Category: World news

(LONDON) — The prospects for a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine are “in Moscow’s hands,” a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said following successful U.S.-Ukraine talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

Andriy Yermak — the head of Zelenskyy’s office — was part of the Ukrainian delegation that met with American representatives in Jeddah, where both teams agreed to pursue a 30-day ceasefire and use the pause in fighting as a launchpad for full peace negotiations to end Russia’s 3-year-old invasion of its neighbor.

“Ukraine is ready to accept a 30-day ceasefire if Russia agrees,” Yermak wrote on Telegram on Wednesday morning. “This is a necessary step to begin work on real security guarantees and preparing the final terms of a peace agreement.”

“But now the key is in Moscow’s hands — the whole world will see who really wants to end the war and who is simply playing for time,” he added.

Moscow was readying itself to hear details from Tuesday’s U.S.-Ukraine meeting, with officials “scrutinizing” the publicly released statements, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

He added that Russia “doesn’t want to get ahead of itself” on the potential ceasefire, saying the Kremlin will want to first get specifics directly from Washington. A “summit phone call” may be in the cards, he said.

President Donald Trump’s return to office has put Ukraine in a strategic bind, no longer able to rely on the “ironclad” — if at times hesitant, according to many Ukrainians — American support during former President Joe Biden’s time in office.

Trump has aligned with Russian narratives about the conflict, framing Ukraine as the key impediment to peace, falsely blaming Kyiv for starting the war, undermining Zelenskyy’s legitimacy as president and seeking to recoup years of American aid via a controversial minerals sharing deal.

Last week, the Trump administration announced a freeze on U.S. military aid to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Tuesday’s meeting in Saudi Arabia saw that pause lifted, officials said.

Moscow has welcomed the radical U.S. shift in rhetoric and policy, which culminated in an explosive Trump-Zelenskyy Oval Office meeting last month.

Kyiv has been striving to prove its readiness for peace, while stressing that no deal can succeed without American security guarantees to deter repeat Russian aggression. Ukrainian leaders have also cast doubt on Russia’s apparent readiness to end the fighting and urged their U.S. partners to be wary of the Kremlin.

Following Tuesday’s talks, Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram of the 30-day ceasefire plan, “Ukraine accepts this proposal, we consider it positive, we are ready to take this step. The United States of America needs to convince Russia to do so.”

“We agree, and if the Russians agree, the silence will take effect at that very moment,” he added. “An important element in today’s discussions is America’s readiness to restore defense assistance to Ukraine and intelligence support.”

“Ukraine is ready for peace,” Zelenskyy wrote. “Russia must also show whether it is ready to end the war — or continue it. The time has come for the whole truth. I thank everyone who helps Ukraine.”

Trump told reporters Wednesday that he expects imminent further talks with Russian representatives. “Ukraine has agreed to it, and hopefully Russia will agree to it,” the president said of the proposed ceasefire.

“We’re going to meet with them later on today and tomorrow, and hopefully we’ll be able to wipe out a deal,” he continued. “But I think the ceasefire is very important. If we can get Russia to do it, that’ll be great. If we can’t, we just keep going on and people are going to get killed. Lots of people.”

When asked how close a ceasefire was, Trump responded, “Well, I hope it’ll be over the next few days. I’d like to see. I know we have a big meeting with Russia tomorrow, and some great conversations hopefully will ensue,” Trump said.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a statement said that “the ball is now in the Russian court.”

“This is an important moment for peace in Ukraine and we now all need to redouble our efforts to get to a lasting and secure peace as soon as possible,” he said in a statement on Wednesday.

Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff — who took part in the recent U.S. talks with both Ukraine and Russia — is due to visit Moscow “in the coming days,” according to a source familiar with the plans. Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency also reported Wednesday that CIA Director Jim Ratcliffe spoke by phone with Sergey Naryshkin — the head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, meanwhile, said in an interview published Wednesday that he does not believe Trump wants to provide security guarantees to Ukraine.

“He has his own view of the situation, which he regularly and directly states,” Lavrov said. “This war should never have started.”

Despite apparent progress in Jeddah, the fighting continues. Fierce combat is ongoing all along the front line, particularly in the western Russian Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces are pushing Ukrainian troops back from positions seized in a surprise August offensive.

Overnight, both sides launched drones across the shared border. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported the downing of 21 Ukrainian UAVs.

Ukraine’s air force reported three missiles and 133 drones launched into the country overnight. The air force said 98 of the drones were shot down and 20 lost in flight without causing damage. Odesa, Kharkiv, Sumy and Kyiv regions were affected, the air force said.

ABC News’ Kelsey Walsh and Joe Simonetti contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — The European Union responded on Wednesday to the Trump administration’s metals tariffs, saying member states would place countermeasures on some 26 billion euros, or about $28 billion, worth of U.S. goods.

The U.S. at midnight began imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports from all trading partners, with no exceptions or exemptions, the White House said.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a statement that the EU “must act to protect consumers and business.”

“Tariffs are taxes. They are bad for business, and even worse for consumers,” von der Leyen said. “These tariffs are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy. Jobs are at stake. Prices will go up. In Europe and in the United States.”

The European measures were designed to match the scope of those U.S. tariffs, which the European Union said would be worth about $28 billion. The countermeasures were expected to begin on April 1 and be fully in place by April 13, the commission said.

“In the meantime, we will always remain open to negotiation,” von der Leyen said.

The countermeasures comprise two steps, the first of which is to restore on April 1 a set of previously suspended 2018 and 2020 countermeasures against the U.S. on a range of products.

For step two, member states will then put in place by mid-April new countermeasures targeting about 18 billion euros worth of U.S. goods entering the bloc.

Those new countermeasures will target both industrial and agricultural products, including steel and aluminum, home appliances, wood products, poultry, beef and other food imports, according to a fact sheet released on Wednesday.

Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s trade commissioner, said European officials would continue working with their U.S. counterparts toward a “win-win” outcome, but the “unjustified tariffs on our exports will not go unanswered.”

“We should be making this great relationship stronger, not weaker,” he said in a statement.

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(ROME) — The pope rested peacefully overnight as he begins his 27th consecutive day in hospital this morning, the Vatican said.

The pope’s prognosis was “lifted” on Monday, meaning he is no longer in imminent danger, but the clinical picture still remains complex.

The 88-year-old pontiff will continue “for additional days, the pharmacological medical therapy in a hospital environment” due to the “complexity of the clinical picture and the significant infectious picture presented at hospitalization,” the Vatican said.

“The improvements recorded in previous days have further consolidated, as confirmed by both blood tests and clinical objectivity and the good response to pharmacological therapy. For these reasons, the doctors decided to lift the prognosis,” the Holy See, the Vatican’s press office, said in a statement Monday.

Francis’ doctors said there are positive signs of the pontiff’s recovery, but caution remains, according to the Vatican sources.

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14 and was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.

Thursday will mark the 12th anniversary of when Pope Francis was voted to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who previously resigned.

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(LONDON) — There have been 104 passengers rescued from a train in Pakistan on Tuesday after it was attacked and hundreds were taken hostage by the militant Balochistan Liberation Army, according to a Pakistani military official.

At least 17 people have been injured and 16 terrorists have been killed as a military operation continues, according to the official.

Earlier, a U.S. official told ABC News that at least 450 people were taken hostage on the train and said six Pakistani military personnel were killed.

The separatist militant group claimed it had taken 182 military and security personnel hostage on the train, according to a post on Telegram, but said they had released the majority of the civilians on board. The group claimed a higher number of casualties in the attack, saying they killed 20 Pakistani military personnel and shot down a drone.

The BLA had threatened to kill all the hostages if Pakistan’s military tries to rescue them, the official said.

The BLA blew up part of the track, forcing the train to stop, before they boarded and took control, according to the official.

The attack happened in mountainous area right before a tunnel, making a rescue very difficult, they said.

Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and said the government would not make any concessions to “beasts who fire on innocent passengers.”

The train was trapped in a tunnel after the tracks were blown up and militants opened fire on it, reportedly injuring the driver, local authorities and police have told media.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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(NEW YORK) — An upcoming SpaceX mission on Wednesday will bring the next crew set to work on the International Space Station (ISS), but also return a pair of astronauts back to Earth.

Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams have been in space since June 2024 after they performed the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner. When they launched, they were only supposed to be on the ISS for about a week.

However, NASA and Boeing officials decided to send the uncrewed Starliner back to Earth in September after several issues and keep Wilmore and Williams onboard until early 2025 when Crew-10 was ready to launch on the Dragon spacecraft.

The pair integrated with the ongoing Crew-9 mission aboard the ISS and could not return to Earth until Crew-9 completed its six-month mission and were replaced by Crew-10.

Wilmore and Williams assisted the crew with research and other responsibilities. However, NASA officials said the pair were using up more supplies meant for the ISS crew.

Steve Stich, program manager for NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, said that NASA teams spent all summer looking over the data on Starliner and felt there was too much risk with regard to the vehicle’s thrusters.

During a press conference in September, Wilmore said he and Williams did not feel let down by anything during the mission.

“Let down? Absolutely not,” Wilmore said. “It’s never entered my mind. It’s a fair question. I can tell you, I thought a lot about this press conference … and what I wanted to say and convey.”

“NASA does a great job of making a lot of things look easy,” he said, adding, “That’s just the way it goes. sometimes because we are pushing the edges of the envelope in everything that we do.”

SpaceX and NASA are currently targeting Crew-10 to launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island in Florida around 7:26 p.m. ET with a backup window of Thursday, March 13, at 7:26 p.m. ET. If the mission is successful, it’s unclear when exactly Wilmore and Williams will return to Earth.

The crew consists of two NASA astronauts, an astronaut from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and an astronaut from Russia’s Roscosmos.

SpaceX will share a live webcast of the mission beginning one hour and 20 minutes prior to liftoff on its website and on its X account. NASA will also air coverage on its X account.

“During their time on the orbiting laboratory, the crew will conduct new research to prepare for human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit and to benefit humanity on Earth,” SpaceX said on its website.

SpaceX’s contracted missions are part of the larger Commercial Crew Program at NASA, which are certified to perform routine missions to and from the ISS.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday escalated a trade war with Canada, imposing a fresh round of tariffs on steel and aluminum products, threatening additional duties, and reiterating a call for Canada to give up its sovereignty and become a part of the United States.

Top Canadian officials responded forcefully, saying the country would keep its countermeasures in place until Trump withdraws U.S. tariffs.

Trump announced the new policies a day after Ontario slapped a 25% surcharge on electricity sent to the U.S., saying that he is adding another 25% tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, bringing the total to 50%.

Trump said in a post on Truth Social that the increased tariff “will go into effect TOMORROW MORNING, March 12th.”

The U.S. imports more steel and aluminum from Canada than any other country.

In an interview on Tuesday after Trump’s announcement, Ontario Premier Doug Ford urged Trump to withdraw the tariffs, threatening to further escalate the standoff by shutting off electricity Canada supplies to the U.S.

“That’s the last thing I want to do,” Ford told CNBC. “I want to send more electricity down to the U.S., to our closest allies.”

“Is it a tool in our toolkit? 100%. And as [Trump] continues to hurt Canadian families, Ontario families, I won’t hesitate to do that,” Ford continued.

A spokesperson for Canada’s incoming Prime Minister Mark Carney described Trump’s latest tariffs as an “attack on Canadian workers, families and businesses.”

“My government will keep our tariffs on until the Americans show us respect and make credible, reliable commitments to free and fair trade,” the spokesperson added in a statement to ABC News.

Trump also said in his post that he will “shortly be declaring a National Emergency on Electricity” in the area impacted by the tariffs from Canada. He said that the national emergency will “allow the U.S to quickly do what has to be done” to respond to the tariff from Canada, without providing any specifics on what actions the U.S. might take.

Earlier Tuesday, Ford urged Trump to reconsider his tariffs, saying that they are “causing chaos.”

“Markets are tanking. He needs to drop his tariffs and come to the table to negotiate a fair trade deal. Until he does, we won’t back down,” Ford said in a post on X.

The announcement from Trump escalated a trade war between set off last week after the U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Canada. In a near-immediate response, Canada slapped a 25% retaliatory tariff on $30 billion worth of goods. Tariffs on an additional $125 billion worth of products will take effect in 21 days, then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said

Trudeau sharply criticized the tariffs, calling them a “dumb” policy that does not “make sense.”

The tit-for-tat measures reignited a trade war that had been averted a month earlier, when Trump paused the implementation of tariffs after reaching an agreement with Canada on border enforcement.

In late February, Trump alleged that illicit drugs such as fentanyl had continued to enter the U.S. through Canada, despite the agreements reached weeks earlier to address the issue.

Since September, nearly all fentanyl seized by the U.S. came through the Southern border with Mexico, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agency. Less than 1% of fentanyl was seized at the northern border with Canada, the CBP found.

The reason for the tariffs is based on a false allegation about Canada as a major source of drugs entering the U.S., Trudeau said last week.

As part of his announcement on Tuesday, Trump threatened to impose additional retaliatory tariffs on Canada if duties on U.S. goods remain in place.

“If other egregious, long time Tariffs are not likewise dropped by Canada, I will substantially increase, on April 2nd, the Tariffs on Cars coming into the U.S. which will, essentially, permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.

He also called on Canada to drop their tariffs on dairy farmers, and again asserted that Canada should become America’s 51st state.

“The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World – And your brilliant anthem, “O Canada,” will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!,” Trump said in the post.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

ABC News’ William Gretsky contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — A man has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after a cargo ship collided with an anchored oil tanker Monday in the North Sea, police said.

The Portuguese container ship Solong struck the U.S.-flagged oil tanker Stena Immaculate while the tanker was anchored on the U.K.’s eastern coast near Hull, England, with both vessels catching on fire, officials said Monday.

Thirty-six people between the two ships were safely brought to shore, the U.K. coast guard said.

One of the Solong’s crew members remains missing in the wake of the collision, according to Ernst Russ, the manager of the container vessel.

The search for the missing crew member was unsuccessful and has ended, the U.K. coast guard said in an update Monday night. The missing person is believed to be dead, U.K. Transport Minister Mike Kane told the House of Commons on Tuesday.

Humberside police said they began a criminal investigation into the collision and have arrested a 59-year-old man following the “conclusion of search operations by HM Coastguard for the missing crew member of the Solong.”

“The man arrested remains in custody at this time whilst enquiries are underway, and we continue speaking with all those involved to establish the full circumstances of the incident,” Humberside Detective Chief Superintendent Craig Nicholson said in a statement.

Police did not release any additional details on the suspect, including his name or connection to the incident.

Fires burning on board the two vessels appeared in aerial footage to have been largely put out a day after the collision, although a shipping official said it would be “premature” to say the fire on the tanker had been extinguished.

“There will be an investigation,” Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby, said Tuesday. “With all the technology that these vessels have, there’s no way it should have happened.”

The Stena Immaculate was carrying 220,000 barrels of jet fuel at the time, with at least one cargo tank rupturing in the collision and resulting in multiple explosions onboard, according to Crowley, the ship’s manager.

Both ships sustained significant damage and were abandoned by their crews.

The British coast guard said in a statement on Tuesday that the two ships had been separated and that an “exclusion zone” had been put in place within a kilometer of the ships.

“Safety vessels and other vessels with firefighting capabilities are still on scene with more arriving today,” the coast guard said.

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is investigating the cause of the collision.

Kane told the House Commons on Tuesday that officials with the agency are on-site to survey the two vessels and will report back to him with official findings.

No pollution had been reported yet, Kane said.

“As it currently stands, no sign of pollution from vessels is observed at this time,” he said. “But monitoring is in place and should that change, assets in place will be provided as needed.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Mark Osborne contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — At least six military personnel have been killed and 450 people have been taken hostage after the Balochistan Liberation Army, a militant group, attacked a train in Pakistan, according to a U.S. official.

The BLA has threatened to kill all the hostages if Pakistan’s military tries to rescue them, the official said.

The BLA blew up part of the track, forcing the train to stop, before they boarded and took control, according to the official.

The attack happened in mountainous area right before a tunnel, making a rescue very difficult, they said.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

 

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(LONDON) — A fire burning onboard two ships that collided Monday in the North Sea appeared in aerial footage to have been largely put out, although a shipping official told BBC News it would be “premature” to say the fire on the tanker had been extinguished.

A Portuguese container ship collided with a U.S.-flagged oil tanker while the tanker was anchored in the North Sea, on the eastern coast of England, with both ships catching on fire, officials said Monday.

“There will be an investigation,” said Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby. “With all the technology that these vessels have, there’s no way it should have happened.”

The U.S. ship was identified as the Stena Immaculate, while the Portuguese-flagged container ship was identified as the Solong. Both ships sustained significant damage and were abandoned by their crews.

Thirty-six people between the two ships were safely brought to shore, with one person transported to a hospital, the U.K. coast guard said.

One of the Solong’s crew members remains missing in the wake of the collision, while the other 13 were brought safely to shore, according to Ernst Russ, the manager of the container vessel.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Mark Osborne and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — American and Ukrainian officials will meet in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for major talks on Tuesday with the goal of charting a course toward ending Russia’s three-year-old war — and after weeks of fraying ties between presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The two sides have framed Tuesday’s talks as a way to reset bilateral relations following last month’s explosive Oval Office meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance. The showdown prompted Trump to denounce Kyiv as the main impediment to peace in Ukraine, as well as placing a freeze on U.S. military aid and some intelligence sharing.

“The most important thing that we have to leave here with is a strong sense that Ukraine is prepared to do difficult things,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio — who will lead the U.S. delegation — said on Monday ahead of the talks.

Zelenskyy has stressed his readiness for peace, though repeatedly warned that any agreement must ensure deterrence against future Russian aggression. On Monday, Zelenskyy — who will not take part in Tuesday’s talks — traveled to Saudi Arabia to meet with crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman.

Zelenskyy said he had a “detailed discussion” with Salman on “the steps and conditions needed to end the war and secure a reliable and lasting peace,” in a social media post after the two leaders met.

“I specifically emphasized the issue of the release of prisoners and the return of our children, which could become a key step in building trust in diplomatic efforts. A significant part of the discussion was dedicated to the formats of security guarantees,” Zelenskyy said.

Zelenskyy said a Ukrainian delegation will “remain” in the country to “work with the U.S. team” on Tuesday. Zelenskyy said he hopes for “practical outcomes,” from the U.S.-Ukraine meeting.

“Ukraine’s position in these talks will be fully constructive,” he added.

The U.S. delegation will be led by Rubio, national security adviser Mike Waltz and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Ukraine’s negotiating group will include Andriy Yermak — the head of Zelenskyy’s office — Foreign Ministry Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and Deputy Chief of Staff Pavlo Palisa.

“The team is on site,” Yermak wrote on Telegram on Tuesday morning. “Getting ready to work. Protecting Ukrainian interests, a clear vision of ending the war, we will work effectively with our American partners.”

Trump’s administration is pushing Kyiv to make concessions in pursuit of a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion. The White House also wants Ukraine to sign off on a controversial minerals sharing agreement Trump has framed as a way to recoup tens of billions of U.S. aid sent to Ukraine since 2022.

Rubio said the Russians “are going to have to do difficult things” too, though Trump and his top officials have not said what concessions Moscow may be asked to make. U.S. and Russian negotiators first met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last month.

A source close to Zelenskyy confirmed to ABC News that Ukraine will propose a partial ceasefire in its talks with the U.S. The partial ceasefire would apply to long-range air strikes and attacks at sea, the source said.

The timeframe for the truce remains unclear.

“We want to propose a partial ceasefire that can be monitored and then see how the Russians respond to determine the next steps,” the source added.

Rubio told reporters on Monday he saw some promise in Ukraine’s partial ceasefire proposal.

“I’m not saying that alone is enough, but it’s the kind of concession you would need to see in order to end this conflict,” he said.

Rubio said finalizing the mineral deal with Ukraine was “an important topic, but it’s not the main topic on the agenda.”

“It’s certainly a deal the president wants to see done but it doesn’t necessarily have to happen tomorrow,” he said. “There’s still more details to work out.”

The talks began hours after Ukraine launched its largest drone attack of the war into Russia. Russian authorities said defense forces downed 337 drones overnight, including 91 over Moscow. At least two people were killed and eight injured in the capital, Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said.

Asked Tuesday morning if the Ukrainian strikes were intended to disrupt nascent ceasefire talks, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists, “There are no negotiations yet. So far the Americans, in their own words, are trying to understand how ready Ukraine is for peace talks. There are no negotiations yet, so there is nothing to disrupt here yet.”

ABC News’ Nataliia Popova, Ellie Kaufman and Oleskiy Pshemyskiy contributed to this report.

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