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KYIV (Reuters) – President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Wednesday rejected U.S. demands for $500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the United States had supplied nowhere near that sum so far and offered no specific security guarantees in the agreement.

The Ukrainian leader, who is under major pressure from Trump’s White House, said Washington had supplied his country with $67 billion in weapons and $31.5 billion in direct budget support throughout the nearly three-year war with Russia.

“You can’t call this 500 billion and ask us to return 500 billion in minerals or something else. This is not a serious conversation,” Zelenskiy said.

Trump has said he wants $500 billion in rare earth minerals from Kyiv to secure Washington’s assistance and his team last week proposed a deal that Kyiv declined to sign in its current form.

Zelenskiy has said the proposed deal did not contain the security provisions Ukraine desperately needs to protect it from Russian aggression. He said the draft deal proposed the U.S. taking ownership of 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals.

“I defend Ukraine, I can’t sell our country. I said OK, give us some sort of positive. You write some sort of guarantees, and we will write a memorandum… some sort of percentages,” he said.

“I was told: only 50 (percent). I said: OK, no. Let the lawyers work some more, they did not do all the necessary work. I am just the decision maker, I don’t work on the details of this document. Let them work on it.”

The matter of how much aid the United States has supplied to Ukraine is taking on important diplomatic significance as Kyiv tries to retain the backing of what has been its most important ally.

In his comments on Tuesday, Trump questioned where the money that has been given to Ukraine had gone.

Zelenskiy, addressing those comments, said that the combined aid from the U.S. and the European Union amounted to $200 billion out of a total $320 billion spent on weaponry for the war effort.

Ukrainians shouldered the rest of the costs of around $120 billion, he said.

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko, Max Hunder and Yuliia Dysa; Editing by Toby Chopra and Philippa Fletcher)

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By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis

RIYADH/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. and Russia agreed on Tuesday to restore the normal functioning of each other’s diplomatic missions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after talks between senior U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.

The move appeared to signal a significant easing of restrictions on Russian diplomatic missions in the United States that were imposed by past U.S. administrations over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and other Russian actions.

The Riyadh talks were aimed as a step toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump, who took office last month, ordered top officials to begin negotiations.

Rubio said the sides agreed as a first step to appoint teams of officials to “work very quickly to re-establish the functionality of our respective missions.”

The two countries have expelled diplomats and limited the appointment of new staff at each other’s missions in a series of tit-for-tat measures over the past decade, leaving their respective embassies thinly staffed.

Rubio said those moves had “really diminished our ability to operate in Moscow” and that Russia would say the same about its mission in Washington.

“We’re going to need to have vibrant diplomatic missions that are able to function normally in order to be able to continue these conduits,” Rubio told the Associated Press.

He said he would not negotiate in public the details of how the missions would be restored.

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for details of the current operations of U.S. missions in Russia.

Rubio’s Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, raised the functioning of Russia’s U.S. missions with Rubio in a call on Saturday ahead of the talks in Riyadh, Russia’s foreign ministry said.

Even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, U.S. officials complained they were able to maintain only a “caretaker presence” in Russia, after Russia imposed a cap on personnel in U.S. missions, forcing Washington to shutter its consulates in Vladivostok and Yekaterinburg.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Editing by Frances Kerry)

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By Allison Lampert, David Shepardson and Eric Cox

(Reuters) – Canadian investigators said on Tuesday they sent black boxes for lab analysis from a Delta Air Lines regional jet that flipped upside down upon landing in Toronto a day earlier, as they probe causes of the crash that injured 21 people.

Following initial impact on the runway at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, parts of the CRJ900 aircraft separated and a fire ensued, Transportation Safety Board of Canada Senior Investigator Ken Webster said in a video.

The team of over 20 Canadian investigators are leading the probe into the jet operated by Delta’s Endeavor Air subsidiary and are getting assistance from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and regulators Transport Canada and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Webster echoed other aviation safety officials in saying it was too early to tell what happened to Flight 4819 from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, which had 80 people on board including crew.

Air crashes are usually caused by multiple factors.

The reported weather conditions at the time of the crash indicated a “gusting crosswind and blowing snow,” flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said.

In a video shared widely on social media showing the plane’s descent, the landing appeared flat and did not show the regular “flare” maneuver, where pilots pull the nose up to increase pitch just prior to touchdown to slow speed, experts said.

“The question is why was it so firm,” U.S. aviation safety expert John Cox said of the landing, but stressed that investigators are still gathering data and evidence.

“The analytics start later,” he said.

The 16-year-old CRJ900, made by Canada’s Bombardier and powered by GE Aerospace engines, can seat up to 90 people. At least one of the two wings was no longer attached to the plane, video showed after the accident.

NO FATALITIES

Delta said earlier on Tuesday that 19 of 21 passengers transported to local hospitals after the plane crash had been released.

Greater Toronto Airports CEO Deborah Flint told reporters the two remaining hospitalized passengers did not face life-threatening injuries from the crash, which had no fatalities.

“It’s really, really incredible when you see that aircraft – it just makes you really thankful for all the safety checks,” Flint said, praising the flight crew and first responders.

Passenger Peter Koukov, 28, a professional skier and videographer from Denver, told Reuters he did not know anything was wrong until the jet hit the ground.

“It then kind of like bounced and almost felt like we were, like we were lifting off again and we turned on our side, slid on our side for a little bit and then ended up upside down,” said Koukov, who was flying through Minneapolis to Toronto to help film a ski video.

Koukov said he and a female passenger besides him remained calm and carefully lowered themselves down.

“We didn’t talk the … entire flight, and we just both just, like, hugged, like, a long, like, 10-second hug,” he recalled. “And then we’re like, okay, like, what’s next? Like, we need to get off this plane.”

The Delta plane touched down in Toronto at 2:13 p.m. (1913 GMT) on Monday after an 86-minute flight and came to rest near the intersection of runway 23 and runway 15, FlightRadar24 data showed.

The wreckage of the plane is expected to remain on the airport grounds for potentially another 48 hours and two of Toronto Pearson’s runways will remain closed until it is removed, Flint said.

The reductions in the number of takeoffs and landings, combined with delays and cancellations due to a weekend snowstorm that dumped more than 22 cm (8.6 inches) of snow at the airport have weighed on efforts by Air Canada to restore service after canceling about 1,290 flights over the past six days.

“We anticipate it may take several more days, depending on the weather, to return to fully normal operations,” Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Craig Landry said in a statement.

Air Canada, the country’s largest carrier, said on an average day that almost half of its flights and customers pass through Toronto Pearson airport.

(Reporting by Allison Lampert in Montreal and David Shepardson in Washington; Additional reporting by Eric Cox in Toronto and Rajesh Kumar Singh in Chicago; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Deepa Babington and Jamie Freed)

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Top U.S. and Russian officials had their most extensive high-level engagement since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine almost three years ago, meeting for nearly four hours Tuesday in Saudi Arabia as President Donald Trump sought to advance his goal of ending the fighting in Ukraine and mending ties with Moscow.

The delegations led by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the discussions were a good first step.

They agreed to set up teams to look into restoring staffing at the U.S. and Russian embassies in Moscow and Washington that have been decimated by a series of tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions. The effort is aimed at using those channels to support Ukraine peace negotiations and to explore ways to restart economic and global cooperation. A Russian official pointed to possible joint energy ventures.

However, the rapprochement may come at a cost to the transatlantic alliance of the U.S. and Europe and significantly damage Washington’s standing with Ukraine as well as with other nations counting on U.S. leadership in NATO and elsewhere for their security and protection.

During former President Joe Biden’s administration, the U.S. and Europe focused on isolating Russia and defending the post-World War II international order.

Here’s a look at the meeting and what comes next:

First on both countries’ list of accomplishments was an agreement to end what has been years of dwindling diplomatic relations that hit a post-Cold War low point after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

The meeting, which came just a week after Trump spoke to Putin by phone, was the first substantive face-to-face discussion between the nations’ top diplomats since former Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Lavrov in Geneva in January 2022 in an unsuccessful bid to prevent the Ukraine conflict.

Lavrov said after Tuesday’s talks that the sides agreed to fast-track the appointment of new ambassadors, adding that senior diplomats from the two countries will meet shortly to discuss specifics related to “lifting artificial barriers to the work of the U.S. and Russian embassies and other missions.”

In reality, the decimation of the U.S. and Russian embassies personnel began well before Russian troops rolled into Ukraine in 2022, starting after 2014 Russia’s annexation of Crimea that was seen as illegal by most of the world during the Obama administration, which ordered several Russian offices in the U.S. to close.

It picked up steam after the 2018 poisoning in Britain of an exiled Russian spy and his daughter, which British authorities blamed on Russia, and resulted in mass expulsions of diplomats and the closure of numerous consulates in both countries and Europe.

Asked by The Associated Press if the U.S. now considered those cases closed, Rubio declined to say but said it would be impossible to get a Ukraine peace agreement without diplomatic engagement.

“I’m not going to negotiate or talk through every element of the disruptions that exist or have existed in our diplomatic relations, on the mechanics of it,” he said. Bringing an end to the conflict cannot happen “unless we have at least some normalcy in the way our diplomatic missions operate in Moscow and in Washington, D.C.”

The two sides agreed to set up high-level working groups to begin exploring a negotiated end to the conflict. It was not immediately clear when these teams would first meet, but both said it would be soon.

As to concessions that may need to be made by all sides, Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, who participated in the talks Tuesday, said the issue of territory and security guarantees would be among the subjects discussed.

Rubio said a high-level team, including experts who know technical details, will begin to engage with the Russian side on “parameters of what an end to this conflict would look like.”

On the key issue of a prospective peacekeeping mission to monitor a potential ceasefire in Ukraine, the top Russian diplomat said Moscow would not accept any troops from NATO members, repeating its assertion that Ukraine’s bid to join the Western military alliance poses a major security issue.

“We explained that the deployment of troops from the countries that are NATO members, even if they are deployed under the EU or national flags, will not change anything and will certainly be unacceptable for us,” Lavrov said.

Neither Ukraine nor European nations were invited to Tuesday’s talks in Riyadh, but U.S. officials said there is no intention to exclude them from peace negotiations should they begin in earnest.

“No one is being sidelined here,” Rubio said. “Obviously, there’s going to be engagement and consultation with Ukraine, with our partners in Europe and others. But ultimately, the Russian side will be indispensable to this effort.”

Waltz agreed: “If you’re going to bring both sides together, you have to talk to both sides. … We are absolutely talking to both sides.”

He noted that Trump spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy immediately after speaking with Putin last week and that U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Rubio met Friday with Zelenskyy in Germany.

Still, Zelenskyy was clearly peeved at being omitted from the meeting, postponing plans to visit Saudi Arabia on Wednesday to avoid any linkage of his trip with Tuesday’s U.S.-Russia talks.

“This whole negotiation from the start seems very tilted in Russia’s favor. And it’s even a question whether it should be termed a negotiation or in some sense, a series of American capitulations,” said Nigel Gould-Davies, senior fellow for Eurasia and Russia at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and a former British ambassador to Belarus.

Trump showed little patience for Ukraine’s objections to being excluded from the talks. He said repeatedly that Ukraine’s leaders never should have allowed the war to begin, suggesting the country should have been willing to make concessions to Russia before the 2022 invasion.

“Today I heard, ‘Oh, well, we weren’t invited.’ Well, you been there for three years. You should have ended it three years” ago, Trump said during a news conference at his Florida residence. “You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.”

Asked whether the U.S. could lift sanctions against Moscow imposed during the Biden presidency, Rubio noted that “to bring an end to any conflict, there has to be concessions made by all sides” and “we’re not going to predetermine what those are.”

Asked if the U.S. could officially remove Lavrov from its sanctions list, Rubio said that “we’re just not at that level of conversation yet.”

Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund who joined the Russian delegation in Riyadh, told reporters that Russia and the U.S. should develop joint energy ventures.

“We need joint projects, including in the Arctic and other regions,” he said.

Should the parties succeed in negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict, Rubio said, it could open “incredible opportunities” to partner with the Russians “on issues that hopefully will be good for the world and also improve our relations in the long term.”

He did not say what those would entail.

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Isachenkov reported from Moscow. Associated Press Writer Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.

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Hezbollah and Israel Brace for Fallout as Ceasefire Ends 

Israeli troops have withdrawn from several areas in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah faces military and financial challenges, leaving the region on edge 

After weeks of fragile calm, the extended ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel has officially ended. Israeli troops have begun withdrawing from several areas in southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese army moves in to fill the void. However, Israel is maintaining control over five key strategic positions, Hezbollah is grappling with financial and military setbacks, and tensions remain high, leaving the situation precarious. 

Israeli Withdrawal and Lebanese Army Deployment 

As part of the ceasefire arrangement, Israel has begun pulling its troops out of certain villages in southern Lebanon. However, it is retaining control over five strategic locations, raising concerns about renewed hostilities. Reports indicate that more than 1,500 Israeli troops have participated in the withdrawal process, gradually handing over control to the Lebanese army and United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) peacekeepers. The process includes logistical maneuvers to relocate heavy artillery and military equipment back to Israeli territory while keeping intelligence operations active. 

A Lebanese political analyst, who asked to be identified only as Ahmad due to security concerns, emphasized the strategic implications: “Hezbollah has not been eliminated, so I understand why Israel wants to maintain a military advantage. However, as long as intelligence and air superiority remain intact, withdrawing from those five points shouldn’t compromise internal security,” he told The Media Line. 

Abraham Levine, a speaker and digital content manager at the Alma Research and Education Center in northern Israel, defended Israel’s position: “These locations are crucial because they prevent Hezbollah from gaining a tactical advantage. At least one of these areas has been used to launch anti-tank missiles at Israeli civilian roads,” he told The Media Line. 

Israeli Strategy: Retaining 5 Key Positions 

Despite withdrawing from several areas, Israel insists on holding five strategic vantage points that provide oversight of key routes and prevent Hezbollah from regaining a foothold in the area. 

Levine elaborated: “These high-ground positions allow Israel to monitor and control movement along the border.” 

He also stressed their defensive significance: “Hezbollah has previously used these areas to launch attacks toward Israel, so relinquishing them would be a security risk.” 

Ahmad, however, questioned Israel’s rationale: “Unless there are undiscovered weapons depots, maintaining control of these positions seems unnecessary. Israel has yet to clarify its reasoning for staying.” 

Hezbollah’s Military and Financial Struggles 

With the ceasefire over, Hezbollah faces mounting challenges. The group has suffered significant losses in both personnel and infrastructure while struggling financially due to Israeli airstrikes, international sanctions, and disrupted Iranian funding and weapons smuggling through Syria. 

Ahmad described the extent of Hezbollah’s difficulties: “Hezbollah is encircled. The northern and eastern borders are closed, the southern border is a front line, and now Iran is struggling to deliver funds and access to Beirut airport. This isn’t just about weapons—it’s about money. Despite that, the ideology remains very strong.” 

Levine echoed this sentiment: “Hezbollah’s leadership is weakened, and while its fighters remain, their commanders are being systematically targeted.” 

The Role of the Lebanese Army and UNIFIL 

With Israeli troops withdrawing, the Lebanese army, alongside UNIFIL, is now responsible for maintaining stability. However, doubts persist over the army’s ability to contain Hezbollah’s influence and prevent further escalation. 

Ahmad was skeptical. “The Lebanese army includes Amal members, who won’t engage Hezbollah. An armed conflict between them is unlikely. So hopefully, they will find a way to maintain order,” he said. 

Levine remained cautiously optimistic: “Both the IDF and the Lebanese army share a goal—to prevent Hezbollah from reestablishing itself as a threat. There’s potential for cooperation.” 

UNIFIL’s effectiveness remains a contentious issue. Ahmad was critical: “UNIFIL has been largely ineffective and, in some cases, has worsened the situation.” 

Levine concurred: “Whenever UNIFIL challenges Hezbollah, it faces violent retaliation. This has been the case for years.” 

Hezbollah’s Propaganda and Nasrallah’s Funeral 

Amid rising tensions, Hezbollah has ramped up its propaganda efforts. Its media arm, Al-Mayadeen, recently published a video warning Israel: “Be ready. We will strike again soon.” 

Ahmad dismissed this as theatrics: “This is mostly propaganda and a way to save face. Hezbollah lacks the infrastructure for another full-scale fight, but people still show support for them because it is still a symbol of resistance against Israel.” 

Meanwhile, the long-delayed funeral of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is set to take place soon. Analysts see the event as an attempt to rally support at a critical time for the organization. 

Levine noted: “The more Nasrallah is glorified, the worse Naeem Qasim looks in comparison. Nasrallah earned legitimacy through military victories. Qasim, so far, has achieved nothing.” 

Ahmad agreed: “Qasim took over at the worst possible time. Hezbollah is weakened, and he lacks Nasrallah’s authority.” 

An Uncertain Future 

With the ceasefire officially over, the region faces an uncertain future. Israel’s withdrawal from several areas marks a shift, but its retention of five key positions highlights persistent security concerns. Hezbollah, weakened both militarily and financially, struggles to maintain its influence. Meanwhile, the Lebanese army and UNIFIL are tasked with maintaining order, though doubts about their effectiveness remain. 

As Hezbollah pushes its propaganda efforts and prepares for Nasrallah’s funeral, the group’s future remains uncertain. Whether the region will spiral back into open conflict or find a path toward stability depends on the actions of key players in the coming weeks. 

Levine summed it up: “I hope the IDF has learned from past mistakes, and we won’t see more unnecessary casualties from now on.” 

Ahmad offered a more pragmatic perspective about the future. “If internal conflicts within Lebanon continue similarly to what happened during the civil war, external forces like Israel may see little reason to escalate military action and may take advantage of it. If your enemy is in crisis and does the job for you, why directly intervene?” he concluded. 

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Israel Names 6 Hostages Hamas Is Expected To Release From Captivity on Saturday 

Families celebrate the expected release of six hostages from Gaza, while others mourn the dead and demand urgent action for those still held 

Six Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are set to be released on Saturday, while the bodies of four others will be transferred to Israel on Thursday, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. The announcement brought both relief and heartbreak to the families of those affected, as efforts continue to secure the release of those still in captivity. 

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomed the news but stressed that time is running out for those who remain imprisoned. “We are grateful for each life returned, but we cannot rest until all our loved ones are home,” the organization said in a statement. The group urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump to advance negotiations to secure the freedom of all remaining hostages. 

Four of the six individuals set to return—Eliya Cohen, Tal Shoham, Omer Shem Tov, and Omer Wenkert—were kidnapped on October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing approximately 1,200 people and abducting more than 240. The other two, Hisham Al-Sayed and Avera Mengistu, have been held in Gaza for nearly a decade after crossing the border under unclear circumstances. 

The Hostages Returning Home 

Eliya Cohen, 27, was abducted from the Nova Music Festival, where he had been celebrating with his fiancée, Ziv Abud, her nephew, Amit, and Amit’s girlfriend, Karin. As Hamas gunmen stormed the area, Cohen and his group ran for shelter. Amit and Karin were killed in the attack, while Ziv survived by hiding under their bodies for hours. Cohen was taken into Gaza. 

Upon hearing the news of his impending release, Ziv posted on social media: “Eliya is coming home!” 

Tal Shoham, 40, was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri, where he was visiting family for the holiday of Simchat Torah. He holds Austrian and Italian citizenship and worked in economic forecasting while volunteering with Magen David Adom. He was kidnapped along with his wife, Adi, their children Naveh and Yahel, and several other family members. His wife and children were released as part of a November hostage deal, but Shoham remained in captivity. 

Omer Shem Tov, 22, a Herzliya resident with aspirations of becoming an actor, was also abducted from the Nova Music Festival. He had been at the event with Maya and Itay Regev, who were later released during a ceasefire deal in November. 

His release is being celebrated by his friends and family, including Maya Regev, who wrote on Instagram: “A few more days and you will be with us. Hold on a little longer.” 

Omer Wenkert, 23, from Gedera, was also taken from the Nova festival. Described as charismatic and full of life, he had been working as a restaurant manager and was preparing to start a restaurant management course. His family has expressed concern over his health, as he suffers from colitis, a chronic autoimmune disease affecting the digestive tract. They fear his captors may not have provided him with necessary medication. 

His friend, Kim Damti, who attended the festival with him, was killed while hiding in a rocket shelter. 

Hisham Al-Sayed, 36, a Bedouin Israeli from Hura, has been held by Hamas since 2015, after crossing into Gaza. His family has stated that he suffers from schizophrenia and other mental health disorders. In 2022, Hamas released a video of him lying in a hospital bed with an oxygen mask, marking the first confirmation of his condition since his abduction. 

His father, Shaaban Al-Sayed, reacted cautiously to the news, telling Israeli media: “We are not celebrating yet. We were informed that he is returning home, but we will wait until Saturday. We thank the public for their support during this long period.” 

Avera Mengistu, 39, an Ethiopian-born Israeli from Ashkelon, crossed into Gaza in September 2014 following an argument with his mother. He has been held captive ever since. His family and human rights organizations have long pushed for his release, noting that he was suffering from mental health issues at the time of his disappearance. 

For years, there was no information on his condition until Hamas released a video in January 2023 showing him alive. 

The Return of Four Bodies 

While six hostages are set to come home alive, the remains of four others will be returned to Israel on Thursday. Israeli authorities have not publicly identified them, though Hamas has said that they will include the bodies of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were 9 months old and 4 years old, respectively, when they were abducted. 

The Push for Further Negotiations 

Israeli officials have been engaged in indirect negotiations with Hamas, with mediation efforts led by Egypt, Qatar, and the US. Talks have stalled over Hamas’ demands, which reportedly include an end to Israeli military operations. Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that Israel will not agree to a permanent ceasefire without the full return of all hostages and the removal of Hamas from power. 

Families of the captives have been vocal in urging the government to continue its efforts. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has organized protests and campaigns calling for a more aggressive approach to securing the release of those still in captivity. 

While the return of these six individuals is a breakthrough, the forum emphasized that it is only a partial victory. “As we embrace our returning family members, we must emphasize that many hostages remain in captivity, and time is of the essence,” the organization said. 

International Efforts and Response 

The hostage crisis has drawn widespread international attention, with US, European, and Arab leaders working to broker further agreements. 

Despite international pressure, Hamas has sought to extract greater concessions from Israel. Reports from released hostages have detailed harsh conditions in captivity, adding urgency to the calls for further action. 

As Israel prepares to welcome back the six hostages on Saturday, families continue to push for the release of those still in captivity. While the news brings hope to some, it also serves as a painful reminder that many remain missing, with their fate unknown. 

For the families of those still held, the fight is far from over. 

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TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday reversed course on a decision to end a long-running extradition treaty with the United States after reaching an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

The reversal came as the Trump administration has struck agreements with a number of Central American nations to receive deported migrants from other nations, often after pressure was applied or offers of support made on other issues.

“I announce that I have reached an agreement with the new American administration so that the extradition treaty will continue with the necessary safeguards for the state of Honduras,” Castro wrote in a post on X.

Honduras was not a stop on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent Central American tour and while Honduras has continued to receive its own deportees, neither Honduras nor the U.S. have said there is a deal for Honduras to also receive migrants from other nations.

In February, Mexico started sending 10,000 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border to postpone threatened 25% tariffs. Last month, Colombia’s firebrand leftist leader caved in a showdown after Trump threatened steep tariffs and sanctions after the Colombian government said it wouldn’t take deportation flights in U.S. military aircraft.

On Tuesday, Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina said the extradition treaty was part of direct talks with the White House, in which the governments discussed five key issues: migration, military agreements, free trade agreements, investment in trade infrastructure in Honduras and extradition.

It wasn’t immediately clear what, if anything, Honduras would get from the agreement.

Reina added that the extradition treaty would include “important, normal safeguards,” namely that cases of extradition would not be politicized in any way and based on legal factors.

It’s a change of tone from Castro’s administration. In August, Castro said that she would end the treaty after the U.S. ambassador in Honduras questioned a visit of Honduran military officials to Venezuela to meet with officials accused by the State Department of drug trafficking.

The comments by the diplomat stroked anger in the Honduran government, which decided to end the treaty. The treaty has seen high-profile crime suspects including Castro’s predecessor former President Juan Orlando Hernández extradited to the U.S. He’s serving a 45-year prison sentence in the U.S. for drug trafficking.

Days after Castro announced she was canceling the treaty, her brother-in-law Carlos Zelaya, brother of former President Manuel Zelaya, appeared in a video in which he is seen with several well-known drug traffickers negotiating a bribe. The video fueled anger in many Hondurans, who said that her real reason to end the treaty was to protect her family.

Reina said Tuesday the latest decision was important to ensure the democratic integrity of the country’s upcoming elections, a process in which the Honduran military is a guarantor.

“We are not here to favor politicians or criminals, but, if in any way, the extradition treaty is used to destabilize the government or elections through an attack on the armed forces, that does concern us,” he said.

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GENEVA (Reuters) – Three children were executed by the Rwanda-backed M23 after they donned weapons and uniforms abandoned by the Congolese army in the eastern city of Bukavu, the U.N. human rights office said on Tuesday, voicing alarm at the incident and other violations since the rebels arrived there.

“Our Office has confirmed cases of summary execution of children by M23 after they entered the city of Bukavu last week,” U.N. Human Rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a press briefing in Geneva.

She also voiced concern for journalists, human rights defenders and members of civil society organisations who are seeking protection from reprisals by M23.

(Reporting by Emma Farge, Editing by Rachel More)

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israel will begin negotiations on the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, including an exchange of the remaining Israeli hostages with Palestinian detainees, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Tuesday, adding that Israel demanded a complete demilitarisation of the enclave.

Negotiations for the second phase of the deal were supposed to be under way before the first phase ends on March 2, but Qatar said the talks have not officially started yet.

A “Hezbollah model” in Gaza would not be acceptable to Israel “and therefore we need a total demilitarisation of Gaza and no presence of the Palestinian Authority”, Saar said in a press conference.

He added that Israel was aware of an alternative plan by Arab states for Gaza, made to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to redevelop the strip under U.S. control, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said is worthy of exploration.

Israel would not support a plan that would see civilian control of Gaza transferred from Hamas to the Palestinian authority, Saar added.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie; Writing by Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Ed Osmond and Alison Williams)

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was serious about negotiating a settlement to end the war in Ukraine as high-level talks began in Saudi Arabia, and that Russia would prefer to achieve all its aims peacefully.

Putin sent Russia’s army into Ukraine in 2022. He has repeatedly said he is ready to discuss an end to the war that reflects the reality on the ground, where advancing Russian forces now control nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory.

Western intelligence, European leaders and former U.S. president Joe Biden have repeatedly asserted that they do not think Putin really wants peace, though U.S. President Donald Trump says he does think Putin is serious.

“President Putin has been repeating his words about his readiness for peace talks from the very beginning,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

“The main thing for us is to achieve our goals. And, of course, we prefer peaceful means to achieve our goals.”

Peskov said there was no understanding yet about a date for a meeting between Putin and Trump, though the Riyadh talks might bring clarity. It was, he said, impossible to give any sense of the talks as they had only just begun.

Asked if Putin was willing specifically to negotiate with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Peskov said Putin had repeatedly said that he was.

But he also said any agreement would have to take into account a possible challenge to Zelenskiy’s legitimacy, a reference to the fact that Zelenskiy has remained in office beyond the end of his normal term because Ukraine is under martial law.

Peskov said joining the European Union was Ukraine’s sovereign right if it wished to do so, but that Moscow’s position was different when it came to joining military alliances.

Moscow has said one of the goals of what it calls its “special military operation” is to avert any prospect of Ukraine joining the transatlantic NATO defence alliance, which it would consider a threat to Russia’s security.

(Reporting by Anastasiya Lyrchikova; Writing by Gleb Stolyarov; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kevin Liffey)

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