The US government is monitoring progress in improving relations with Ukraine and a possible end to its war with Russia, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“I think we are moving in a positive direction“, White House National Security Advisor Mike Walz told the “Fox News” channel. He spoke by phone with the head of the Ukrainian President's office, Andriy Yermak.
Earlier, Yermak, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who last week entered into a public spat with his American counterpart Donald Trump at the White House, confirmed that the conversation had taken place.
Waltz revealed that talks are currently underway with the Ukrainian side about the “place, date and negotiating team“ for a new meeting.
“Confidence-building measures“ were also discussed, which would then be presented to the Russian side “to test“ its reaction.
“Yesterday and today there was a positive step forward. We will negotiate this peace“, added Walz.
Earlier, Ermak said that steps towards a “just and lasting peace“ were discussed. Opinions were also exchanged on issues related to security and harmonization of bilateral relations.
US President Donald Trump issued what he described as a “final warning“ to the Palestinian movement “Hamas“ to immediately release all hostages held in Gaza, while at the same time calling on the group's leadership to leave the Palestinian enclave, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
“This is a final warning! To the leadership: now is the time to leave Gaza while you still have a chance. Also, to the people of Gaza: a beautiful future awaits you, but not if you hold hostages. "If you do, you're dead," Trump wrote on his Twitter account. Trump added that "hell will pay" if the hostages are not released.
Meanwhile, the White House confirmed that amid uncertainty over the Gaza ceasefire, negotiations are underway with Hamas representatives, the Associated Press reported. According to the agency, this is a departure from the long-standing US policy of not engaging directly with the group.
The confirmation of the talks in the Qatari capital Doha comes as a truce between Israel and Hamas currently appears to be hanging in the balance. This is the first known direct contact between the United States and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt declined to provide details about the nature of the talks, but said President Donald Trump had authorized his envoys to "talk to anyone." Egyptian and Qatari representatives have been acting as Hamas's mediators for the United States and Israel since the group launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which sparked the current Gaza war.
Levitt added that Israel had been consulted about direct contact with Hamas representatives and noted that there are “American lives at stake“.
Israeli politicians say that about 24 live hostages - including Edan Alexander, a US citizen - as well as the bodies of at least 35 others are still being held in Gaza.
The talks, which took place last month, focused mainly on the release of American hostages and a potential end to the war by ending “Hamas“ rule in Gaza, a Hamas official said.
The direct contact comes amid uncertainty over the continuation of the truce between Israel and “Hamas“. Trump has signaled that he has no intention of deterring Netanyahu from taking military action if “Hamas“ did not agree to the terms of a new ceasefire proposal that the Israelis said was drawn up by US envoy Steve Witkoff.
The new plan would require Hamas to release half of its remaining hostages - the armed group's main bargaining chip - in exchange for an extension of the ceasefire and a promise to negotiate a lasting ceasefire. Israel did not mention the release of new Palestinian prisoners from its prisons - a key component of the first phase.
The talks between US officials and Hamas were first reported yesterday by the US news website Axios.
US Vice President J.D. Vance inspected the border with Mexico from the air and met with law enforcement officials as part of a tour aimed at promoting stricter immigration policies that the White House says have led to dramatically fewer arrests for illegal crossings since Donald Trump began his second term, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Accompanied by Defense Secretary Pete Hegsett and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Vance toured the Texas border areas from a helicopter, then the three visited a border guard detention facility and participated in a roundtable discussion with local and national politicians.
“Border security is also national security“, Hegsett told “Fox News“ before the trip. “We send these people home and we don't let them in anymore. "And you're seeing that right now," he added.
Trump has made immigration a central theme of his reelection campaign, promising to stem the tide of migrants entering the United States and to stop the flow of fentanyl across the border. To that end, he has imposed 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, saying neither is doing enough to tackle drug trafficking and illegal immigration.
Although Trump has not traveled to the border since taking office, the visit by three of his top officials is evidence that his administration is focused on the issue. The president has tasked federal agencies with overhauling border and immigration policies.
Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 39% in January from a month earlier, although the decline was seen before Trump took office on January 20, from an all-time high of 250,000 in December 2023. Since then, Mexican authorities have stepped up enforcement within their own borders, and early last summer, Trump's predecessor Joe Biden imposed strict restrictions on asylum.
Since the start of Trump's second term, about 6,500 new military personnel have been ordered to the southern border. Before that, there were already about 2,500 soldiers there, mostly from the National Guard on active duty, along with several hundred serving in the air force.
US President Donald Trump is preparing an executive order aimed at reviving the country's shipbuilding and reducing China's role in the global ocean shipping industry, which accounts for more than 80% of world trade, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The draft, to which the agency has gained access, includes an 18-point plan that includes financing the policy with fees collected from imports arriving on Chinese-built vessels. It also plans to establish a Maritime Security Trust Fund as a source of funding and provide tax breaks, grants and credits to stimulate shipbuilding.
“The White House will create a department within the National Security Council to lead a government-wide effort to strengthen the maritime industrial base,“ the document says.
US lawmakers have warned for years about China's growing dominance of the seas and the declining readiness of the US Navy.
Last year, White House National Security Adviser Mike Walz, then a congressman, introduced a joint bill with Democratic Senator Mark Kelly that aimed to revive commercial and military shipbuilding in the US.
Other measures in the executive order would direct the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, to review the processes of government contracts, including in the US Navy. It is also planned to increase the wages of workers in shipyards for nuclear-powered vessels, as well as the development of cargo preferences and favorable tax policies for ships under the US flag.
The White House today accused the Democrats of being the “party of madness and hatred“ after they did not honor “Donald Trump's triumphant speech“ before Congress yesterday, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
“Last night brought great clarification. "The Democrats have shown themselves to be the party of madness and hatred that wants to make America the last of their priorities," said White House spokeswoman Caroline Levitt.
Encouraged by questions from representatives of the "new media" close to Trump voters, who are increasingly present at the White House, she accused opposition congressmen of not standing up to applaud the representatives of civil society invited by the American president.
"They didn't stand up for a beautiful, innocent child with cancer," she said, adding, "They didn't even applaud two mothers whose daughters were killed by illegal immigrants."
Democrats "disrespected Americans" and last night "stood up to support Ukraine, not America," Levitt continued.
A few minutes into Trump's speech to Congress, Democrat Al Green stood up and shouted at the president: "You have no authority to cut public benefits." After he refused to return to his seat, he was escorted out of the chamber.
Many of the Democratic Party members were dressed in yellow and blue - the colors of the Ukrainian flag in support of the war-torn country. Several female congresswomen arrived wearing pink to protest the Trump administration's measures, which they say undermine women's rights.
Several party representatives also left the plenary chamber before the end of the speech, which was the longest of its kind.
For an hour and forty minutes, Donald Trump praised his decisions on immigration, praised Elon Musk's efforts to reform the state apparatus and criticized the so-called ideology of Wokeism (the movement of the "woke").
He did not talk about inflation - a topic that was central to his election campaign - and did not comment on international issues, AFP noted.