Putin ‘stole’ another week of war by dodging ceasefire proposal, Zelenskyy says
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(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin “stole” another week of war in Ukraine with his vague response to a 30-day ceasefire proposed by Washington and Kyiv last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
Both Ukraine and Russia are seeking to avoid blame for prolonging Moscow’s 3-year-old war and undermining nascent U.S.-led ceasefire and peace talks. American negotiators have now met with representatives from both Kyiv and Moscow in their bid to formulate a deal.
Following the U.S.-Ukraine meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, last week, the two sides proposed a full 30-day ceasefire as a springboard for a wider peace agreement. Putin said he was “for” the would-be freeze in fighting, though set out additional conditions for its implementation and suggested a pause would benefit Ukraine.
Zelenskyy has since released several statements framing Putin as intentionally hindering ceasefire talks.
“After the talks in Jeddah and the American proposal for a ceasefire on the frontline, Russia stole almost another week — a week of war that only Russia wants,” the Ukrainian president wrote on social media on Sunday.
“We will do everything to further intensify diplomacy,” he added. “We will do everything to make diplomacy effective.”
Andriy Yermak, the head of Zelenskyy’s presidential office, wrote on Telegram, “Russia continues to attack, Ukraine is responding to the attacks and will respond until Putin stops the war.”
Zelenskyy and his top officials are striving to present Ukraine as ready for peace, seemingly hoping to neutralize repeated — and at times misleading — criticism from President Donald Trump’s administration that Kyiv, rather than Moscow, is the main obstacle to a deal.
Trump said Sunday he expects to speak with Putin by phone on Tuesday.
“A lot of work” on a potential deal was done over the weekend, Trump said. “We’ll see if we have something to announce. Maybe by Tuesday.” He said that his administration wants “to see if we can bring that war to an end.”
“Maybe we can. Maybe we can’t, but I think we have a very good chance,” the president said, speaking onboard Air Force One as he returned to Washington, D.C., on Sunday night.
Fighting continues at key points along the front as the parties maneuver for advantage in further ceasefire talks.
Particular attention has been paid to the western Russian region of Kursk, where Ukrainian forces seized territory in a surprise August 2024 offensive. Russian officials have said there can be no peace talks while the area remains partially occupied.
Recent weeks have seen Ukrainian positions there collapse under intense Russian attacks, with Putin visiting the region last week and saying that Kyiv’s troops there could choose to “surrender or die.”
Both sides have also continued their long-range cross-border strikes. On Monday, Ukraine’s air force said it shot down 90 of 174 Russian drones launched into the country overnight, with another 70 drones lost in flight without causing damage. Seven regions were impacted by the attack, the air force said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said Monday its forces shot down 72 Ukrainian drones since Sunday evening.
Some drones attacked the Astrakhan region of southern Russia, around 500 miles from the closest Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Igor Babushkin, the regional governor, said Ukraine “attempted a massive drone attack on facilities located in the region, including the fuel and energy complex.”
Babushkin said falling drone debris sparked a fire at one facility, though did not specify where. “The situation is under control,” the governor wrote on Telegram. “One person was injured during the attack. The victim has now been taken to the hospital.”
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that “unknown drones struck a fuel and energy complex” in Astrakhan. “The intensity of the work of unknown drones is increasing,” he added.
ABC News’ Nicholas Kerr and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.
Security forces and emergency workers respond to the scene of a shooting attack that targeted a bus and other vehicles on January 6, 2025 in the Palestinian village of Al-Funduq, West Bank. Three people were reported killed and others injured, and security forces are still searching for the assailants. The site is located between the Israeli West Bank settlements of Karnei Shomron and Kdumim. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Rebel forces in Syria are building a transitional government after toppling the regime of President Bashar Assad in a lightning-quick advance across the country.
The Israel Defense Forces continues its intense airstrike and ground campaigns in Gaza, particularly in the north of the strip around several Palestinian hospitals. A latest round of peace talks to end the 15-month-old war is set to resume in Qatar.
Meanwhile, the November ceasefire in Lebanon is holding despite ongoing Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets, which Israeli officials say are responses to ceasefire violations by the Iranian-backed militant group.
Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran after tit-for-tat long-range strikes in recent months and threats of further military action from both sides. The IDF and the Yemeni Houthis also continue to exchange attacks.
Lebanon elects army chief as new president
Lebanese Armed Forces chief Joseph Aoun was chosen Thursday to be the country’s next leader.
Aoun’s election came after 12 failed attempts to choose a new president. He will now fill a head of state post left empty for more than two years amid political deadlock and myriad crises.
Aoun received 71 out of 128 votes in the first round of voting, falling short of the two-thirds majority needed to clinch the role. Aoun won 99 votes in the second round.
Lawmakers committed to a fresh attempt to fill the presidential role following the recent Israel-Hezbollah conflict, which saw serious damage done to the capital Beirut and the south of the country.
Iran-backed Hezbollah also suffered materiel and personnel losses, its powerful leader Hassan Nasrallah among those killed during the fighting.
Hezbollah backed Suleiman Frangieh — the leader of a Christian party in northern Lebanon with ties to former Syrian President Bashar Assad — in the contest. Frangieh withdrew from the race on Wednesday, leaving Aoun as the likely victor.
Gaza’s displaced confined to ‘overcrowded’ schools, UNRWA says
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East warned on Thursday that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are still sheltering in “overcrowded” schools as Israel’s 15-month war on the enclave continues.
“Playgrounds for children are homes for the displaced,” UNRWA wrote on X. “More humanitarian aid must come into Gaza and a ceasefire is more critical than ever.”
UNRWA facilities in Gaza have been attacked frequently since the Israeli invasion began, as have school buildings doubling as shelter for Gazans displaced by the fighting.
The vast majority of Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.2 million has been displaced at least once since the fighting began.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Gaza death toll passes 46,000
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Hamas-run Gaza announced that 46,006 people have been killed in Gaza since the war with Israel began on Oct. 7, 2023.
The number of injured rose to 109,378, officials said Thursday morning.
At least 70 people were killed in the past 24 hours, the ministry said, and 104 more were injured by Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
US bombs Houthi weapon sites in Yemen
U.S. Central Command conducted “multiple precision strikes” against two Houthi underground storage facilities in Yemen on Wednesday, the command said in a statement.
“The Houthis used these facilities to conduct attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM said. “There were no injuries or damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.”
U.S. and British forces — backed by a range of allies — have been bombing the Iran-aligned Houthi organization in Yemen since January.
The strikes are a response to Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping in the Red Sea and elsewhere, launched in protest of Israel’s war in Gaza. The Houthis have also launched direct attacks on Israel and vowed to continue to do so while the war in Gaza continues.
Israel has launched several waves of strikes on Yemen in response. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that Israel would continue to act against the Houthis “with force, determination and sophistication.”
American hostage families to attend Trump inauguration
Families of American hostages who are still believed to be held in Gaza will attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month, a release from the families said Wednesday.
“During the trip, the families plan to meet with officials from the incoming Trump administration, along with members of Congress and their staff,” the release said.
“The families are urging leaders to prioritize the safe return of their loved ones and to take decisive action to bring an end to their prolonged captivity,” it added.
There are seven American hostages still believed to be held captive inside Gaza, according to the families.
Trump said this week that “all hell will break out in the Middle East” if the remaining Gaza hostages are not released before his inauguration on Jan. 20.
-ABC News’ Nadine Shubailat and Ellie Kaufman
Israel recovers body of hostage found in Gaza tunnel
The Israeli Defense Forces and the Shin Bet “located and returned the kidnapped body” of hostage Yosef Al-Zaydani on Tuesday “from an underground tunnel in the Rafah area,” the army said in a release Wednesday. Israel said it has also recovered another body and are working to determine whether it is Al-Zaydani’s son, Hamza.
The Israel Defense Forces said they have identified the body of one hostage, Yosef Al-Zaydani, and are examining the identify of the second body.
The IDF believes the second body is likely Hamza Al-Zaydani, but they are not certain yet, so at this time the IDF is saying they’ve identified one body and are examining the findings of a second body.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his “deep sorrow for the bitter news that the Al-Zaydani received today,” in a statement Wednesday.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
Israeli warplanes bomb West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday its fighter jets “struck a terrorist cell” in the occupied West Bank Palestinian town of Tamun.
Unconfirmed reports by local media suggested that two children were among three Palestinians killed.
On Tuesday, the IDF said its aircraft struck and killed two armed Palestinian militants in the area of Tamun after an armed cell opened fire toward Israeli security forces there.
-ABC News’ Nasser Atta, Jordana Miller and Joe Simonetti
Israeli strikes kill 51 people in Gaza, health officials say
At least 51 people were killed and 78 others were injured in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
In total, at least 45,936 people have been killed and another 109,274 have been injured by Israeli forces in Gaza since the ongoing war began on Oct. 7, 2023, the ministry in the Hamas-run territory said.
-ABC News’ Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Joe Simonetti
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar met with United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayad on Tuesday, according to a release from Saar’s office.
The Israeli Foreign Minister was invited by the UAE, the readout said, his visit coinciding with the resumption of ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas in Doha, Qatar.
The UAE has discussed with Israel and the U.S. the idea of participating in a provisional administration of post-war Gaza until a reformed Palestinian Authority is able to take charge, Reuters reported this week.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller and Ellie Kaufman
Biden, Trump teams ‘very collaborative’ on Gaza push, envoy says
President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, told reporters that President Joe Biden’s team has been “very collaborative” on working towards a Gaza hostage release deal, with renewed talks ongoing in Qatar.
“We’re just very collaborative together,” Witkoff said following Trump’s Tuesday Mar-a-Lago press conference. “I mean, this is a tense negotiation, so no one has pride of authorship. We are totally outcome oriented. Let’s get them home.”
Witkoff said he speaks every day with Brett McGurk, the top Biden White House official on Middle East policy.
During the press conference, Trump said “all hell will break loose” if the remaining hostages aren’t released before Inauguration Day on Jan. 20.
Witkoff said “there was no exaggeration or embellishment with what the president said.”
“If you get on the phone with the hostage families, it’s harrowing to listen to them,” Witkoff said. “There are people who just want the remains of their children back…it is withering to listen to this, and he [Trump] listens to them all.”
Witkoff said the incoming administration “aspirationally” hopes for a 42-day ceasefire to be enacted before the inauguration.
“President Trump’s persona is such that he’s driving the narrative on these negotiations,” Witkoff added. “He will be in office when that 42-day ceasefire is over. That’s what Hamas cares about — how we move to phase two. That’s what the Israelis care about, how President Trump will be at the end of that ceasefire.”
Witkoff said he’s seen intelligence reports about how many hostages remain alive, and said it’s “not a small amount.”
-ABC News’ Selina Wang
Israeli settlers attack West Bank Palestinian villages
There were multiple overnight attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, following a shooting attack that killed three Israelis and injured eight others earlier on Monday.
The Palestinian Authority-run WAFA news agency reported at least two attacks by settlers on Palestinian communities in Bethlehem and Ramallah.
The Yesh Din human rights group reported as many as 100 settlers attacking Palestinian villages, some in the al-Funduq area where Monday’s attack occurred.
Israeli security forces are still searching for the suspected perpetrators of Monday’s shooting attack, which Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz described as “an act of war.”
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
Blinken hopes for Gaza ceasefire in administration’s final weeks
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters Monday that the U.S. wants a ceasefire deal in Gaza and all remaining captives released within the next two weeks, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
“We very much want to bring this over the finish line in the next two weeks,” Blinken told reporters while in Seoul, South Korea.
Blinken reported “intensified engagement,” including by Hamas, on reaching a deal, though added “we are yet to see agreement on final points.”
“We need Hamas to make the final necessary decisions to complete the agreement and to fundamentally change the circumstance for the hostages, getting them out, for people in Gaza, bringing them relief, and for the region as a whole, creating an opportunity to actually move forward to something better, more secure for everyone involved,” Blinken said.
“If we don’t get it across the finish line in the next two weeks, I’m confident that it will get its completion at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later,” Blinken added.
-ABC News’ Joe Simonetti
3 Israelis killed in West Bank shooting
Three Israelis were killed in a shooting that targeted a bus and a vehicle in the occupied West Bank on Monday morning, security and emergency officials said.
The attack occurred in the village of Al-Funduq, on one of the main east-west roads crossing the Palestinian territory, much of which is under Israeli security control.
Israel’s Magen David Adom rescue service confirmed the death of three victims — two women in their 60s and a man in his 40s. MDA said it provided medical treatment to seven injured people, including the bus driver who is in serious condition.
The Israel Defense Forces said it launched a manhunt for the suspected Palestinian shooters.
“Anyone who follows the path of Hamas in Gaza and sponsors the murder and harm of Jews will pay heavy prices, ” Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a post on his X account, reacting to the attack.
Sending his condolences to the families of the victims, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attackers “will not get away.”
“We will find the abhorrent murderers and settle accounts with them and with all those who aided them,” his statement said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah said in an extensive report Sunday that at least 838 Palestinians — including 173 children — have been killed by Israeli fire and over 6,700 have been injured in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023.
-ABC News’ Jordana Miller, Diaa Ostaz and Somayeh Malekian
WHO director calls for release of Kamal Adwan hospital director
Tedros Ghebreyesus, the director of the World Health Organization, said in a statement Saturday that WHO has received no updates about Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of North Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, since he was detained by Israeli forces on Dec. 27th.
“We continue to urge Israel to release him. We repeat: attacks on hospitals and health professionals must end. People in Gaza need access to health care. Ceasefire!” he said in a statement.
-ABC News’ Victoria Beaulé
Israeli strikes kill 150 in Gaza, officials say, as peace talks resume
More than 150 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past three days, according to Palestinian health authorities.
The series of airstrikes on dozens of Hamas targets came amid a renewed push to reach a ceasefire in the 15-month-old war and return Israeli hostages home before President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.
Delegations from both Israel and Hamas were dispatched to resume indirect negotiations in Doha on Friday. The talks will be brokered by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.
President Joe Biden’s administration, which is helping to broker the talks, urged Hamas to agree to a deal. Hamas said it was committed to reaching an agreement deal, but it remains unclear how close the two sides are.
-ABC News Nasser Atta, Bruno Nota, Diaa Ostaz, Samy Zyara and Morgan Winsor
LONDON — European leaders will gather in London on Sunday to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, following a tempestuous White House meeting that thrust U.S.-Ukrainian relations further into crisis.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told BBC News on Sunday morning he had agreed with President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron that the U.K. and France would work on a Ukraine peace plan to then be presented to — and discussed with — the U.S. The prime minister added that “one or two” other nations may be involved in drafting the plan “to stop the fighting.”
In a statement, Starmer’s office said the prime minister will “intensify his efforts in pursuit of a just and lasting peace in Ukraine” while hosting Sunday’s summit in the British capital.
Zelenskyy arrived in the U.K. on Saturday, straight from his visit to Washington, D.C., in which an Oval Office meeting with Trump and Vice President JD Vance descended into an open argument in front of gathered reporters.
Trump and Vance lambasted Zelenskyy, falsely accusing Ukraine of starting the 3-year-old war with Russia, which began when Moscow troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The American leaders also expressed frustration over a proposed minerals extraction deal with the U.S. and Kyiv’s alleged unwillingness to reach a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European leaders were quick to rally around the Ukrainian leader and his team, though several stressed the importance of Kyiv retaining good — and repairing damaged — relations with the U.S.
“The prime minister has this weekend reiterated his unwavering support for Ukraine and is determined to find a way forward that brings an end to Russia’s illegal war and guarantees Ukraine a lasting peace based on sovereignty and security,” Starmer’s office said in a statement.
Starmer spoke with both Zelenskyy and Trump on Friday evening in the immediate aftermath of the Ukrainian leader’s disastrous D.C. visit, which ended with the cancellation of a planned press conference and the Ukrainian delegation being asked to leave the White House.
Leaders from Germany, France, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Turkey, Finland, Sweden, Czechia and Romania, as well as the NATO secretary-general and the presidents of the European Commission and European Council, are expected to take part in Sunday’s summit.
The British leader’s statement said the key topics of discussion will include further military support for Ukraine, increased economic pressure on Russia, the need for a “strong” and “lasting” peace deal that “ensures that Ukraine is able to deter and defend against future Russian attack, plus planning for “strong security guarantees” provided by foreign partners.
“In partnership with our allies, we must intensify our preparations for the European element of security guarantees, alongside continued discussions with the United States,” Starmer said in a statement.
Zelenskyy on Saturday thanked Starmer for his “meaningful and warm” reception in London. The president also confirmed that Ukraine and London signed an agreement allowing Kyiv to access revenues generated by Russian financial assets frozen in the U.K.
“I thank the people and government of the United Kingdom for their tremendous support from the very beginning of this war,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “We are happy to have such strategic partners and to share the same vision of what a secure future should look like for all.”
Zelenskyy is also due to meet with King Charles III on Sunday, the Ukrainian leader’s spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou, Victoria Beaule, Oleksiy Pshemyskiy and Tom Soufi Burridge contributed to this report.
In this handout photograph taken on Feb. 24, 2025 and released by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Service on Feb. 25, 2025, allied leaders visit an exhibition of the latest drones in Kyiv, Ukraine. Handout/UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER
(LONDON) — Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed to have shot down 130 Ukrainian drones on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, in what appears to be among Kyiv’s largest ever long-range strike into Russian territory.
Moscow said that 85 Ukrainian drones were shot down over the southern Russian region of Krasnodar Krai, with 30 more over Crimea. Another eight drones were downed over the Sea of Azov, five over the Black Sea and one each over Bryansk and Kursk regions, the ministry said.
The drones over Krasnodar appeared to mass around the Black Sea port of Tuapse, which sits between the resort city of Sochi and the Russian naval base at Novorossiysk.
Gov. Veniamin Kondratyev said several houses in the Krasnodar Krai region were damaged by drone strikes or falling debris.
Andriy Kovalenko, the head of the Counter-Disinformation Center operating as part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram that Russian authorities “reported an attack on the seaport in Tuapse,” which he described as “one of the key cargo ports of the Russian Federation on the Black Sea.”
“There is an oil terminal there — one of the largest in Russia,” Kovalenko added. “Oil and oil products are transported through the port, which makes it important for the Russian energy industry.”
Kovalenko said the port processes significant volumes of coal, mineral fertilizers, metal products and grain, plus serves as a rail and logistics hub for Russia’s central and southern regions.
“The port plays an important role in supporting military logistics,” Kovalenko wrote. “It is used to transport equipment, ammunition and fuel for military needs. It provides logistical support to the ships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, in particular those involved in the war against Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s air force, meanwhile, reported another night of Russian cross-border attacks on Tuesday night. The air force said Russia fired 177 drones into Ukraine, of which 110 were shot down and 66 were lost in flight.
The air force reported engagements in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Kirovohrad and Sumy regions.
