Prince Andrew stripped of his ‘prince’ title, per Buckingham Palace

(LONDON) — Russia launched overnight a deadly aerial strike on the Ukrainian capital, killing at least one person, injuring 19 others and damaging residential buildings, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said early on Sunday.

“Emergency response efforts are currently underway in Vyshhorod, Kyiv region, following the Russian attack,” Zelenskyy said on social media. “Russia struck the city with drones, damaging numerous residential buildings.”

The attack came as Zelenskyy’s top advisers traveled to the United States for high-stakes talks with the Trump administration over its proposed plan for peace between Russian and Ukraine. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff is then expected to travel early next week to Moscow, where he’ll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy’s advisers are expected on Sunday in Florida, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner are due to lead the talks. Ukraine is trying to hammer out its best starting position before Witkoff goes to Putin.

Doubts remain that Putin would actually agree to any plan that’s deemed acceptable to Kyiv. He has already signalled he won’t compromise — saying any talks with Zelenskyy are “pointless.”

Sunday’s talks are the first high-level negotiations between the U.S. and Ukraine since they met in Geneva, Switzerland. Those talks had begun with a 28-point plan proposed by the United States, which through negotiations became a 19-point plan. But even that revised plan had not settled what were perhaps the most difficult issues — including whether Ukraine would cede any territory to Russia and whether Ukraine could in the future apply for NATO membership.

The Ukrainian delegation is being led by Rustem Umerov, the head of the National Security Council. It follows Zelenskyy’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak being forced to resign amid a corruption scandal that has rocked the country and left Zelenskyy without his right-hand man at a difficult moment.

Umerov was questioned in connection with the scandal by investigators, according to Reuters and local media, but he has not been formally accused of wrongdoing.

Zelenskyy on Sunday morning said Russia launched a total in the last week of about 1,400 drones and 66 missiles, as well as over a thousand aerial bombs, against Ukraine, underlining the scale of Russia’s increased air campaign as peace talks go on.

“This is exactly why we must strengthen Ukraine’s resilience every single day,” Zelenskyy said. “Missiles and air-defense systems are essential, and just as crucial is active work with our partners for peace. We need real, reliable solutions that will help end this war. I thank everyone who is helping.”

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(NEW YORK) — The U.S. on Wednesday seized two oil tankers linked to Venezuela, including the Russian-flagged Marinera oil tanker formerly known as the Bella-1 that had evaded a U.S. blockade back in December.

The Marinera was transiting in the North Atlantic, according to three sources familiar with the operation. The operation was being carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard and other military assets, according to one source. Russian military vessels were in the area as the situation unfolded. 

In a post on X, U.S. European Command confirmed the seizure of the tanker in the North Atlantic.

The U.S. on Wednesday also seized another tanker in the Caribbean, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

“In two predawn operations today, the Coast Guard conducted back-to-back meticulously coordinated boarding of two ‘ghost fleet’ tanker ships — one in the North Atlantic Sea and one in international waters near the Caribbean,” Noem said in a post on X. “Both vessels — the Motor Tanker Bella 1 and the Motor [Tanker] Sophia — were either last docked in Venezuela or en route to it.”

The U.S. Coast Guard has been tracking the Marinera tanker for the last two weeks after attempting to seize it on Dec. 20 when the empty ship was in the Caribbean and apparently headed to Venezuela.

On Dec. 31, the Russian Maritime Register of Shipping listed the ship — with the new name of Marinera — as a Russian vessel. The ship’s crew also painted a Russian flag on the ship’s side.

The Bella-1 previously flew a false Panamanian flag and is suspected to be part of Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet,” which Moscow is accused of using to evade international sanctions. 

The ship recently activated its transponder, allowing open-source maritime tracking websites to locate the ship as being in the North Atlantic Ocean close to Iceland and the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom issued a statement saying it supported the U.S. seizure of the Russian-flagged tanker.

The Russian Ministry of Transport issued a statement Wednesday condemning the seizure of the oil tanker in the North Atlantic.

“U.S. naval forces boarded the vessel in international waters outside the territorial waters of any state, and contact with the vessel was lost,” the statement read. The ministry added, “No state has the right to use force against vessels duly registered in the jurisdictions of other states.”

President Donald Trump in December announced what he called a “blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers in and out Venezuela.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday posted the “blockade of sanctioned and illicit Venezuelan oil remains in FULL EFFECT — anywhere in the world.”

“The United States continues to enforce the blockade against all dark fleet vessels illegally transporting Venezuelan oil to finance illicit activity, stealing from the Venezuelan people. Only legitimate and lawful energy commerce—as determined by the U.S.—will be permitted,” Hegseth posted to X.

The Trump administration intends to oversee the sale of Venezuala’s oil indefinitely and some sanctions against Venezuela will be lifted, two sources familiar with the plan told ABC News.

Wednesday’s oil tanker seizures comes just days after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. Maduro is facing federal charges, including narco-terrorism conspiracy and conspiracy to import cocaine, to which he’s pleaded not guilty.

Since the dramatic capture, questions have swirled about who is running Venezuela and how. Trump said earlier this week the U.S. was “in charge” of the South American nation. Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, said the Venezuelan government is in control, “no one else,” during a press conference Tuesday.

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(LONDON) — The heads of all 27 European Union member states will gather in Brussels on Thursday for what the body is calling an “extraordinary” summit regarding the recent crisis in transatlantic relations prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland.

European leaders “will discuss recent developments in transatlantic relations and their implications for the EU and coordinate on the way forward,” a notice posted to the website of the European Council — the body made up of EU national leaders — said.

The meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. local time, comes after several weeks of tensions between the U.S. and its European allies over the fate of Greenland, a self-governing part of the Kingdom of Denmark which Trump has repeatedly said — across both his first and second terms in office — that he wants to acquire for the U.S.

The issue has dominated this week’s World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Trump addressed the event on Wednesday, swinging between apparent threats against NATO allies over Greenland while also ruling out the use of military force to seize the massive Arctic island.

Trump described Greenland as a “piece of ice” and framed his proposed acquisition of the territory — which he several times incorrectly referred to as Iceland, though the White House denied that he misspoke — as payment for decades of U.S. contributions to NATO and European security.

Trump met with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte after his address. Later, Trump wrote on social media that the “framework of a future deal” on Greenland had been reached on Greenland.

The president said he would shelve plans to impose tariffs on eight NATO allies who deployed small numbers of troops to Greenland earlier this month — a threat that prompted fierce criticism from European leaders and raised the prospect of a transatlantic trade war.

Neither Trump nor Rutte immediately revealed the details of the purported deal. Trump told CNN that the U.S. got “everything we wanted,” while Rutte told Fox News that the issue of Greenland’s sovereignty “did not come up” in his meeting with the president.

A NATO spokesperson told ABC News that trilateral talks between the U.S., Greenland and Denmark were ongoing.

Rutte told Reuters on Thursday, “We came to this understanding that collectively as NATO, we have to step up here, including the U.S.”

Rutte said that minerals exploitation in Greenland was not discussed during his talks with Trump on Wednesday, and that specific negotiations relating to Greenland will continue between Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk.

“You can always take Donald Trump at his word,” Rutte said. “He is the leader of the free world, and he is doing what I would love for a leader of the free world to do.”

On Thursday morning, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in a statement that Copenhagen and Nuuk have been coordinating on discussions over Greenland. Denmark was in “close dialogue with NATO” and with Rutte before the latter’s meeting with Trump, she said.

“NATO is fully aware of the position of the Kingdom of Denmark. We can negotiate on everything political; security, investments, economy. But we cannot negotiate on our sovereignty,” the prime minister said.

“I have been informed that this has not been the case either. And of course, only Denmark and Greenland themselves can make decisions on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland,” Frederiksen said.

A European Council spokesperson told ABC News there had been “no change in the agenda” for Thursday’s meeting in Brussels following Trump’s announcement of a possible deal.

In a statement on the Council’s website, the body’s President Antonio Costa said that the key topics for discussions on Thursday will include “unity around the principles of international law, territorial integrity and national sovereignty” and “unity in full support and solidarity with Denmark and Greenland.”

Also to be discussed, Costa said, are a “shared transatlantic interest in peace and security in the Arctic, notably through NATO” and “concern that further tariffs would undermine relations and are incompatible with the EU-U.S. trade agreement.”

“The EU wants to continue engaging constructively with the United States on all issues of common interest,” the statement said.

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