated and refined peace framework” following the discussions in Geneva. Rubio described one session in Geneva as “very meaningful” but added that “there’s still some work left to do, and that’s what our teams are going to be doing right now.”

    Mr. Trump has pressed Zelenskyy to reach a deal by Thanksgiving, though Rubio described that deadline as flexible on Sunday.

    A U.S. official told CBS News that Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to believe that he will take the Donetsk region of Ukraine one way or the other — either through a negotiated settlement or on the battlefield. The Trump administration’s negotiations in Geneva began from the premise that Putin is correct. 

    While that same U.S. official declined to provide a U.S. assessment of whether Ukraine is losing the war in the East, the U.S. official said that the trajectory of the fighting points to Russia taking Donetsk. The official indicated that the Russian progress in the eastern frontline city of Pokrovsk, which is a logistics hub for Ukraine, was not a positive sign for Kyiv’s defensive prospects. Russian media often refers to Pokrovsk as the “gateway” to Ukraine’s industrial Donbas region.

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  • Former White House Middle East Envoy: What We Keep Getting Wrong About the UAE and Sudan | Opinion

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    The war in Sudan is one of the great humanitarian catastrophes of our time, yet it rarely receives the accuracy it deserves. For many, the conflict feels abstract, if they know anything about it at all. Sudan has endured repeated cycles of political collapse and violence since the 1950s, including two civil wars, multiple internal conflicts and an ongoing war between rival military factions. This crisis did not appear out of nowhere, nor was it triggered by a single outside actor. It is the result of decades of fractured institutions, violent armed groups and a state that has consistently struggled to build lasting national cohesion.

    The scale of human suffering is staggering: families with nowhere safe to go, cities emptied and generations robbed of stability. When discussing external involvement, including the role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we owe it to the Sudanese to be precise, not performative. We owe them accuracy, not convenient narratives.

    Yet public conversation around the UAE’s activities has hardened into a social media-driven assault: the UAE as destabilizer or hidden hand steering Sudan’s collapse. Most accusations stem from political rivalries and hidden agendas. That is not surprising in international affairs, but these claims flatten a complex, painful reality into a slogan.

    If we genuinely care about the people suffering on the ground, that is unacceptable.

    The UAE’s role, open to debate like any country’s, is shaped by three broad motivations rooted in Sudan’s reality.

    Start with the humanitarian dimension. Whether critics like it or not, the UAE has provided substantial support: food, medical supplies, emergency relief and logistics. In many areas, external aid has been the only thing standing between families and starvation. Dismissing the UAE’s impact ignores real human suffering.

    Next is diplomacy. In a conflict dominated by multiple armed groups and shifting alliances, engaging complex or unsavory actors is not endorsement; it is a necessity. If you want leverage that might eventually push parties toward a potential solution, you cannot limit yourself to only the most agreeable interlocutors. Real diplomacy in real wars is rarely, if ever, clean.

    Equally important is regional stability. Sudan’s collapse threatens migration routes, maritime security and the economic arteries of the Red Sea. It is not “self-serving” for the UAE, or any state, to seek stability in a region that directly affects its own security and economy. Stability is not an abstraction; it is critical for every successful nation.

    Sudan also has a long history of foreign interference, so skepticism toward outside actors is understandable. Many fear that engagement could shape Sudan’s future in ways the Sudanese did not choose. Those concerns deserve discussion, especially if genuine alternatives exist. But for now, that remains a very big “if.”

    Much of the criticism of the UAE goes far beyond caution and reflects manipulation, oversimplification and wishful thinking. It assumes motives that are unproven, ignores Sudan’s long-standing internal fractures and trades complexity for narrative convenience.

    This brings me to a truth most people avoid saying out loud.

    Before the UAE became involved, Sudan had already collapsed, multiple times. The country has endured civil wars, coups, economic breakdowns and revolutions. Its institutions were hollowed out long before any recent foreign role. Blaming the UAE for “causing” Sudan’s unraveling ignores decades of internal governance failures, competing militarized elites and the near-total absence of a functioning state. Sudan’s tragedy is primarily Sudanese in origin, even if outsiders have played supporting roles.

    Here is another hard reality: No war-torn state, especially one with Sudan’s history, recovers without responsible, significant external support—financial, humanitarian and diplomatic. Countries do not rebuild themselves in isolation. They need partners. And yes, those partners, whether the UAE or anyone else, will always have interests alongside their intentions to help. That is not scandalous or wrong; it is how international relations work and why nations spend resources to assist others. Whether anyone likes it or not, that is how the real world functions. And honestly, which nation’s actions in conflict are ever beyond critique? None.

    The tragedy in Sudan today is immense. A country with enormous promise is fighting to survive. Reducing this catastrophe to the actions of a single external actor is not analysis; it is avoidance, distortion and political gamesmanship. It distracts from the failures, complexities and difficult choices that must be confronted if Sudan is ever to rebuild.

    My bottom line is simple: Sudan’s status quo demands nuance, honesty and an understanding rooted in its history. The UAE’s role in the conflict may not be perfect, but no nation’s role in such crises ever is. If we want Sudan to emerge from this nightmare, we need a conversation grounded in facts and humility, not the comforting simplicity of false blame and easy, uninformed accusations.

    Jason D. Greenblatt was the White House Middle East envoy in the first Trump administration. He is the author of In the Path of Abraham: How Donald Trump Made Peace in the Middle East and founder of Abraham Venture LLC.

    The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.

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  • Russia keeping

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    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that the suggested legal recognition of Russian sovereignty over captured territory in the east of his country remained a “main problem” in negotiations as President Trump pushes for a deal to end Moscow’s nearly-four-year war on Ukraine.

    Ukrainian and American officials met over the weekend in Switzerland to discuss a 28-point proposal floated last week by the White House. They discussed the possibility of Zelenskyy visiting the U.S. this week as part of Mr. Trump’s bid to get an agreement by Thanksgiving, CBS News’ Margaret Brennan reported, citing multiple U.S. and Ukrainian officials familiar with the discussions. 

    Mr. Trump has described the Thanksgiving deadline as flexible, and he told reporters Saturday that the plan presented last week was “not my final” proposal. 

    President Zelenskyy addressed the Swedish Parliament on Monday morning.

    www.president.gov.ua


    Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was in Geneva for the weekend talks, said “very, very meaningful” progress was made with the Ukrainian and European delegations, but that “there’s still some work left to do and that’s what our teams are going to be doing right now.”

    Addressing Sweden’s parliament on Monday, Zelenskyy made it clear one of the key points of contention over the U.S. proposal was a call for Ukraine and the global community to formally recognize some portion of the ground Russian forces have occupied by force as no longer Ukrainian.

    “Putin wants legal recognition to what he has stolen, to break the principle of territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Zelenskyy said. “That’s the main problem. You all understand what that means.”

    Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said there were still “major issues which remain to be resolved” regarding the U.S. peace proposal, though he also welcomed progress made during the high-stakes talks in Geneva.

    Rubio struck a more optimistic tone in describing the weekend talks, saying Sunday that the session in Geneval was “probably the most productive day we have had on this issue” since President Trump came back into office for his second term in January.  

    screenshot-2025-11-24-at-12-13-17.png

    Ukrainian officials say four people died and 13 were injured in an overnight drone attack on Kharkiv. The attacks come as U.S.-Ukraine peace talks continue.

    Ukrainian State Emergency Service


    Rubio stressed that there was more work to do and said he didn’t want to “declare victory or finality.” 

    The top U.S. diplomat was pressed by reporters but would not offer any insight into which issues were the main sticking points in the peace talks. He called the proposal a “living, breathing document” and said he believed the issues that remained unsettled were “not insurmountable.”

    The White House said in a statement Sunday night that U.S. and Ukrainian officials “drafted an updated and refined peace framework” following their discussions, but Russia’s government said Monday that the revisions had not been shared, and that it would reserve judgement.

    Putin said Friday that the U.S. proposal could serve as the basis of a negotiated resolution to what his government has refused to acknowledge as a war, but he warned that if Ukraine turned down the plan, Russian forces would remain on the attack, seizing yet more ground.

    “We are, of course, closely monitoring the media reports that have been pouring in from Geneva over the past few days,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday, “but we have not yet received anything official.” 

    “We read a statement that, following the discussions in Geneva, some amendments had been made to the text which we had seen earlier. We will wait. It seems that the dialogue is continuing,” he said, adding that there were no plans for a meeting this week between Russian and U.S. officials on the topic, but that Moscow remained open to dialogue.

    The 28-point plan, which U.S. officials said last week had Mr. Trump’s backing, sparked alarm among America’s European allies for being perceived as too favorable to Russia.

    Ukraine’s Ambassador to the U.S., Olga Stefanishyna, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on Sunday that her country had not agreed to all of the terms in the draft plan, which was leaked to media outlets last week.

    “This plan is not about justice and the truth of this war and the aggression,” Stefanishyna said. “It’s about, you know, ending the war and stopping the military engagement.”

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