Just days after the signing of the long-anticipated mineral agreement establishing the “United States–Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund” — granting the U.S. partial control over future rare earth mineral deposits and economic development in Ukraine — the U.S. State Department has announced it will no longer serve as a mediator in peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. The decision comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to endorse a proposed peace settlement aimed at ending his ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine. U.S. officials stated it is now up to both nations to present clear proposals for ending the conflict, emphasizing that direct negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow must take place. The war, which escalated dramatically with Russia’s 2022 invasion, traces its origins to the 2014 annexation of Crimea.

The Israel Defense Force confirms that a ballistic missile fired earlier by the Houthis in Yemen at Northern Israel, was intercepted outside of Israeli Airspace.

Major explosions reported this morning near Russian-occupied Saki Airbase in Crimea, as Ukrainian attack drones swarm the peninsula. Air raid sirens continuously sounding tonight in Russian occupied Sevastopol as the Crimean Bridge closes.

Netanyahu stated, “Freeing the hostages is a critical goal, but our ultimate objective in this war is achieving victory over our enemies.”

China has suggested that COVID-19 may have originated in the United States. “Substantial evidence suggests that COVID-19 may have emerged in the U.S. before the officially stated timeline and prior to the outbreak in China,” states a document released by the Information Office of China’s State Council. In the report, published by the official Xinhua News Agency, China accused the United States of politicizing the investigation into the origins of COVID-19.