Israeli police responding to reports of explosions on buses near Tel Aviv
(TEL AVIV) — Israeli police are responding to a suspected terror attack on buses near Tel Aviv, the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement Thursday evening.
The two buses where bombs exploded were empty and in separate parking lots about 500 meters apart from each other, the mayor of Bat Yam, where the incident occurred, said. Bat Yam is on Israel’s southern coast and is just south of Tel Aviv.
There are no injuries from the explosions, police said.
“Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving several buses at different locations in Bat Yam. Large police forces are at the scenes, searching for suspects. Police bomb disposal units are scanning for additional suspicious objects,” the Israeli Police Spokesperson’s Unit said.
Police urged the public to avoid the areas and remain alert for any suspicious items.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden announced on Monday that the United States would offer almost $2.5 billion in defense assistance to Ukraine, a move that will bring an “immediate influx of capabilities” as the country defends itself against Russia’s assault.
“At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office,” Biden said in a statement.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Ukraine and key European nations demanded a role in any negotiations to end Russia’s war on the country, after President Donald Trump unilaterally announced an immediate start to direct peace talks with President Vladimir Putin after speaking with the Russian leader by phone.
Trump said in a post to social media on Wednesday that he spoke with Putin, adding the two leaders “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately” to end the fighting in Ukraine after nearly three years of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Moscow launched its attack in February 2022 with the aim of toppling Zelenskyy’s government in Kyiv and annexing swaths of the country. The “special military operation” — as the Kremlin termed the invasion — expanded on Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its fomentation of, and active military support for, separatist rebellion in parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014.
“I think we’re on the way to getting peace,” Trump said. The president did not clarify whether Ukraine and its President Volodymyr Zelenskyy would be directly involved in any peace talks. Excluding Kyiv would align with Putin’s repeated demand that Ukraine be sidelined, the Russian leader having dismissed Zelenskyy as “illegitimate.”
Kyiv’s omission from negotiations would represent a striking break from years of U.S. and allied policy, which under former President Joe Biden was guided by the “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” principle, with the former president also refusing to speak directly with Putin while the war continued.
Trump spoke with Zelenskyy after his phone call with Putin. The Ukrainian leader said in a post to social media that the two discussed “opportunities to achieve peace, discussed our readiness to work together at the team level, and Ukraine’s technological capabilities — including drones and other advanced industries.”
Trump also said he would meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia, though did not set a date.
Addressing the conversation, Trump said on Truth Social that Zelensky,”like President Putin, wants to make PEACE.”
Trump separately hinted at the expiry of Zelenskyy’s presidential term. Ukraine was due to hold presidential elections last year, but the vote was delayed as the country is still under martial law as a result of Russia’s invasion. At “some point you’re going to have an election,” Trump said.
Ukraine and American allies in Europe were quick to call for a unified negotiating front.
“We are looking forward to discussing the way ahead together with our American allies,” said a joint statement from the foreign ministers of France, Germany, Poland, Italy, Spain, the U.K., Ukraine, the European Union’s European External Action Service and the European Commission.
“Our shared objectives should be to put Ukraine in a position of strength,” the statement added. “Ukraine and Europe must be part of any negotiations.”
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, said on X, “Ukraine’s independence and territorial integrity are unconditional.”
Trump said a meeting between Zelenskyy, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio was scheduled during the weekend Munich Security Conference event in Germany.
The State Department said that Ukraine-Russia envoy Keith Kellogg will begin a 10-day visit to Germany, Belgium and Ukraine on Thursday.
Trump’s announcement of direct D.C.-Moscow talks came shortly after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told allies in Belgium that Ukraine cannot liberate all territory occupied by Russian forces and will not be given NATO security protection as part of any peace deal.
“The bloodshed must stop and this war must end,” Hegseth said. His address was the most detailed delineation of the Trump administration’s desired peace deal since the president returned to the Oval Office.
Pro-talk signals from the U.S. raised concerns in Ukraine and abroad that Kyiv will be forced into territorial and political concessions in exchange for an end to the fighting.
John Bolton — Trump’s former national security adviser — for example, said on X that the president’s approach is tantamount to a “sell out” of Ukraine. “Trump has effectively surrendered to Putin on Ukraine.”
“It’s a bad sign that he has talked first to Putin, not to Zelenskyy,” Oleksandr Merezhko — a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee — told ABC News.
“Such a phone call is in itself a reward for Putin,” he added. “It’s sort of a break in his political isolation.”
Still, Merezhko said Trump’s approach does “not quite” mean a total exclusion of Ukraine. “The principle ‘nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine’ is more about not taking decisions without Ukraine which have influence upon Ukraine,” he said.
Pressure for peace is building within and without. A Gallup poll published in November indicated that most Ukrainians favored a rapid end to the devastating war. Zelenskyy’s public rhetoric largely reflects this sentiment, though the president has warned that no peace deal is sustainable without concrete U.S. security guarantees.
“This war of attrition is only going to make us weaker,” Iuliia Mendel — Zelenskyy’s former press secretary — told ABC News. “For a long time, Ukraine has been at the stage when negotiations are urgent to save the nation.”
The Kremlin confirmed that Trump had spoken with Putin.
“The topic of a settlement in Ukraine was discussed,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters after the call on Wednesday.
“President Trump spoke in favor of an early end to hostilities and a peaceful solution to the problem,” he added. “President Putin, for his part, mentioned the need to eliminate the root causes of the conflict and agreed with Trump that a long-term settlement can be achieved through peaceful negotiations.”
On Thursday, Peskov told reporters that Moscow had begun preparing a negotiating group to organize a meeting between Trump and Putin. “Definitely started. And as the president makes the appropriate decisions, we will inform you,” Peskov said.
When asked if a visit by U.S. representatives to Moscow is expected in the near future, Peskov said: “Not yet. So far, there are no specific agreements in this regard.”
Both Moscow and Kyiv are maneuvering for leverage in preparation for revived talks. This week, Russia and the U.S. concluded a prisoner swap described by Trump as a goodwill gesture that could help advance peace talks.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Kyiv to discuss a potential deal to secure U.S. access to hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Ukrainian minerals.
Russian and Ukrainian leaders have both expressed readiness to resume negotiations, though neither side has indicated willingness to make significant concessions.
This week, Zelenskyy suggested Ukraine would be ready to give up territory it seized in Russia’s western Kursk region in exchange for the liberation of some Ukrainian territory occupied by Moscow’s troops.
Peskov dismissed the idea as “impossible” at a Wednesday briefing with journalists. “Russia has never discussed an exchange of its territories and never will,” Peskov said.
“Naturally, Ukrainian units will be ousted from this territory. Everyone who is not eliminated will be ousted,” Peskov added.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky, Anastasia Bagaeva, Nataliia Popova, Zoe Magee and Tanya Stukalova contributed to this report.
(KAZAKHSTAN) — Survivors of the Azerbaijan Airlines plane that crashed in Kazakhstan reported hearing thuds and explosions from outside the aircraft during the flight, as the cause of the deadly catastrophe remains under investigation.
The Azerbaijan Airlines passenger aircraft crashed near Kazakhstan’s Aktau Airport on Wednesday morning, killing 38 of the 67 people on board, Kazakh officials said.
An Azeri crew member who survived the crash told ABC News in a phone call from his hospital room on Friday that he heard three thuds as they were flying over Grozny, Russia. He said he believes the noises came from outside the plane.
The crew member, who did not provide his name as crew members have not been authorized to speak with the media, said he sustained injuries to his left arm in the crash. He was hospitalized in Aktau but has since been transferred to a hospital in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The aircraft was flying from Baku to Grozny but couldn’t land due to heavy fog, according to the crew member. The flight was rerouted to Aktau in Kazakhstan when it crashed while trying to land.
A passenger told Reuters from his hospital bed that he heard a bang, saw oxygen masks falling down and that the fuselage was damaged. He said he initially thought the plane was going to fall apart and started praying.
“It was obvious that the plane had been damaged in some way,” the passenger, Subhonkul Rakhimov, told Reuters. “It was as if it was drunk — not the same plane anymore.”
Rakhimov said he was “thrown back and forth” while strapped in and then it was quiet, at which point he realized that they had landed.
Another passenger told Reuters she felt “two explosions” about 20 or 30 minutes after takeoff. A flight attendant told Reuters there were injuries on the flight “from the impact of the external blows,” and that he hurt his arm.
Azerbaijan’s transport minister said Friday that passengers and flight attendants on the plane heard explosions “from outside, and then something touched the plane” over Grozny, per local media.
Both Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan authorities are investigating the crash. The cause is still being determined, but multiple sources point to potential Russian involvement.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters Friday that there are “early indications” that the plane could have been brought down by Russian air defense systems, but he added that the investigation is ongoing.
A high-level Azeri government source told ABC News on Thursday that there is new evidence emerging that the plane may have been shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile.
The plane was flying over an area where Moscow’s air defense has battled Ukrainian drones recently.
Videos and photos of the plane after the crash show bullet holes in parts of the plane.
“Preliminary expert opinions indicate the presence of outside interference,” Rashad Nabiyev, Azerbaijan’s minister of digital development and transport, said Friday. “This is evidenced by the appearance of the plane’s wreckage on the ground and eyewitness testimonies.”
Azerbaijan Airlines also said Friday the preliminary results of the investigation show the crash was due to “physical and technical external interference.”
The Kremlin declined to comment on the matter until the investigation into the crash is completed.
“The investigation into the air accident is ongoing. And we do not think we have a right to give any assessments and will not do so until conclusions are drawn based on the results of the investigation,” Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday. “We have our own aviation authorities that can do it, and this information may come only from them.”
The head of Russia’s federal air transport agency, Dmitry Yadrov, shifted possible blame onto Ukraine for the crash.
“The situation in the Grozny Airport area was rather complicated on that day and at those hours. Ukrainian drones were conducting terrorist attacks on civilian infrastructure in Grozny and Vladikavkaz,” Yadrov said Friday, according to state media.
Azerbaijan Airlines has temporarily suspended flights from Baku to 10 Russian cities “due to physical and technical external interference and considers potential risks to flight safety,” the airline said on Friday.
“The suspension will remain in effect until the completion of the final investigation,” it added.
Several other airlines, including El Al, Flydubai and Qazaq Air, have also suspended flights to various Russian cities in the wake of the crash.
ABC News’ Tomek Rolski, Michelle Stoddart and Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
