Russian held in US to be freed in exchange for Fogel release, Kremlin says
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(LONDON) — A Russian citizen held in a U.S. prison will be repatriated to Russia following the release of U.S. citizen Marc Fogel, who was returned to the United States on Tuesday, Moscow said.
“In exchange for Fogel, a Russian citizen imprisoned in the United States will be returned to Russia in the coming days,” Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesperson, said on Wednesday.
Peskov did not disclose which Russian citizen held in a U.S. jail would be repatriated, but said the United States had agreed to the release during negotiations for the return of Fogel, who had been detained in Russia since 2021.
President Donald Trump didn’t disclose on Tuesday the negotiations that led to Fogel’s release or say whether there had been any conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I can only say this: We got a man home whose mother and family wanted him desperately,” Trump said.
Mike Waltz, the White House national security adviser, said in a statement on Tuesday that Washington had “negotiated an exchange that serves as a show of good faith from the Russians and a sign we are moving in the right direction to end the brutal and terrible war in Ukraine.” His statement did not include details on the exchange.
Trump earlier on Tuesday had been asked if Russia had given the United States anything in return.
“Not much, no,” Trump said. “They were very nice. We were treated very nicely by Russia, actually.” Peskov on Wednesday declined to say whether additional prisoner exchanges were expected in the future, but said that “contacts between the relevant departments have intensified in the last few days.”
Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in October 2024 that Fogel, an American teacher, had been “wrongfully detained,” the State Department confirmed to ABC News.
The U.S. tried but was unable to include Fogel in the large prisoner swap in August 2024 that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, a State Department spokesperson said last year.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Michelle Stoddart, Nathan Luna and Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — President Donald Trump directed his administration to “pause” all military aid to Ukraine, two White House officials told ABC News on Monday, following last week’s combative Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and with Trump pressuring Kyiv into accepting a peace deal to end Russia’s invasion of the country.
The freeze in American aid poses a severe strategic problem for Ukraine, which has become reliant on military and economic support from its Western partners as it tries to repel Russia’s three-year-old invasion and stave off President Vladimir Putin’s push for a peace deal beneficial to Moscow. Experts say that Ukraine and its European partners now produce most of the weaponry destined for the battlefield. But there are crucial American systems that Kyiv will struggle to replace.
“It’s shocking,” Oleksandr Merezhko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chair of the body’s foreign affairs committee, told ABC News. “Until the last moment I hoped that Trump wouldn’t do it because he wants to be popular and such a move would definitely cause a backlash.”
“Trump is helping Putin to kill Ukrainians,” he added.
A White House official told ABC News that Trump has been clear that he is focused on peace. “We need our partners to be committed to that goal as well,” they said. “We are pausing and reviewing our aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.”
“It looks like Trump is trying to make a deal with Russia over the heads of Ukraine and Europe at the cost of Ukraine,” Merezhko said. “He doesn’t apply leverage over the aggressor but is trying to force the victim, the weaker party, to accept demands of the aggressor.”
“If Trump has a different plan in mind he should have at least talked to Zelenskyy about it behind closed doors, which never happened,” the lawmaker said.
Fellow member of parliament Oleksiy Goncharenko told Sky News that “thousands of people will die” due to the “catastrophic” decision.
Allied leaders and officials — already mobilizing to provide more aid and political backing for Ukraine in response to the Trump administration’s skepticism — also expressed concern over the White House decision.
“We need the Americans militarily,” Finnish Foreign Minister Elina Valtonen said during a Chatham House think tank event in London on Tuesday when asked about the aid pause. “On the battlefield, Russia has not really been advancing in recent months,” she added. “This definitely shouldn’t be a moment where we give in.”
Benjamin Haddad, The French minister delegate for Europe, said the pause to U.S. aid “means moving peace further away.” He added, “To end the war, pressure must be put on the aggressor, Russia,” suggesting European nations must now mobilize to fill the gap left by the U.S.
In Russia, meanwhile, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists, “It is obvious that the U.S. has been the main supplier of this war so far,” as quoted by the state-run Tass news agency. “If the U.S. stops being one or suspends supplies, this will probably be the best contribution to the cause of peace,” Peskov said.
Two officials familiar with the matter told ABC News that around 90% of the military equipment committed to Ukraine by past Presidential Drawdown Authority packages have already been delivered to the country.
That includes the vast majority of critical munitions and anti-armor systems — such as Javelin anti-tank weapons — they said, adding that most of what is still in the pipeline are armored vehicles that take longer to refurbish. Those were expected to be ready for delivery in the coming months, with all PDA equipment previously on track for delivery by August 2025.
A steady flow of arms is still set to move from the U.S. to Ukraine for at least the next several years thanks to contracts Kyiv signed with private American companies for newly produced weapons.
Many — if not most — of those contracts have been paid. The Trump administration could still attempt to disrupt those shipments through the use of emergency authorities, but there is currently no indication it is trying to do so.
Exactly what equipment earmarked for Ukraine will now be frozen in place is not clear.
Among former President Joe Biden’s final four PDA packages announced in December and January — collectively worth some $3 billion — were missiles and support equipment for Ukraine’s U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, rockets for use by American-made HIMARS systems, artillery munitions and surface-to-air missiles for Ukrainian air defense batteries.
Malcolm Chalmers, the deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in the U.K., told ABC News that recent estimates indicate the U.S. share of all military hardware sent to the front has fallen to around 20%, with 25% coming from Europe and 55% domestically produced in Ukraine.
But the 20% accounted for by the U.S. “is the most lethal and important,” Chalmers said. “Ukraine will not collapse — they already experienced an aid cutoff last year. But the effect will be cumulative.”
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War suggested that the suspension of U.S. aid will encourage Putin “to continue to increase his demands and fuel his conviction that he can achieve total victory through war.”
Mykola Bieleskov, an analyst at Ukraine’s National Institute for Strategic Studies, told ABC News that Ukraine can keep fighting at the current tempo for six months to a year while Europe and Kyiv try to ramp up production to fill the gap.
A member of Ukraine’s parliamentary defense committee, Fedir Venislavskyi, told Ukrainian media that Kyiv has a resilience reserve of about six months — even without systematic support from the U.S.
Still, Venislavskyi said the situation will be complicated by any freeze in U.S. aid, adding that work is currently underway to find alternative sources of supply for critically important weaponry.
ABC News’ Rachel Scott, Michelle Stoddart, Shannon Kingston and Luis Martinez contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — Many residents of northern Gaza and southern Lebanon are expected to return to their homes in the coming days and weeks, with most of the fighting in both areas paused under Israeli ceasefire agreements with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Under Israel’s multi-phased deal with Hamas, some hostages held in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have started to be released. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to continue amid the first phase of the deal, which was slated to last about six weeks.
Israel strikes southern Lebanon
Israel has launched several strikes against southern Lebanon on Tuesday, saying it struck a Hezbollah truck and an additional vehicle transferring weapons in the areas of Chaqif and Nabatieh.
“The truck and the additional vehicle were struck after being monitored by the IDF at the time of the transfer of the weapons,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
“The IDF is determined to continue to operate in accordance with the understanding between Israel and Lebanon, despite Hezbollah’s attempts to return to southern Lebanon, and will operate against any threat posed to the state of Israel and its citizens,” the IDF said.
Egypt denies speaking to Trump about taking Palestinians from Gaza
Egypt on Tuesday denied reports that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi had a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump after the latter said Jordan and Egypt should take in Palestinians from Gaza.
“There was no truth to what some media outlets reported about a phone call between the Egyptian and American presidents,” a senior official told state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV. The official added that any such contact would have been announced.
Trump suggested on Saturday a plan to “clean out” the Gaza Strip, saying he would “like Egypt to take people,” and would like Jordan to do the same.
He elaborated on the remarks on Monday, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he’d spoken with Sisi, although he did not clarify Sisi’s stance on accepting additional Palestinian refugees.
“I wish he would take some, we help them a lot, and I’m sure he can help us, he’s a friend of mine,” Trump said. “He’s in a very rough part of the world, to be honest, as they say, it’s a rough neighborhood, but I think he can do it.”
“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years,” Trump said Monday. “There’s always been violence associated. So, I think you can get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable.”
Both Jordan and Egypt appeared to reject Trump’s suggestion. Egypt’s foreign ministry issued a statement affirming its rejection of the “displacement or the uprooting of Palestinians from their land whether temporarily or long-term,” and Jordan reiterated its “firm and unwavering” stance against any displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.
Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Washington D.C. on Feb. 4.
Israeli troops to remain in Syria for ‘unlimited period of time’
The IDF will remain on the summit of Hermon and in the security zone for an indefinite period, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday.
“The IDF will remain on the summit of Mount Hermon and in the security zone for an unlimited period of time to ensure the security of the residents of the State of Israel. We will not allow hostile forces to establish themselves in the security zone in southern Syria — from here to the Sweida-Damascus axis, and we will not be dependent on others for our defense,” Katz said.
Israel warns Lebanese residents to avoid areas near border
Israel issued a warning to Lebanese residents on Tuesday, telling them to avoid multiple areas near the Israeli border as it redeploys in various locations in southern Lebanon.
At least 22 were killed over the weekend.
“The deployment process is taking place gradually and in some sectors it is being postponed and requires more time in order to ensure that Hezbollah is not able to re-establish its strength in the field,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.
”Hezbollah, as usual, puts its narrow interests above the interests of the Lebanese state and tries through its mouthpieces to heat up the situation, despite being the main reason for the destruction of the south,” the IDF said.
Palestinians on returning home: ‘It feels like we’re reborn!’
Emotional scenes played out all over the Gaza Strip on Monday as families and friends reunited for the first time in over 15 months after the Israeli military allowed movement between northern and southern Gaza.
A sea of people swept the shoreline heading north along the sandy remains of the coastal highway. Many traveled on foot trudging through sand, a Palestinian flag flickering in the wind above them.
“It feels like we’re reborn!” Om Wael, a grandmother from Gaza City, told ABC News as she carried her granddaughter in her arms, with a look of joyful determination on her face.
“Even if our home is flattened, we’re so happy to return to our city, to our homes, unharmed. Thank God,” she said.
Mirvat Ajur, 29, from the Daraj neighborhood in central Gaza City, told ABC News that she walked for about five hours until she reached central Gaza.
“It was a difficult journey, but the people were very happy, singing, clapping and dancing in joy at returning to their homes,” she said.
Approximately 300,000 people made the journey home, according to figures released by Gazan authorities. Samira Halas, 55, was among them.
“I know that my home is damaged and burned, but I want to return to it,” Halas, from Gaza City’s Shuja’iyya neighborhood, told ABC News, describing the destruction she saw upon her return “like an earthquake had hit it.”
“I want to live in those burned and destroyed rooms,” she continued. “I am like a fish dying far from the sea.”
-ABC News’ Ruwaida Amer and Zoe Magee
At least 300,000 return to northern Gaza
At least 300,000 Palestinians returned home to northern Gaza on Monday, according to the Gaza government office, after Israel allowed them to cross into the north for the first time in over a year.
135,000 tents needed in Gaza
As people return to northern Gaza on Monday, the Gaza government said it “immediately and urgently” needs at least 135,000 tents because 90% of the buildings have been destroyed.
The government called on the international community to help provide “basic supplies” for Palestinians.
8 dead hostages among 33 being released in 1st phase: Israel
Of the 33 Israeli hostages set to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire, eight have been killed by Hamas, according to Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer.
Seven hostages have already been released since the start of the ceasefire, meaning 18 more living hostages will be released by Hamas in the coming weeks.
More hostages are set to be released on Thursday and Saturday, Mencer said.
Threats to ceasefire will ‘bear the full cost,’ Israeli minister says
Katz Israel, the Israeli defense minister, said on Monday that his country would “firmly” enforce the ceasefires that have paused fighting in Gaza.
“Anyone who violates the rules or threatens IDF forces will bear the full cost,” he said in Hebrew on social media. “We will not allow a return to the reality of Oct. 7.”
Tens of thousands trek into northern Gaza
Tens of thousands of people were marching and driving on Monday back to northern Gaza, after Israel allowed them to cross into the north for the first time in over a year.
Long lines of Palestinians — some singing, others smiling and some kneeling to kiss the soil as they stepped into the northern part of the strip — were seen making their way home.
Those returning home were moving along two main routes.
Many of those who were were walking home were moving along al-Rashid Street, a path expected to be taken by about 300,000 people.
Many of those who were driving north were doing so along Salah al-Din Road.
A line of cars could be seen stretching for about 8 miles on Monday morning, as they waited for permission to cross into the northern part of Gaza.
-ABC News’ Sami Zyara, Diaa Ostaz, Jordana Miller, Nasser Atta and Samayeh Malekian
1 dead, 4 injured after IDF fired at ‘dozens of suspects’ in central Gaza
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its team evacuated one person who was killed, and four people who were injured, after an attack by Israeli snipers near the Wadi Gaza Bridge on Sunday.
Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that troops fired “warning shots” at “several gatherings of dozens of suspects” who the IDF said posed a threat to them.
Additionally, a rocket was destroyed by Israeli troops in southern Gaza, according to the IDF’s statement.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had introductory call with Israel’s Netanyahu
Newly confirmed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had an introductory call on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement from a U.S. senior defense official.
“Both leaders discussed the importance of advancing mutual security interests and priorities, especially in the face of persistent threats,” according to the statement.
Hegseth, who won Senate confirmation after being selected by President Donald Trump for the role, stressed to Netanyahu that the U.S. is “fully committed” to ensuring that Israel “has the capabilities it needs to defend itself,” according to the statement.
Additionally, the defense official said that “both leaders agreed to remain in close contact.”
Israel-Lebanon ceasefire extended to Feb. 18
The White House announced Sunday that the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon will be extended until Feb.18.
Lebanon, Israel and the U.S. will also begin negotiations for the return of Lebanese prisoners captured after Oct. 7, 2023.
(WASHINGTON) — A DOD-contracted aircraft flying an “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance” mission crashed in the Philippine Province of Maguindanao del Sur, killing all four on board, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said Thursday.
The victims included one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors, according to federal officials.
“The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement, noting that the aircraft was requested by Filipino allies.
The names of the crew are being withheld for at least 24 hours pending next-of-kin notification.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, according to federal officials.
