(NEW YORK) — The United States is warning that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region.
As many as 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders and U.S. officials have urged all Americans to leave Ukraine as well as neighboring Belarus and part of Moldvoa.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that the nation was shuttering its embassy in Kyiv and “temporarily” relocating the small group of diplomats left in Ukraine to the western city of Lviv, citing the “rapid acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces.”
But Ukrainian officials have said they do not see signs of a Russian attack as soon as Wednesday — the date reportedly given to NATO allies — and called for a day of unity instead.
Russia has demanded the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance and pull back troops from Eastern European member states, while denying it has plans to invade Ukraine.
Latest headlines:
-Biden addresses American public on importance of Ukraine
-Biden warns Putin of ‘self-inflicted wound’ if Russia invades Ukraine
-Biden says Russian troops remain in a ‘threatening position’
-US reiterates need to confirm any Russian de-escalation
-Biden won’t announce new policy in remarks: White House
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Feb 15, 4:41 pm
Biden addresses American public on importance of Ukraine
President Joe Biden warned the American people that any conflict over Ukraine with Russia would not be “painless” at home either, particularly when it comes to energy prices, although he said his administration is taking active steps to try to prevent any disruption.
“To be clear, if Russia decides to invade, that would also have consequences here at home. But the American people understand that defending democracy and liberty is never without cost,” Biden said. “I will not pretend this will be painless. There could be impact on our energy prices, so we’re taking active steps to alleviate the pressure on our own energy markets and offset raising prices,” he added.
The president went on to explain why he felt the situation justifies U.S. involvement, saying that “this is about more than just Russia and Ukraine.”
“It’s about standing for what we believe in, for the future that we want for our world, for liberty, for liberty, the right of countless countries to choose their own destiny. And the right of people to determine their own futures, or the principle that a country can’t change its neighbor’s borders by force,” Biden said. “If we do not stand for freedom where it is at risk today, we’ll surely pay a steeper price tomorrow.”
Biden also reiterated his administration’s call for all Americans to depart Ukraine “now — before it’s too late to leave safely,” and speaking directly to the Russian people, said they were “not the enemy.”
“I do not believe you want a bloody destructive war and Ukraine, a country and people with whom you share deep ties of family, history and culture,” he said.
ABC News’ Molly Nagle and Sarah Kolinovsky
Feb 15, 3:55 pm
Biden warns Putin of ‘self-inflicted wound’ if Russia invades Ukraine
President Joe Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin in remarks from the White House on Tuesday that if Russia invades Ukraine, the U.S. is prepared to respond decisively and in unison with NATO allies.
“If Russia attacks Ukraine, it would be a war of choice or a war without cause or a reason. I say these things not to provoke but to speak the truth. Because the truth matters. Accountability matters,” Biden said, drawing a distinction between the circumstances now and seen in WWII.
Biden said if Russia invades in the days or weeks ahead, the human costs for Ukraine and strategic cost for Russia would be “immense” — and acknowledged Americans “would also have consequences here at home” if the energy market is hit.
“If Russia attacks Ukraine, it will be met with overwhelming international condemnation,” Biden said. “The world will not forget that Russia chose needless death and destruction. Invading Ukraine will prove to be a self-inflicted wound. The United States and our allies and partners will respond decisively. The West is united and galvanized.”
He added, “Defending democracy and liberty is never without cost.”
Feb 15, 3:40 pm
Biden says Russian troops remain in a ‘threatening position’
President Joe Biden delivered an update from the White House on the status of Ukraine’s border and said the U.S. has “not yet verified” that Russian troops have pulled back as the Kremlin has claimed.
“We have not yet verified that the Russian military units are returning to their home bases. Indeed, our analysts remain that they remain very much in a threatening position,” Biden said from the White House East Room.
Biden emphasized that the U.S. believes the best way forward is through diplomacy and de-escalation but placed the ball in Putin’s court.
“The United States is prepared, no matter what happens. We are ready with diplomacy — to be engaged in diplomacy with Russia. And our allies and partners to improve stability and security in Europe as a whole. And we are ready to respond decisively to a Russian attack on Ukraine, which is still very much a possibility,” he said.
Feb 15, 2:16 pm
US reiterates need to confirm any Russian de-escalation
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Russian counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, that the U.S. “looks forward” to receiving Russia’s response to U.S. and NATO proposals “within the coming days,” according to his spokesperson Ned Price, with both sides noting again in readouts of their call Tuesday there is continued space for diplomatic talks.
Blinken “reiterated our ongoing concerns that Russia has the capacity to launch an invasion of Ukraine at any moment and emphasized the need to see verifiable, credible, meaningful de-escalation,” Price said, in a nod to Russia’s claims that it has started pulling some troops back, even though U.S. officials say they haven’t verified that yet.
On the Russian side, Lavrov “stressed” to Blinken the “need to continue the joint work” on dialogue, including on “the set of issues raised by Russia with emphasis on the principle of indivisible security,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Lavrov and Blinken also discussed “future exchanges at various levels,” the Foreign Ministry added. The two are expected to speak again once that Russian response has been transmitted — and possibly meet in person.
(NEW YORK) — A federal jury in New York on Tuesday has rejected former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s libel suit against the New York Times a day after a judge said he will dismiss the case no matter what verdict was reached.
The jury informed Judge Jed Rakoff that after a little over two days of deliberations it found The New York Times was not liable for defaming Palin.
The jury’s decision follows Rakoff’s announcement on Monday to attorneys in the case that he will set aside the verdict and dismiss the lawsuit because Palin had not met the high standard of showing The Times had acted with “actual malice” when it published an editorial that erroneously linked Palin’s political action committee to a mass shooting.
In explaining his decision, Rakoff said he believed it is inevitable that the case will be appealed and that such an action would benefit from knowing how the jury’s deliberations turned out.
As she left the courthouse on Monday, Palin said she was puzzled by the judge’s decision.
“This is a jury trial and we always appreciate the system,” Palin told news reporters. “So whatever happened in there usurps the system.”
In a statement published in The Times, the newspaper’s spokeswoman, Danielle Rhoades Ha, called Rakoff’s decision “a reaffirmation of a fundamental tenet of American law” protecting freedom of the press.
“Public figures should not be permitted to use libel suits to punish or intimidate news organizations that make, acknowledge and swiftly correct unintentional errors,” Ha said.
Palin’s legal team said it is considering whether file an appeal.
“We will evaluate our positions,” Palin’s attorney, Ken Turkel, said.
As she entered a car outside the lower Manhattan courthouse Tuesday, Palin was asked by reporters if she will appeal. She replied, “I hope so.”
Palin, 58, sued The Times in 2017, roughly nine years after she was tapped to be Sen. John McCain’s GOP vice presidential nominee, claiming the newspaper deliberately ruined her burgeoning career as a political commentator and consultant by publishing an erroneous editorial she said defamed her.
The editorial that prompted the lawsuit was published on the same day a gunman opened fire on GOP politicians practicing for a congressional charity baseball game in a Washington, D.C., suburb, injuring six, including Republican Rep. Steve Scalise.
Under the headline “America’s Lethal Politics,” The Times’ editorial board wrote on June 14, 2017, that prior to the 2011 Arizona mass shooting that killed six people and left then-Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords with a traumatic brain injury, Palin’s political action committee had fueled a violent atmosphere by circulating a map that put the electoral districts of Giffords and 19 other Democrats under stylized crosshairs.
Two days later, The Times published a correction saying the editorial had “incorrectly described” the map and “incorrectly stated that a link existed between political rhetoric and the 2011 shooting.”
During the trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Palin portrayed herself as the biblical David going up against the Philistine giant Goliath with just a slingshot. Palin, in her testimony, accused The Times of deliberately fabricating information to sully her reputation.
The Times’ former editorial page editor, James Bennet, testified that while he was responsible for the erroneous information in the editorial, it was an honest mistake and that he meant no harm.
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A fired Minneapolis police officer charged alongside two former colleagues with violating George Floyd’s civil rights during the fatal arrest took the witness stand in his own defense on Tuesday.
Tou Thao, 35, is the first defendant charged in the high-profile federal case to speak publicly about his actions during the 2020 episode that prompted nationwide protests and resulted in the murder conviction of his then-senior officer Derek Chauvin in state court last year.
Thao’s co-defendants, J. Alexander Kueng, 28, and Thomas Lane, 38, have also informed U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson that they will testify in the trial taking place in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Thao was among the first witnesses called by the defense a day after prosecutors rested their case.
He testified that as part of his training in the Minneapolis Police Department he was taught to use his knees to keep a suspect pinned to the ground, according to ABC affiliate station KSTP in St. Paul.
Thao’s attorney Robert Paule, displayed for the jury a photo of Thao taken during training in 2009 at the police academy. It showed him and another cadet pinning a handcuffed actor posing as a suspect to the ground in a prone position. Thao explained that he and the other cadet were using their knees to restrain the suspect.
Thao testified that using a knee as leverage prevents a suspect from rolling around or getting up.
“Just to be clear, is this something that was typically taught at the academy when you were there?” Paule asked as he showed the jury several photos of police cadets in training sessions with their knees on the backs and necks of actors pretending to be suspects.
Thao replied, “Yes.”
Several training supervisors from the Minneapolis Police Department testified for the prosecution that all three defendants appeared to ignore their training as the handcuffed Floyd was being held to the ground and became unconscious. Kueng was captured on police body-camera footage played for the jury saying he couldn’t detect Floyd’s pulse.
Prosecutors alleged that none of the defendants did anything to stop Chauvin’s excessive use of force or provide medical assistance to Floyd when he needed it most.
Officer Nicole Mackenzie, the department’s medical support coordinator, testified she personally instructed Lane and Kueng, both rookie police officers at the time of the episode with Floyd, in a police academy “emergency medical responder” class that covered first aid and ethics in care. She also said records show that Thao took a refresher course covering the same topics.
All three men are charged with using the “color of the law,” or their positions as police officers, to deprive Floyd of his civil rights by allegedly showing deliberate indifference to his medical needs as Chauvin kneeled on the back of the handcuffed man’s neck for more than nine minutes, ultimately killing him.
Kueng and Thao both face an additional charge alleging they knew Chauvin was kneeling on Floyd’s neck but did nothing to stop him. Lane, who appeared to express concern for Floyd’s well-being during the encounter, does not face the additional charge.
They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Chauvin was convicted in Minnesota state court in April of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison.
Chauvin, 45, also pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges stemming from Floyd’s death and the abuse of a 14-year-old boy he bashed in the head with a flashlight in 2017. He admitted in the signed plea agreement with federal prosecutors that he knelt on the back of Floyd’s neck even as Floyd complained he could not breathe, fell unconscious and lost a pulse.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(HOUSTON) — A 9-year-old girl is in critical condition after being hit by a bullet while riding in the back of her parents’ truck, police said.
A man making a transaction at a drive-thru ATM located at 2900 Woodridge Drive said he was robbed at gunpoint Monday night and exchanged gunfire with the suspect, according to Houston police.
One of those rounds struck the back window of a pickup truck, police said. The truck was occupied by a family of four — a mother, father and two children.
It’s not clear whether the robbery suspect returned fire, according to police.
The 9-year-old girl was shot and transported to Memorial Hermann Hospital. No one else was harmed in the incident, police said.
Charges are currently pending against a suspect arrested in the shooting, police said. The suspect’s name and booking photo will be released once charges are finalized.
Houston Chief of Police Matt Slinkard told reporters at a press conference that all evidence was being reviewed.
Attorney John Durham. – Bob MacDonnell/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — A former lawyer for the Democratic Party indicted by special counsel John Durham for allegedly lying to the FBI has accused Durham’s office of leveling false allegations that he claims are intended to politicize his case.
Michael Sussmann, a cybersecurity lawyer who previously worked for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, was charged last year by Durham for allegedly lying to the then-FBI general counsel James Baker in a July 2016 meeting where Sussmann provided information about data that he said showed a strange link between the Trump Organization and Russia’s Alfa Bank — an allegation later investigated by the FBI but determined not to be nefarious.
Sussmann, who has pleaded not guilty, is alleged to have lied to Baker by saying he was not passing along the information on behalf of any specific client, while Durham says Sussmann was in fact working on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and a tech executive named Rodney Joffe. Sussmann, however, denies that he ever told Baker he was not representing the interests of any client and, additionally, says he was not acting on behalf of the Clinton campaign in passing along the allegations to Baker.
This past weekend, Durham put forward new allegations in a seemingly unrelated filing where he sought to raise potential conflict concerns over the attorneys currently representing Sussmann.
Specifically, Durham claimed his office has evidence that Joffe worked with a group of cybersecurity researchers to collect internet data about the Trump Organization, and in doing so accessed so-called ‘DNS traffic data’ — records showing back-and-forth communications that computers or cellphones have with internet servers — from entities including Trump Tower, Donald Trump’s Central Park West apartment building, and the Executive Office of the President of the United States.
Durham alleges that Joffe’s company had a contract with Executive Office of the President to provide DNS-related services, but that he “exploited this arrangement … for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump.”
According to the Durham filing, in a meeting with the CIA in February of 2017, Sussmann allegedly passed along information and data from Joffe and others that Sussmann said appeared suspicious and showed that “Trump and/or his associates” may have been “using supposedly rare, Russian-made wireless phones in the vicinity of the White House and other locations.”
Trump and numerous other Republicans went on to cite Durham’s filing as proof that Hillary Clinton’s campaign directed an illegal conspiracy to spy on Trump both during and possibly after his 2016 election victory, though nowhere in Durham’s filing did prosecutors say that the effort was directed by or involved the Clinton campaign, that any of the alleged gathering of data took place after Trump had taken office, or that any of the alleged conduct — even if it took place — was illegal.
Durham raised the new set of allegations as part of a filing regarding concerns over whether Sussmann’s defense attorneys have a conflict of interest in representing him. No additional criminal charges have been brought against Sussmann or others related to the new allegations.
Contrary to reports, nowhere in Durham’s filing does he state that lawyers for the Clinton campaign paid a tech company to “infiltrate” servers belonging to Trump Tower and later the White House.
Joffe did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In a statement provided to ABC News, a spokesperson for Joffe disputed Durham’s allegations, calling Joffe an “apolitical Internet security expert with decades of service to the U.S. Government who has never worked for a political party, and who legally provided access to DNS data obtained from a private client that separately was providing DNS services to the Executive Office of the President (EOP).”
“Under the terms of the contract, the data could be accessed to identify and analyze any security breaches or threats,” Joffe’s spokesperson said. “As a result of the hacks of EOP and DNC [Democratic National Committee] servers in 2015 and 2016, respectively, there were serious and legitimate national security concerns about Russian attempts to infiltrate the 2016 election. Upon identifying DNS queries from Russian-made Yota phones in proximity to the Trump campaign and the EOP, respected cybersecurity researchers were deeply concerned about the anomalies they found in the data and prepared a report of their findings, which was subsequently shared with the CIA.”
Jody Westby and Mark Rasch, attorneys for David Dagon, a Georgia Institute of Technology analyst who was part of the research team referenced in Durham’s filing, told ABC News that the team only provided data that was legally obtained during the Obama administration. Westby and Rasch said researchers were looking at attempted malware attacks that were believed to be targeting the White House, and that contrary to Durham’s allegations, Joffe was never “tasking” the researchers in their work.
“He was simply providing data. He may have commented on it, but he did not task the researchers in what they were doing,” Westby and Rasch said. “They were in no way ever working for Rodney Joffe.”
Both lawyers maintain that the effort to bring this information to the attention of the FBI and CIA was appropriate, and say they’re concerned that Durham’s actions could have a chilling effect on researchers bringing cybersecurity information to the attention of law enforcement and intelligence agencies in the future.
“What you don’t want to have happen, which we already see happening, is for researchers to be chilled in bringing concerns about cybersecurity threats to appropriate government agencies,” they said. “And right now, the cybersecurity community is largely afraid to talk to law enforcement because of what has happened and how this case has been handled.”
Late Monday, Sussmann’s attorneys responded to Durham’s new filing, accusing him of making “false” allegations that “are plainly intended to politicize this case, inflame media coverage, and taint the jury pool.”
Sussmann’s attorneys also dispute what they say appears to be Durham’s leading theory, that Sussmann was acting in concert with the Clinton campaign when he took the DNS data to the CIA in February of 2017.
“…the Motion conveniently overlooks the fact that Mr. Sussmann’s meeting with Agency-2 happened well after the 2016 presidential election, at a time when the Clinton Campaign had effectively ceased to exist,” Sussmann’s attorneys say in their filing. “Unsurprisingly, the Motion also omits any mention of the fact that Mr. Sussmann never billed the Clinton Campaign for the work associated with the February 9, 2017 meeting, nor could he have (because there was no Clinton Campaign).”
The filing directly cites former President Trump’s numerous statements released since Durham’s filing, including where he suggested the alleged conduct “would have been punishable by death” in a “stronger period of time.”
Sussmann’s attorneys accuse Durham of purposefully ginning up the new wave of furor, noting that the new allegations were included in a completely unrelated filing regarding potential conflicts of interest among Sussmann’s legal team.
“This is not the first time in this case that the Special Counsel has sought to include allegations about uncharged conduct in public filings and done so using inflammatory and prejudicial rhetoric,” the filing says. “The Indictment is 27 pages long and reads as though there was a vast conspiracy, involving the Clinton Campaign and Mr. Sussmann, to defraud the FBI into investigating Donald Trump as part of an ‘October surprise.’ But the Indictment does not charge anyone other than Mr. Sussmann; the Indictment does not charge a conspiracy; and the Indictment does not even charge a fraud.”
Sussmann’s attorneys have asked the judge in the case to strike from the record Durham’s latest series of allegations.
A spokesperson for Durham declined to comment to ABC News when asked about the accusation put forward by Sussmann.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is warning that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region.
As many as 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders and U.S. officials have urged all Americans to leave Ukraine as well as neighboring Belarus and part of Moldvoa.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that the nation was shuttering its embassy in Kyiv and “temporarily” relocating the small group of diplomats left in Ukraine to the western city of Lviv, citing the “rapid acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces.”
But Ukrainian officials have said they do not see signs of a Russian attack as soon as Wednesday — the date reportedly given to NATO allies — and called for a day of unity instead.
Russia has demanded the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance and pull back troops from Eastern European member states, while denying it has plans to invade Ukraine.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 15, 12:41 pm
Biden to speak on Russia, Ukraine from White House
President Joe Biden will provide a status update to the nation on Russia and Ukraine at 3:30 p.m. from the East Room, the White House said.
Biden “will reiterate that the United States remains open to high-level diplomacy in close coordination with our Allies, building on the multiple diplomatic off-ramps we and our Allies and partners have offered Russia in recent months,” it said.
The addition to Biden’s schedule comes amid international questioning and skepticism as to whether Russia is actually pulling back troops Tuesday from Ukraine’s border as the Kremlin says it is doing.
Feb 15, 11:52 am
Ukraine says defense ministry, banks hit with cyberattack
Ukraine’s national cybersecurity agency said Tuesday a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack has targeted the website of the country’s Ministry of Defense and armed forces, as well as two of its largest state banks.
In a statement posted to its Facebook page, the agency said that the internet banking of the two banks, Privat bank and Oshchadbank were under attack but that some services were still functioning.
The agency said for now there are no risks to citizens’ money.
The Ministry of Defense and Ukraine’s Armed Forces’ public-facing websites are not currently accessible. The extent of the attack is not yet clear.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 15, 11:28 am
Blinken talks with Russian counterpart
In a signal that the door to diplomacy could remain open, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke again Tuesday morning, according to a senior State Department official.
The two had already spoken on Saturday and agreed to connect again in the coming days, the official said, as the two governments have delivered mixed messages on the extent of Russia’s military presence and intent on Ukraine’s border.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a White House official, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has departed Washington for Brussels for NATO meetings.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan and Sarah Kolinovsky
Feb 15, 11:28 am
Blinken talks with Russian counterpart
In a signal that the door to diplomacy could remain open, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke again Tuesday morning, according to a senior State Department official.
The two had already spoken on Saturday and agreed to connect again in the coming days, the official said, as the two governments have delivered mixed messages on the extent of Russia’s military presence and intent on Ukraine’s border.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a White House official, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has departed Washington for Brussels for NATO meetings.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan and Sarah Kolinovsky
Feb 15, 11:08 am
Putin comments on ‘partial withdrawal’ of Russian troops
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on what he called Russia’s “partial withdrawal” of troops near Ukraine on Tuesday, one day after Pentagon officials said Russia had sent even more troops to the border region over the last 24 to 48 hours.
Putin delivered mixed messages at a press conference in Moscow, suggesting he does not consider the crisis to be resolved as Russia’s key demand that Ukraine is barred from joining NATO has not been met. But he also said there were items in the U.S. responses “to discuss,” specifically noting Russia is ready to talk about the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which the Trump administration withdrew from, among other “military confidence-building measures.”
“We want to resolve this question right now. In the nearest future, in the course of the negotiating process, with peaceful means,” Putin said.
Asked about some Russian troops pulling back on Tuesday, Putin hinted there could still be room for escalation but added, “we will strive to agree on the issues which have been put forward by us using the diplomatic path.”
“How will Russia act next? According to plan!” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 15, 10:23 am
Putin reacts to Russian parliament vote to recognize Donbas
Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated Tuesday that he will not immediately recognize two Russian-controlled breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Putin said he believes the idea has the support of the majority of Russians but that he thinks Russia should continue to try to resolve the conflict with Ukraine through the Minsk peace agreements.
The Minsk accords signed in 2014 and 2015 were aimed at ending the ongoing conflict between the Ukrainian army and the Russian-backed separatists forces in an area of southeastern Ukraine known as the Donbas. But Putin’s recognition of the regions would amount to Russia formally withdrawing from the agreement.
Putin’s comments suggest that while he doesn’t intend to immediately move to recognize the regions, he might keep the action as a threat hanging over negotiations with Ukraine and the West. He painted the parliament vote as the expression of lawmakers rather than something directed by the Kremlin.
“We must do everything to resolve the problems in Donbas but, as before, starting from the possibilities from the Minsk agreement that have not been realized to their end,” Putin said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the leader of one of the regions welcomed the Russian parliament vote but fell short of calling on Putin to take the step.
“We thank the deputies of the State Duma for the results of today’s vote,” Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement Tuesday. “With that, we will treat with respect and understanding any decision taken by the top leadership of the Russian Federation.”
Pushilin called the initiative “timely,” given what he claimed was the threat from Ukraine, which he alleged was massing troops near the regions and showed Kyiv has no intention of fulfilling the Minsk agreements or resolving the conflict peacefully.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 15, 9:19 am
US assessing Russia’s claim of withdrawing some troops
The United States is assessing Russia’s claim that it is withdrawing some troops from Ukraine’s borders, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said Tuesday.
During a press briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Smith cast some doubt on the claim after Russia made similar statements in late December.
“All I can say is we’ll have to verify that and take a look,” Smith told reporters. “We want to make sure we understand what they’re talking about when they say de-escalation, and we want to verify that that is in fact what’s happening. So stand by, we’ll obviously take a look at that.”
When asked again whether some Russian forces were in fact pulling back, Smith reiterated: “I can’t say yes or no. I can’t say really anything about it at this moment because this is something that we’ll have to look at closely and verify in the days ahead.”
NATO’s defense ministers, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, will meet Wednesday to discuss deployments within the military alliance and a “variety of contingencies,” according to Smith, who noted that NATO “will continue to determine whether or not additional enhancements might be necessary.”
While any Russian troop withdrawals could be a sign of de-escalation, the law passed Tuesday in Russia’s parliament calling on President Vladimir Putin to recognize Russian-controlled breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent would be a “new shift in the escalation,” Smith said, adding that the U.S. and NATO “would monitor that very closely” and determine its response.
“If they proceed with this, then I think it’s a clear violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and its sovereignty, and it’s also a violation of the Minsk agreement,” she told reporters, “and so that would obviously be a new shift in the escalation.”
As the U.S. and NATO await Russia’s written proposals on issues like arms control and military exercises, Smith again called on Russia to engage meaningfully in talks.
“Look, we can spend the rest of the year going back and forth exchanging letters,” she said, “but really what’s important is the best way to proceed would be for us to sit down at the table again.”
Until then, Smith said they do not know what Putin will decide.
“We do not understand fundamentally — none of us do — what is inside President Putin’s head,” she added, “and so we cannot make any guess about where all of this is headed.”
Feb 15, 8:32 am
NATO: No sign yet of Russian de-escalation
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that the military alliance has “not seen any signs of reduced Russian military presence on the borders of Ukraine.”
“So far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. “But we will continue to monitor and to follow closely what Russia is doing, and the signs coming from Moscow about a willingness to continue to engage in diplomatic efforts — that gives some reason for cautious optimism. But we will, of course, follow very closely what’s happening on the ground and whether this is reflected in some real de-escalation of the Russian military build-up in and around Ukraine.”
Feb 15, 8:20 am
US warns of Russian cyberattack alongside Ukraine invasion
Top cybersecurity officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned of potential attacks on American cyber infrastructure in concert with a physical invasion of Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source told ABC News that the warning came Monday on a call with state and local officials — but it’s not new. On Friday, the Homeland Security Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) explicitly warned of Russian cyberattacks and made a veiled mention of the ongoing geopolitical climate.
“The Russian government has used cyber as a key component of their force projection over the last decade, including previously in Ukraine in the 2015 timeframe,” the CISA said in an online post. “The Russian government understands that disabling or destroying critical infrastructure—including power and communications—can augment pressure on a country’s government, military and population and accelerate their acceding to Russian objectives.”
U.S. officials have said a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen “at any time” and that they believe Ukraine could also be a target of an offensive cyberattack. Ukraine has already been the target of what some Ukrainian officials believed was a Russian cyberattack earlier this year, when suspected Russian hackers defaced Ukrainian government websites.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been warning in bulletins as early as January that there could be a cyberattack tied to a possible Russian invasion.
Feb 15, 7:02 am
Russia’s parliament asks Putin to recognize breakaway regions in Ukraine
Russia’s parliament voted for a law on Tuesday that calls on President Vladimir Putin to recognize two Russian-controlled breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
The measure is a formal appeal to Putin to recognize the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, in an area of southeastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, where Russian-backed separatists forces have been battling the Ukrainian army since 2014.
Such recognition would open a path for Russia to formally annex the two regions as it did the Crimean Peninsula almost eight years ago. It’s now up to Putin to decide whether to go through with it.
Two bills were initially put forward for a vote in Russia’s parliament — one by the Communist Party and the other by Putin’s ruling United Russia. The first would have the request sent to the president immediately, while the second would have sought consultations with the foreign ministry and other government agencies before appealing directly to Putin. Ultimately, parliament voted for the first bill.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office called the vote an “escalatory action.” Ukraine’s foreign ministry has warned that it will consider Russia recognizing the separatist regions as a withdrawal from the Minsk peace agreement reached in 2015, which was supposed to end the conflict in Donbas that broke out a year earlier.
Feb 15, 5:41 am
Ukraine reacts to Russia announcing withdrawal: ‘We’ll believe it when we see it’
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba reacted to Russia’s announcement Tuesday that it is withdrawing some troops from the border, saying his country will “believe it when we see it.”
“There are constantly various statements coming from the Russian Federation, so we have a rule: we’ll believe it when we see it,” Kuleba said during a televised briefing Tuesday. “When we see the withdrawal, we’ll believe in de-escalation.”
Feb 15, 5:25 am
Russia says some troops will return to base
Some Russian troops positioned near the border with Ukraine will begin returning to their bases Tuesday after completing “exercises,” according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The units set to return are from Russia’s Southern and Western Military Districts, the defense ministry said Tuesday. But there are troops from other military districts massed on the border. Still, if some troops do pull back, it would potentially be a key signal that the crisis with Ukraine will not escalate.
Russian state media then released video purportedly showing tank troops loading up in neighboring Belarus to return home as well as tanks in southwestern Russia moving back. A spokesperson for Russia’s Southern Military District told state media Tuesday that some personnel have begun leaving Crimea for their permanent bases following the completion of drills.
In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and established two federal subjects there, the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. But the international community still recognizes the territories as being part of Ukraine.
Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that the military exercises would end “in the near future.” There are still drills being conducted in neighboring Belarus as well as the Black Sea that are due to end Feb. 20.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a post on her official Facebook page on Tuesday that Feb. 15 “will go down in history as the day the Western propoganda war failed.”
“Disgraced and destroyed without a single shot fired,” Zakharova added.
Feb 15, 4:29 am
White House warns invasion could start ‘at any time’
While the United States believes a path of diplomacy remains “open” to Russia, a White House official warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine “could begin at any time.”
Answering a question from ABC News’ Cecilia Vega during a press briefing Monday, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. government is so far seeing “more and more” Russian troops arrive on the border with Ukraine.
“In the past 10 days or so, when you look at what is happening at the border of Ukraine, there, we are seeing more than 100,000 troops there and it’s just been an every day more and more troops,” Jean-Pierre said.
“So we are certainly open to having conversations and seeing a de-escalation,” she added. “That door is open for diplomacy and this is up to President Putin. He has to make that decision. It is his decision to make on which direction he wants to take this.”
Jean-Pierre noted that “it remains unclear which path Russia will choose to take.”
When asked about the imminency of the situation, she said: “We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time.”
“I’m not going to comment on the intelligence information,” she added, “except to say that it could begin this week.”
(NEW YORK) — Prince Andrew has agreed to settle a sexual assault lawsuit from Virginia Giuffre, according to a letter filed Tuesday from her lawyer David Boies.
The sum of the settlement is not being disclosed, and the letter to the court says Prince Andrew “intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.”
“Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks,” the letter reads. “It is known that Jeffrey Epstein trafficked countless young girls over many years. Prince Andrew regrets his association with Epstein, and commends the bravery of Ms. Giuffre and other survivors in standing up for themselves and others.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Nearly 1,500 New York City municipal workers have been fired over their refusal to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
That number represents less than 1% of the city’s workforce, but it appears to be the country’s largest workforce reduction linked to COVID vaccines.
Under a mandate set by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, city employees on leave without pay and those who were newly hired had been told they had until Friday, Feb. 11, to show proof of vaccination or they would face termination.
The workers on leave had to submit proof of their first dose and would then have 45 days to receive a second dose. The new workers had submitted proof of an initial dose when they were hired and were required to show they’d completed their vaccine series.
The 1,428 employees who were on unpaid leave for more than three months lost their jobs.
Data provided by City Hall Monday shows the majority of employees who were fired worked in the Department of Education, which saw 914 people let go. The Housing Authority terminated 101 workers.
Also fired were 36 New York Police Department workers and 25 FDNY employees.
Meanwhile, 939 employees on unpaid leave — about 40% of the group — opted to get vaccinated and keep their jobs.
Additionally, 99.8% of new employees showed proof of being vaccinated. Only two workers hired after Aug. 2 failed to get a COVID vaccine and were fired Friday.
The City Hall data shows the two employees were from the Department of Sanitation and the Human Resources Administration, respectively.
“City workers served on the frontlines during the pandemic, and by getting vaccinated, they are, once again, showing how they are willing to do the right thing to protect themselves and all New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “Our goal was always to vaccinate, not terminate, and city workers stepped up and met the goal placed before them.”
He continued, “Out of all the new city employees who received notices two weeks ago, only two who worked last week are no longer employed by the city. I’m grateful to all the city workers who continue to serve New Yorkers and ‘Get Stuff Done’ for the greatest city in the world.”
A city official told ABC News that residents should not notice any disruption of services due to the firings.
ABC News’ Mark Crudele contributed to this report.
Cloe Poisson/Tribune News Service via Getty Images via Getty Images
(NEW YORK) — Remington Arms agreed Tuesday to settle liability claims from the families of five adults and four children killed in the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, according to a new court filing, marking the first time a gun manufacturer has been held liable for a mass shooting in the U.S.
The settlement comes nearly eight years after the families sued the maker of the Bushmaster XM15-E2S semiautomatic rifle that was used in the 2012 mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
More details will be announced at a news conference from the families.
On Dec. 14, 2012, Adam Lanza, 20, forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School, and in the course of 264 seconds, fatally shot 20 first-graders and six staff members.
The rifle Lanza used was Remington’s version of the AR-15 assault rifle, which is substantially similar to the standard issue M16 military service rifle used by the U.S. Army and other nations’ armed forces, but fires only in semiautomatic mode.
The families argued Remington negligently entrusted to civilian consumers an assault-style rifle that is suitable for use only by military and law enforcement personnel and violated the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act through the sale or wrongful marketing of the rifle.
Remington, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2020, had argued all of the plaintiffs’ legal theories were barred under Connecticut law and by a federal statute — the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act — which, with limited exceptions, immunizes firearms manufacturers, distributors and dealers from civil liability for crimes committed by third parties using their weapons.
(NEW YORK) — The United States is warning that Russia could invade Ukraine “any day” amid escalating tensions in the region.
As many as 150,000 Russian troops are estimated to be massed near Ukraine’s borders and U.S. officials have urged all Americans to leave Ukraine as well as neighboring Belarus and part of Moldvoa.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Monday that the nation was shuttering its embassy in Kyiv and “temporarily” relocating the small group of diplomats left in Ukraine to the western city of Lviv, citing the “rapid acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces.”
But Ukrainian officials have said they do not see signs of a Russian attack as soon as Wednesday — the date reportedly given to NATO allies — and called for a day of unity instead.
Russia has demanded the U.S. and NATO bar Ukraine from joining the military alliance and pull back troops from Eastern European member states, while denying it has plans to invade Ukraine.
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Feb 15, 11:28 am
Blinken talks with Russian counterpart
In a signal that the door to diplomacy could remain open, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov spoke again Tuesday morning, according to a senior State Department official.
The two had already spoken on Saturday and agreed to connect again in the coming days, the official said, as the two governments have delivered mixed messages on the extent of Russia’s military presence and intent on Ukraine’s border.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to a White House official, while Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has departed Washington for Brussels for NATO meetings.
-ABC News’ Conor Finnegan and Sarah Kolinovsky
Feb 15, 11:08 am
Putin comments on ‘partial withdrawal’ of Russian troops
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on what he called Russia’s “partial withdrawal” of troops near Ukraine on Tuesday, one day after Pentagon officials said Russia had sent even more troops to the border region over the last 24 to 48 hours.
Putin delivered mixed messages at a press conference in Moscow, suggesting he does not consider the crisis to be resolved as Russia’s key demand that Ukraine is barred from joining NATO has not been met. But he also said there were items in the U.S. responses “to discuss,” specifically noting Russia is ready to talk about the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which the Trump administration withdrew from, among other “military confidence-building measures.”
“We want to resolve this question right now. In the nearest future, in the course of the negotiating process, with peaceful means,” Putin said.
Asked about some Russian troops pulling back on Tuesday, Putin hinted there could still be room for escalation but added, “we will strive to agree on the issues which have been put forward by us using the diplomatic path.”
“How will Russia act next? According to plan!” he said.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 15, 10:23 am
Putin reacts to Russian parliament vote to recognize Donbas
Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated Tuesday that he will not immediately recognize two Russian-controlled breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
Putin said he believes the idea has the support of the majority of Russians but that he thinks Russia should continue to try to resolve the conflict with Ukraine through the Minsk peace agreements.
The Minsk accords signed in 2014 and 2015 were aimed at ending the ongoing conflict between the Ukrainian army and the Russian-backed separatists forces in an area of southeastern Ukraine known as the Donbas. But Putin’s recognition of the regions would amount to Russia formally withdrawing from the agreement.
Putin’s comments suggest that while he doesn’t intend to immediately move to recognize the regions, he might keep the action as a threat hanging over negotiations with Ukraine and the West. He painted the parliament vote as the expression of lawmakers rather than something directed by the Kremlin.
“We must do everything to resolve the problems in Donbas but, as before, starting from the possibilities from the Minsk agreement that have not been realized to their end,” Putin said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the leader of one of the regions welcomed the Russian parliament vote but fell short of calling on Putin to take the step.
“We thank the deputies of the State Duma for the results of today’s vote,” Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said in a statement Tuesday. “With that, we will treat with respect and understanding any decision taken by the top leadership of the Russian Federation.”
Pushilin called the initiative “timely,” given what he claimed was the threat from Ukraine, which he alleged was massing troops near the regions and showed Kyiv has no intention of fulfilling the Minsk agreements or resolving the conflict peacefully.
-ABC News’ Patrick Reevell
Feb 15, 9:19 am
US assessing Russia’s claim of withdrawing some troops
The United States is assessing Russia’s claim that it is withdrawing some troops from Ukraine’s borders, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith said Tuesday.
During a press briefing at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Smith cast some doubt on the claim after Russia made similar statements in late December.
“All I can say is we’ll have to verify that and take a look,” Smith told reporters. “We want to make sure we understand what they’re talking about when they say de-escalation, and we want to verify that that is in fact what’s happening. So stand by, we’ll obviously take a look at that.”
When asked again whether some Russian forces were in fact pulling back, Smith reiterated: “I can’t say yes or no. I can’t say really anything about it at this moment because this is something that we’ll have to look at closely and verify in the days ahead.”
NATO’s defense ministers, including U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, will meet Wednesday to discuss deployments within the military alliance and a “variety of contingencies,” according to Smith, who noted that NATO “will continue to determine whether or not additional enhancements might be necessary.”
While any Russian troop withdrawals could be a sign of de-escalation, the law passed Tuesday in Russia’s parliament calling on President Vladimir Putin to recognize Russian-controlled breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent would be a “new shift in the escalation,” Smith said, adding that the U.S. and NATO “would monitor that very closely” and determine its response.
“If they proceed with this, then I think it’s a clear violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and its sovereignty, and it’s also a violation of the Minsk agreement,” she told reporters, “and so that would obviously be a new shift in the escalation.”
As the U.S. and NATO await Russia’s written proposals on issues like arms control and military exercises, Smith again called on Russia to engage meaningfully in talks.
“Look, we can spend the rest of the year going back and forth exchanging letters,” she said, “but really what’s important is the best way to proceed would be for us to sit down at the table again.”
Until then, Smith said they do not know what Putin will decide.
“We do not understand fundamentally — none of us do — what is inside President Putin’s head,” she added, “and so we cannot make any guess about where all of this is headed.”
Feb 15, 8:32 am
NATO: No sign yet of Russian de-escalation
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday that the military alliance has “not seen any signs of reduced Russian military presence on the borders of Ukraine.”
“So far, we have not seen any de-escalation on the ground,” Stoltenberg told reporters at NATO’s headquarters in Brussels. “But we will continue to monitor and to follow closely what Russia is doing, and the signs coming from Moscow about a willingness to continue to engage in diplomatic efforts — that gives some reason for cautious optimism. But we will, of course, follow very closely what’s happening on the ground and whether this is reflected in some real de-escalation of the Russian military build-up in and around Ukraine.”
Feb 15, 8:20 am
US warns of Russian cyberattack alongside Ukraine invasion
Top cybersecurity officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI have warned of potential attacks on American cyber infrastructure in concert with a physical invasion of Ukraine, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The source told ABC News that the warning came Monday on a call with state and local officials — but it’s not new. On Friday, the Homeland Security Department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) explicitly warned of Russian cyberattacks and made a veiled mention of the ongoing geopolitical climate.
“The Russian government has used cyber as a key component of their force projection over the last decade, including previously in Ukraine in the 2015 timeframe,” the CISA said in an online post. “The Russian government understands that disabling or destroying critical infrastructure—including power and communications—can augment pressure on a country’s government, military and population and accelerate their acceding to Russian objectives.”
U.S. officials have said a Russian invasion of Ukraine could happen “at any time” and that they believe Ukraine could also be a target of an offensive cyberattack. Ukraine has already been the target of what some Ukrainian officials believed was a Russian cyberattack earlier this year, when suspected Russian hackers defaced Ukrainian government websites.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been warning in bulletins as early as January that there could be a cyberattack tied to a possible Russian invasion.
Feb 15, 7:02 am
Russia’s parliament asks Putin to recognize breakaway regions in Ukraine
Russia’s parliament voted for a law on Tuesday that calls on President Vladimir Putin to recognize two Russian-controlled breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent.
The measure is a formal appeal to Putin to recognize the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics, in an area of southeastern Ukraine known as the Donbas, where Russian-backed separatists forces have been battling the Ukrainian army since 2014.
Such recognition would open a path for Russia to formally annex the two regions as it did the Crimean Peninsula almost eight years ago. It’s now up to Putin to decide whether to go through with it.
Two bills were initially put forward for a vote in Russia’s parliament — one by the Communist Party and the other by Putin’s ruling United Russia. The first would have the request sent to the president immediately, while the second would have sought consultations with the foreign ministry and other government agencies before appealing directly to Putin. Ultimately, parliament voted for the first bill.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office called the vote an “escalatory action.” Ukraine’s foreign ministry has warned that it will consider Russia recognizing the separatist regions as a withdrawal from the Minsk peace agreement reached in 2015, which was supposed to end the conflict in Donbas that broke out a year earlier.
Feb 15, 5:41 am
Ukraine reacts to Russia announcing withdrawal: ‘We’ll believe it when we see it’
Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba reacted to Russia’s announcement Tuesday that it is withdrawing some troops from the border, saying his country will “believe it when we see it.”
“There are constantly various statements coming from the Russian Federation, so we have a rule: we’ll believe it when we see it,” Kuleba said during a televised briefing Tuesday. “When we see the withdrawal, we’ll believe in de-escalation.”
Feb 15, 5:25 am
Russia says some troops will return to base
Some Russian troops positioned near the border with Ukraine will begin returning to their bases Tuesday after completing “exercises,” according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
The units set to return are from Russia’s Southern and Western Military Districts, the defense ministry said Tuesday. But there are troops from other military districts massed on the border. Still, if some troops do pull back, it would potentially be a key signal that the crisis with Ukraine will not escalate.
Russian state media then released video purportedly showing tank troops loading up in neighboring Belarus to return home as well as tanks in southwestern Russia moving back. A spokesperson for Russia’s Southern Military District told state media Tuesday that some personnel have begun leaving Crimea for their permanent bases following the completion of drills.
In 2014, Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and established two federal subjects there, the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. But the international community still recognizes the territories as being part of Ukraine.
Russian Minister of Defense Sergey Shoygu told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday that the military exercises would end “in the near future.” There are still drills being conducted in neighboring Belarus as well as the Black Sea that are due to end Feb. 20.
Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in a post on her official Facebook page on Tuesday that Feb. 15 “will go down in history as the day the Western propoganda war failed.”
“Disgraced and destroyed without a single shot fired,” Zakharova added.
Feb 15, 4:29 am
White House warns invasion could start ‘at any time’
While the United States believes a path of diplomacy remains “open” to Russia, a White House official warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine “could begin at any time.”
Answering a question from ABC News’ Cecilia Vega during a press briefing Monday, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the U.S. government is so far seeing “more and more” Russian troops arrive on the border with Ukraine.
“In the past 10 days or so, when you look at what is happening at the border of Ukraine, there, we are seeing more than 100,000 troops there and it’s just been an every day more and more troops,” Jean-Pierre said.
“So we are certainly open to having conversations and seeing a de-escalation,” she added. “That door is open for diplomacy and this is up to President Putin. He has to make that decision. It is his decision to make on which direction he wants to take this.”
Jean-Pierre noted that “it remains unclear which path Russia will choose to take.”
When asked about the imminency of the situation, she said: “We are in the window when an invasion could begin at any time.”
“I’m not going to comment on the intelligence information,” she added, “except to say that it could begin this week.”
