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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/MOSCOW – U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday he believed the United States was making progress in its talks to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, but declined to provide details about any communications he had with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump indicated that the two men had been in contact; that would be the first officially acknowledged conversation between Putin and a U.S president since early 2022. Asked whether he had spoken with Putin since he became president on January 20 or before, Trump said: “I’ve had it. Let’s just say I’ve had it…And I expect to have many more conversations. We have to get that war ended.” “If we are talking, I don’t want to tell you about the conversations,” Trump said. “I do believe we’re making progress. We want to stop the Ukraine-Russia war.” The president said the United States was in touch with Russia and Ukraine. “We’re talking to both sides,” he said. Trump has promised to end the war but has not yet publicly outlined how he would do so. In a Friday interview with the New York Post, Trump said that he had “better not say” how many times he and Putin had spoken and did not disclose when the latest conversation had taken place. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the TASS state news agency that “many different communications are emerging.” “I personally may not know something, be unaware of something,” Peskov said when asked by TASS to comment. “Therefore, in this case, I can neither confirm nor deny it.” U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz also declined to elaborate when asked about communications between the two countries. “There certainly are a lot of sensitive conversations going on,” Waltz said on NBC News. Trump has repeatedly said he wants to end the war and that he will meet with Putin to discuss it, though the date or venue for such a meeting has not been announced. Trump told reporters on Sunday that he would meet with Putin at an appropriate time. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are seen by Russia as possible venues for a summit, Reuters reported earlier this month. In the coming days, a flurry of U.S. officials are heading to Europe in part to discuss the war, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Keith Kellogg, the special envoy for the Ukraine war. Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a ceremony to award young scientists at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday. | Sputnik / via AFP-JIJI Waltz indicated that Trump would be willing to use sanctions and tariffs to coax Putin to the negotiating table. Waltz said U.S. and Ukrainian officials would discuss the United States gaining access to Ukraine’s rare earth resources as compensation for U.S. aid to the eastern European ally. On June 14, Putin set out his opening terms for an immediate end to the war: Ukraine must drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia. Reuters reported in November that Putin is open to discussing a Ukraine peace deal with Trump but rules out making any major territorial concessions and insists that Kyiv abandon ambitions to join NATO. The Kremlin has repeatedly urged caution over speculation about contacts with the Trump team over a possible peace deal. Leonid Slutsky, head of the Russian parliament’s international affairs committee, was cited by the state RIA news agency on Thursday as saying that preparations for such a meeting were at “an advanced stage” and that it could take place in February or March. Putin last spoke to former U.S. President Joe Biden in February 2022, shortly before Putin ordered thousands of troops into Ukraine. Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward in his 2024 book “War” reported that Trump had direct conversations as many as seven times with Putin after he left the White House in 2021. Asked if that were true in an interview to Bloomberg last year, Trump said: “If I did, it’s a smart thing.” The Kremlin denied Woodward’s report. Reuters, The Washington Post and Axios reported separately that Trump and Putin talked in early November. The Kremlin also denied those reports. On Friday, Trump said he would probably meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy the following week to discuss ending the war. Zelenskyy told Reuters that he wanted Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort. Putin sent thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022, calling it a “special military operation” to protect Russian speakers and counter what he said was a grave threat to Russia from potential Ukrainian membership of NATO. Ukraine and its Western backers, led by the United States, said the invasion was an imperial-style land grab and vowed to defeat Russian forces. Moscow controls a chunk of Ukraine about the size of the U.S. state of Virginia and is advancing at the fastest pace since the early days of the 2022 invasion. Source link

Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo, sidelined by a left calf strain, will miss the NBA All-Star Game, and Bucks coach Doc Rivers said Sunday he is unlikely to play before that. The 30-year-old Greek forward has been out for the past week, and Rivers confirmed Antetokounmpo will not play in next Sunday’s NBA All-Star event and that he isn’t expected to play before then either. “We’ve just been monitoring it, and it just hasn’t improved enough for us to play him,” Rivers said. “If this was a playoff game, would he play? Probably yes. But this is not and we want to make sure he’s playing in the playoffs. “We would love to have him, but you’ve still got to be smart. At the end of the day, I think it’s more important to get him healthy.” Antetokounmpo missed his fourth consecutive game on Sunday when the Bucks faced the Philadelphia 76ers and the streak is likely to reach six when the Bucks face the Golden State Warriors on Monday and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Rivers said they hope he will be back for Milwaukee’s first game after the All-Star break, which is at home against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 20. Antetokounmpo ranks second in the NBA with an average of 31.8 points a game and also averages 12.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.3 blocks per game. The Bucks are 4-5 without him in the lineup this season. Source link

TAIPEI – When Taiwan’s Powerchip Technology entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. Nine years later, however, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip, has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial $56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy or mature node chips made on 28-nanometer technology and larger, a trend that prompted the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden to initiate an investigation and is alarming Taiwanese industry. Source link

Manila – Looking to boost interoperability and highlight their commitment to the global rules-based order, the U.S., Australia, Japan and the Philippines conducted a joint naval patrol within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) last week. It was the kind of move that is becoming routine. But some are calling on Manila to do more. To fully capitalize on growing international support amid intensifying maritime rows with Beijing, a growing number of Philippine officials and experts are calling on Manila to go a step further and consider joint coast guard and naval patrols near Chinese government vessels operating in disputed waters — a move the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has shied away from to avoid further escalating tensions. Source link

The nervousness that pervaded Japanese markets on Friday turned briefly to relief after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, then back to uncertainty on Monday after the U.S. president flagged tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum. Trump’s talk of imposing reciprocal tariffs on “everyone” has also provided a stark reminder of the risks that face all of America’s trading partners, including Japan. Yet the amicable atmosphere of their first summit on Friday has the potential to help support Japanese stocks in the medium term, according to investors. “There had been concerns that Trump may impose tariffs on Japanese cars,” said Daiju Aoki, regional chief investment officer at UBS SuMi Trust Wealth Management in Tokyo. “There were no tariffs. In terms of the yen, they just confirmed that their finance chiefs would be in close touch. And there were no new demands on Japan’s defense spending. It will be a relief for markets.” Source link

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that Nippon Steel cannot have a majority stake in U.S. Steel, days after he said following a meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba that the Japanese steelmaker is now considering investing in U.S. Steel instead of purchasing it outright. Ishiba presented a revised plan over Nippon Steel’s bid to acquire U.S. Steel during his summit with Trump on Friday, sources said. Although details are not known, the revised plan is believed to include a substantial increase in Nippon Steel’s investment in U.S. Steel from the $2.7 billion pledged so far by the Japanese company. Source link

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he will announce on Monday new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S., which would come on top of existing metals duties in another major escalation of his trade policy overhaul. Trump, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, also said he will announce reciprocal tariffs on Tuesday or Wednesday, to take effect almost immediately. During his first term, Trump imposed tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, but later granted several trading partners duty-free quotas, including Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Former President Joe Biden extended these quotas to Britain, Japan and the European Union, and U.S. steel mill capacity utilization has dropped in recent years. White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said that the new tariffs would come on top of the existing duties on steel and aluminum. Trump on Friday announced that he would impose reciprocal tariffs — raising U.S. tariff rates to match those of trading partners — on many countries this week. He did not identify the countries, but the duties would be imposed “so that we’re treated evenly with other countries.” Kathryn Burgum (L), wife of Doug Burgum (C), U.S. secretary of the interior, and U.S. President Donald Trump (R) during an executive order signing ceremony in Washington on Friday. Trump said he would impose tariffs on a wide range of imports in the coming months, including steel, aluminum, oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, as well as semiconductors, while speaking during an executive order signing on deregulation. | Bloomberg Source link

GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba – The Trump administration has moved more than 30 people described as Venezuelan gang members to the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, as U.S. forces and homeland security staff prepare a tent city for potentially thousands of migrants. About a dozen of the men were brought in from El Paso, Texas, on Friday, as Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, arrived at Guantanamo. She is the first senior member of the Trump administration to visit the migrant mission on the base in southeastern Cuba. Noem was taken to the rooftop of the base’s aircraft hangar and observed as U.S. security forces led the deportees down the ramp of a C-130 military cargo plane to an awaiting minibus. Maj. Gen. Philip J. Ryan, the army commander overseeing the migrant mission, stood beside her in combat uniform, and a Chinook transport chopper could be seen in the distance. Source link

VILAKA, Latvia – The three Baltic states disconnected their electricity systems from Russia’s power grid on Saturday, the region’s operators said, part of a plan designed to integrate the countries more closely with the European Union and boost security. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania disconnected from the IPS/UPS joint network and, subject to last-minute tests, they will synchronize with the EU’s grid on Sunday after operating on their own in the meantime. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will speak at a ceremony on Sunday to mark the switch to the EU system, her office said on Friday. “We’ve reached the goal we strived for for so long. We are now in control,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Zygimantas Vaiciunas told a press conference. The operators successfully undertook frequency management trials on Saturday, testing the Baltic grid’s stability during interruptions such as sudden shutdowns of power plants, Lithuanian grid operator Litgrid said on Saturday evening. Further trials on Sunday will test the Baltic grid’s ability to manage current. Immediately after disconnecting, Latvian workers used a crane to reach the high-voltage wires in Vilaka, 100 meters from the Russian border, and cut them. They handed out chopped wire as keepsakes to cheering observers. “We will never use it again. We are moving on,” Latvia’s Energy Minister Kaspars Melnis told Reuters in Vilaka. Plans for the Baltics to decouple from the grid of their former Soviet imperial overlord, debated for decades, gained momentum following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. The grid was the final remaining link to Russia for the three countries, which reemerged as independent nations in the early 1990s at the fall of the Soviet Union and joined the European Union and NATO in 2004. The three staunch supporters of Kyiv stopped purchases of power from Russia following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but have relied on the Russian grid to control frequencies and stabilize networks to avoid outages. “By ending the energy dependence of the Baltic states on Russia, we are leaving the aggressor without the option of using energy as a weapon against us,” Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said. An army truck was seen at the Rezekne power substation near the Latvia-Russia border, and officers with guns were patrolling the vicinity and in the nearby town, indicative of Baltic worries of attempted sabotage to disrupt the switch. The Baltic Sea region is on high alert after power cable, telecom links and gas pipeline outages between the Baltics and Sweden or Finland. All were believed to have been caused by ships dragging anchors along the seabed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia has denied any involvement. “The system is stable, the process is happening smoothly, no one is noticing that something changed,” Melnis said. Maintaining a constant power supply requires a stable grid frequency, which can more easily be obtained over time in a large synchronized area such as Russia or continental Europe, compared to what the Baltics can do on their own, analysts say. Lithuania’s energy ministry said it has drawn up contingency plans whereby some heavy energy users, such as factories, could be temporarily disconnected from the grid in the event of power shortages, to maintain essential supplies during the switch. For Russia, the decoupling means its Kaliningrad exclave, located between Lithuania, Poland and the Baltic Sea, is cut off from Russia’s main grid, leaving it to maintain its power system alone. The Baltic countries spent nearly €1.6 billion ($1.66 billion) since 2018 to upgrade grids to prepare, while Moscow has spent 100 billion rubles ($1 billion), including on the building of several gas-fired power plants in Kaliningrad. Source link

WASHINGTON – At President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was relegated to the overflow room while other tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg took prime spots on the dais under the Capitol rotunda. But days earlier, before flying to Washington, Altman was on the phone with Trump, preparing an announcement that would outflank Musk and put Altman’s company at the center of the new administration’s agenda for artificial intelligence. On the 25-minute call, Altman appealed to Trump’s love of a big story and of a big deal. He told the president-elect that the tech industry would achieve artificial general intelligence — the hypothetical moment when technology matches human intelligence — during the Trump administration, according to three people familiar with the call. And to get there before Chinese competitors, OpenAI, Oracle and SoftBank had completed a $100 billion deal to build data centers across the country. Source link