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(LONDON) —  Russia’s Foreign Ministry again warned that Moscow will not accept the presence of any Western troops in Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met a group of top European leaders in Paris on Thursday.

“Russia does not intend to discuss unacceptable foreign intervention in Ukraine in any form whatsoever,” spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in comments published by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday. “Western war instigators view Ukraine as a testing ground for their military developments,” she said.

Moscow has repeatedly rebuffed proposals for Western forces to be deployed to Ukraine in any capacity as part of a deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which began in February 2022.

Nonetheless, the prospect is still under discussion by NATO leaders and the Ukrainian government as an element of the security guarantees Kyiv says are needed to facilitate any U.S.-brokered peace deal.

Zakharova said Thursday that the protections under discussion “are not security guarantees for Ukraine, they are guarantees of threat to the European continent.”

The remarks came before Zelenskyy gathered with European leaders — the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” — for further talks in Paris on Thursday. The group also spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump, who called into the meeting, the White House said.

“President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war — as Russia received €1.1 billion in fuel sales from the EU in one year,” a White House official said following the call. “The president also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts.”

European and Canadian leaders finalized a plan outlining potential security guarantees for Ukraine, with 26 countries expressing readiness to take direct action, French President Emmanuel Macron announced following the meeting. Macron said several countries are prepared to contribute “on land, in the sea or in the air” to “reassure the people of Ukraine and maintain the ceasefire once it’s implemented, and maintain and guarantee peace.” “The plan will now be taken to the U.S. with the intention of formalizing it in the coming days,” Macron said. 

Other European leaders who attended Thursday’s talks in Paris included European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Several other European leaders joined the meeting virtually.

Trump also spoke with Zelenskyy on Thursday following the coalition meeting, with the Ukrainian president calling it a “long and very detailed conversation.”

Zelenskyy said they discussed various ways to “push the situation toward real peace,” with the “most important thing” being strong economic measures.

“The key to peace is depriving the Russian war machine of money and resources,” Zelenskyy said. “We also talked about maximum protection of Ukrainian skies. Until there is peace, Ukrainians must not be dependent on constant Russian attacks; Russian missiles and drones must not take lives. Ukraine proposed that the U.S. consider a special format for protecting Ukrainian skies.”

Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Trump pushed back on one reporter’s suggestion of his “lack of action” on Russia in response to its continued offensive operations and long-range attacks in Ukraine, despite his repeated threats of further sanctions and tariffs on Moscow.

“How do you know there’s no action? Would you say that, putting secondary sanctions on India, the largest purchaser outside of China, they’re almost equal, would you say there was no action that costs hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia? You call that no action?” Trump said.

The president was referring to the recent imposition of 25% tariffs on all imported Indian goods in response to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian energy goods and military equipment.

“And I haven’t done phase two yet,” Trump continued. “Or phase three. But when you say there’s no action, I think you ought to get yourself a new job. Because if you remember, two weeks ago, I did — I said, if India buys, India’s got big problems. And that’s what happened. So don’t tell me about that.”

Trump and Putin met in Alaska nearly three weeks ago. After that event, Trump suggested that a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy should be the next step in the negotiations process.

The Kremlin has given no indication of its willingness to support such a meeting, though Putin suggested this week that a meeting could take place in Moscow.

Kyiv quickly dismissed that proposal. Foreign Minister Andri Sybiha said in a post to X, “Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals.”

Trump told reporters on Wednesday he had “no message” for Putin. “He knows where I stand, and he’ll make a decision one way or the other whatever his decision is will either be happy about it or unhappy and if we’re unhappy about it, you’ll see things happen.”

“We’ve taken very strong action, as you know, and in other ways we’ve taken very strong action,” Trump continued. “But I’ll be speaking to him over the next few days and we’re going to see with him. I’m going to know exactly what’s happened.”

ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge, Hannah Demissie, Will Gretsky, Yulia Drozd, Somayeh Malekian and Morgan Winsor contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — Another earthquake has hit eastern Afghanistan as the death toll from Sunday’s powerful earthquake climbed to 2,205, with another 3,640 people injured, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.

The Thursday earthquake was a moderate 5.6 magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Survey National Earthquake Information Center. It was still unclear whether the new quake caused further damage.

Search and rescue efforts from the initial quake are ongoing in the affected areas, according to Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat, who provided the updated casualty numbers via social media.

“Tents have been installed for displaced families in multiple locations,” he said, “and the organized distribution of primary and urgent humanitarian assistance is currently underway.”

The 6.0 magnitude quake struck just before midnight on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A series of aftershocks struck amid rescue efforts, including a 5.2 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday about 20 miles northeast of Jalalabad, according to the USGS.

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(LONDON) — At least 16 people are dead and another 21 injured after a streetcar derailed in Portugal’s capital on Wednesday, officials said.

At least five people remain in life-threatening condition Thursday following the crash in Lisbon, according to Portugal’s presidency office.

One 3-year-old child is included in the injured, according to an official.

It appears the safety cable on the electric streetcar broke, causing the car to derail, Lisbon’s communications department said, based on preliminary information. The investigation into the cause is ongoing.

Its operator, Carris, said it complied with all maintenance protocols, including daily inspections.

The famed funicular, known as the Elevador da Gloria, travels up and down a steep hill using two streetcars.

The incident happened around 6:15 p.m. local time, when one of the funicular’s cars derailed and crashed, officials said.

The rescue mission lasted around two hours, a Public Ministry official told ABC News.

The tram cabin that derailed can hold up to 40 people. It is unclear how many total people were on board.

Carris said it immediately opened an investigation along with the authorities to determine the cause of the accident.

All the other funiculars of the city have been suspended for now, according to an official.

Swiss tourist Rasha Abdo told ABC News she was traveling on the funicular’s other streetcar with her husband and 3-year-old son when the crash occurred. She said they were near the bottom of the hill, traveling uphill, when they suddenly reversed direction.

She said they heard the other streetcar barreling down the hill toward them, so her husband jumped out the window and she passed their son to him to ensure his safety, before realizing the car had crashed farther uphill.

Her husband, who is a doctor, went to the streetcar to try and assist, but “it was too late,” she said. “I’m really grateful that we are still alive, but on the other side, I’m very sad for the people that lost their lives,” she said.

The mayor of Lisbon declared a three-day period of mourning.

“I offer my sincere condolences to all the families and friends of the victims. Lisbon is in mourning,” Mayor Carlos Moedas said in a statement.

Portugal’s Prime Minister’s Office also declared a national day of mourning for Thursday, expressing its “deep dismay” over the accident, and said it is in contact with local officials.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed her condolences.

“It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous ‘Elevador da Glória,'” she said in a statement. “My condolences to the families of the victims.”

ABC News’ Tom Soufi Burridge and Hugo Leengardt contributed to this report.

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(LONDON) — At least 15 people are dead and another 23 injured after a streetcar derailed in Portugal’s capital on Wednesday, officials said.

At least five people are in serious condition following the crash in Lisbon, according to the city’s communications department.

One 3-year-old child is included in the 23 injured, according to an official.

It appears the safety cable on the electric streetcar broke, causing the car to derail, the department said, based on preliminary information.

Carris, the operator of the streetcar, said that all maintenance protocols were complied with, including daily inspections.

The mayor of Lisbon declared a three-day period of mourning.

“I offer my sincere condolences to all the families and friends of the victims. Lisbon is in mourning,” Mayor Carlos Moedas said in a statement.

Portugal’s Prime Minister’s Office also declared a national day of mourning for Thursday, expressing its “deep dismay” over the accident, and said it is in contact with local officials.

The incident — which happened around 6:15 p.m. local time — remains under investigation. Carris said it immediately opened an investigation along with the authorities to determine the cause of the accident.

The rescue mission lasted around two hours, a Public Ministry official told ABC News.

The tram cabin that derailed can hold up to 40 people. The famed streetcar, known as the Elevador da Gloria, is a funicular that travels up and down a steep hill.

“It is with sadness that I learned of the derailment of the famous ‘Elevador da Glória,'” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. “My condolences to the families of the victims.”

All the other funiculars of the city have been suspended for now: Lavra, Graça and Bica, according to an official.

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(LONDON) — Ukrainian teenager Katya says she was living with her foster parents in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson in 2023 when Russian authorities approached her family and told them they would take her to a summer camp. But, in reality, she says she was being trained for military service.

“The school told us we are going for a vacation to the sea,” she tells ABC News in Kyiv, Ukraine. “Then we traveled for three days by bus, on the third day we were put on a train. And we were sent to a military camp.”

“Katya,” who has asked to remain anonymous to protect her identity, was 16-years-old at the time but now, at 18, she tells ABC News that she used to get up “at seven in the morning, had breakfast by nine, did exercises, then we went to the orientation. During orientation, we were forced to learn the Russian anthem and the anthem of this platoon.”

There were both Russian and Ukrainian teenagers in the military camp, which was inside Russian territory, Katya said. But Ukrainians were forbidden from speaking Ukrainian or expressing their identity, and told they were being trained to fight for the Russian army.

They would be forced into punishment exercises if they did not comply, she said. Katya can be seen doing squats and push ups in a video taken inside the camp shared with ABC News.

“As our instructors told us, we were being prepared for war,” she said. “They told us that as soon as we turned 18 [we would go to fight.]”

Katya was just one of thousands of Ukrainian children estimated to have been taken into Russia since the invasion of Feb. 24, 2022, with Ukraine saying that more than 19,500 children have been abducted or forcibly displaced into Russia since then.

Just over 1,500 children have been rescued from Russia, with almost half of those facilitated by Save Ukraine, a charity dedicated to the return of Russian children who helped Katya get back to Ukrainian territory after her weekslong ordeal in the military camp.

“Her story is really common, because now what we see from children who were rescued recently, we see that all of them were engaged in some military activities,” Natalia Savchenko, the head of communications at Save Ukraine, told ABC News. “It’s a policy and we see that the policy of Russia now is to take Ukrainian children, erase their identity, and force them to take part in military activities and, after that, make them Russian soldiers.”

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights in 2023. The ICC said they were allegedly “responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.”

Russia, however, denies kidnapping the children and claims it evacuated them for humanitarian reasons.

The prospect of an elusive ceasefire dominated the agenda at the Alaska Summit last month when President Trump hosted Vladimir Putin and hand-delivered a letter written by first lady Melania Trump, calling for the protection of children. The letter did not specifically mention Ukrainian children taken into Russia.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also raised the subject of Ukrainian children who have been taken into Russia when European leaders met with the U.S. President last month as well.

“This issue lies at the heart of the war’s humanitarian tragedy — our children, broken families, the pain of separation,” Zelenskyy said.

“It is a subject at the top of all lists and the world will work together to solve it, hopefully bringing them home to their families,” President Trump said.

Savchenko told ABC News that she hoped the diplomatic efforts would help “change the future of these children.”

“But at the same time, we continue to do our work, we are continuing to rescue them, to rehabilitate and to reintegrate, because these are Ukrainian children, and we cannot surrender. And let them be in the hands of war criminals,” she continued. “In our mind discussion about Ukrainian children should be done before the discussion about lands, because children, they are our future. It’s not the question of politics. It’s a question of humanity.”

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(LONDON) — The death toll from Sunday’s powerful earthquake in eastern Afghanistan is now 2,205, with another 3,640 people injured, a Taliban government spokesman said Thursday.

Search and rescue efforts are ongoing in the affected areas, according to Taliban spokesperson Hamdullah Fitrat, who provided the updated casualty numbers via social media.

“Tents have been installed for displaced families in multiple locations,” he said, “and the organized distribution of primary and urgent humanitarian assistance is currently underway.”

The 6.0 magnitude quake struck just before midnight on Sunday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

A series of aftershocks struck amid rescue efforts, including a 5.2 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday about 20 miles northeast of Jalalabad, according to the USGS.

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(LONDON) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry again warned that Moscow will not accept the presence of any Western troops in Ukraine as part of a future peace deal, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy prepared to meet a group of top European leaders in Paris on Thursday.

“Russia does not intend to discuss unacceptable foreign intervention in Ukraine in any form whatsoever,” spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in comments published by the Foreign Ministry on Thursday. “Western war instigators view Ukraine as a testing ground for their military developments,” she said.

Moscow has repeatedly rebuffed proposals for Western forces to be deployed to Ukraine in any capacity as part of a deal to end Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor, which began in February 2022.

Nonetheless, the prospect is still under discussion by NATO leaders and the Ukrainian government as an element of the security guarantees Kyiv says are needed to facilitate any U.S.-brokered peace deal.

Zakharova said Thursday that the protections under discussion “are not security guarantees for Ukraine, they are guarantees of threat to the European continent.”

Zelenskyy will gather with European leaders — the so-called “Coalition of the Willing” — for further talks in Paris on Thursday. The group will then speak with U.S. President Donald Trump virtually at around 8 a.m. ET, according to a schedule published by French President Emmanuel Macron’s office.

Macron welcomed the Ukrainian leader to the Élysée Palace — which houses the presidential office — on Wednesday.

“We are ready as Europeans to offer security guarantees to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, the day a peace deal is signed,” Macron said while standing alongside Zelenskyy.

“The contributions that were prepared, documented and confirmed this afternoon at the level of the defense ministers in an extremely confidential manner allow me to say the preparatory work is complete,” he added. The measures the pair discussed on Wednesday weren’t immediately detailed.

“It will now be endorsed politically, and it allows us to do so in a solid way, and we will come back to you tomorrow, after these meetings and discussions, to say that we are ready for a robust, lasting peace for Ukraine and for the Europeans,” Macron said.

Zelenskyy said that, although “we have not received any signals from Russia that it truly wants to end this war,” he was “convinced” that a close union with Europe and the U.S. “will help us increase pressure on Russia to move towards a diplomatic solution to this complex issue.”

Other European leaders attending Thursday’s talks in Paris are European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President António Costa, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Several other European leaders are joining the meeting virtually.

The White House said Trump will speak with Zelenskyy on Thursday. The president is expected to join the discussion virtually.

Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Trump pushed back on one reporter’s suggestion of his “lack of action” on Russia in response to its continued offensive operations and long-range attacks in Ukraine, despite his repeated threats of further sanctions and tariffs on Moscow.

“How do you know there’s no action? Would you say that, putting secondary sanctions on India, the largest purchaser outside of China, they’re almost equal, would you say there was no action that costs hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia? You call that no action?” Trump said.

The president was referring to the recent imposition of 25% tariffs on all imported Indian goods in response to New Delhi’s purchases of Russian energy goods and military equipment.

“And I haven’t done phase two yet,” Trump continued. “Or phase three. But when you say there’s no action, I think you ought to get yourself a new job. Because if you remember, two weeks ago, I did — I said, if India buys, India’s got big problems. And that’s what happened. So don’t tell me about that.”

Trump and Putin met in Alaska nearly three weeks ago. After that event, Trump suggested that a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy should be the next step in the negotiations process.

The Kremlin has given no indication of its willingness to support such a meeting, though Putin suggested this week that a meeting could take place in Moscow.

Kyiv quickly dismissed that proposal. Foreign Minister Andri Sybiha said in a post to X, “Putin continues to mess around with everyone by making knowingly unacceptable proposals.”

Trump told reporters on Wednesday he had “no message” for Putin. “He knows where I stand, and he’ll make a decision one way or the other whatever his decision is will either be happy about it or unhappy and if we’re unhappy about it, you’ll see things happen.”

“We’ve taken very strong action, as you know, and in other ways we’ve taken very strong action,” Trump continued. “But I’ll be speaking to him over the next few days and we’re going to see with him. I’m going to know exactly what’s happened.”

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(LONDON) — Israel has begun its ground operation in Gaza City, Israel Defense Forces Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Tuesday.

“We are going to increase and enhance the strikes of our operation, and that is why we called you,” Zamir said in Hebrew, addressing reservists who have been called up to serve in recent weeks. “We have already begun the ground operation in Gaza [City].”

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also released a message addressing Israeli Defense Force reservists Tuesday.

“I want to strengthen and express my deep appreciation to you, IDF soldiers and reserve soldiers and your families,” Netanyahu said in the video message in Hebrew. “Now we are facing the decisive stage. I believe in you, I trust you and the entire nation embraces you.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(LONDON) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un crossed the China-North Korea border by train on Tuesday, the country’s state news agency reported, heading to Beijing where he will attend a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II.

Kim will join Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Chinese capital on Wednesday, the other two leaders having come from a Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Tianjin, where Xi hosted world leaders including Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Kim is accompanied by a delegation including Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, the Korean Central News Agency reported.

Kim, Xi and Putin will gather for the military parade amid Ukrainian and Western concerns over the collaboration of the three nations in bolstering Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ongoing since February 2022.

Ukrainian and Western governments have accused North Korea of supplying significant amounts of ammunition and troops to support Russia’s war, while Kyiv and its NATO backers have identified China as Moscow’s prime source of materiel and a vital economic lifeline.

Speaking at the SCO meeting on Monday, Putin said the war in Ukraine began with a Western-sponsored “coup” and “attempts by the West” to “”pull Ukraine into NATO.” The address echoed long-established false Russian narratives about the pro-Western 2014 Maidan Revolution and the subsequent Russian invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Moscow built on that round of aggression by launching its full-scale invasion in 2022.

Putin said he spoke with Xi on Sunday about the ongoing U.S.-sponsored peace process in Ukraine, which has so far failed to produce a ceasefire or a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Putin and Xi met again on Tuesday morning, according to a readout from the state-run Xinhua news agency. The two leaders signed “more than 20 bilateral cooperation documents,” Xinhua reported.

Bilateral relations, Putin said, “have reflected a high degree of strategy and reached the highest level in history,” Xinhua reported. Xi, meanwhile, said ties between Beijing and Moscow “have withstood the test of international changes,” according to Xinhua.

The Russian president also met with Modi on Monday. India — along with China — is a top customer for Russian energy exports, an income stream that Ukraine and its allies say has helped Moscow soften the impact of international sanctions and fund its war.

In a post to X, Modi said he had an “excellent meeting” with Putin.

“Discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in all sectors, including trade, fertilizers, space, security and culture,” he added. “We exchanged views on regional and global developments, including the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine.”

The meeting comes shortly after U.S President Donald Trump imposed an additional 25% tariff on all Indian goods — bringing the total tariff rate to 50% — related to India’s continued purchases of Russian energy exports and military equipment.

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(ISLAMABAD, Pakistan) — The death toll from the earthquake in eastern Afghanistan that all but destroyed several villages rose on Tuesday to at least 1,411 people, a government spokesperson said.

Another 3,124 were injured in the 6.0 magnitude quake, which struck just before midnight on Sunday, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson, said on social media.

“Rescue operations are still underway in all the affected areas today,” Hamdullah Fitrat, the deputy spokesperson, said on Tuesday. “Dozens of commandos have been airlifted to areas where planes could not land to pull out the injured from the rubble and transport them to a suitable location.”

Shah Mahmood, a Taliban official in Nangarhar Province, said destroyed some 8,000 houses. Emergency responders have yet to reach some villages, where they fear there may be more dead and injured under the rubble, he said.

The powerful earthquake’s epicenter was about 17 miles east of Jalalabad, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Almost all of the deaths were in Kunar Province, officials said in a statement shared Monday by Zabihullah Mujahid, a government spokesperson. Others were killed in Nangarhar Province, said Mufti Abdul Matin Qani, spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior.

Deadly earthquakes have struck Afghanistan several times in recent years, including a 5.9 magnitude quake in June 2022 and a 6.3 magnitude one in October 2023. The death toll for each of those quakes rose to over 1,000 people, local officials said in their aftermaths.

Earthquakes are common in both eastern and western Afghanistan, where the India plate and the Eurasia plate intersect underneath the Hindu Kush mountains range, according to USGS.

“Since 1950, 71 other magnitude 6 or larger earthquakes occurred within 250 km of the August 31 earthquake, including six magnitude 7 and larger earthquakes,” USGS said in a summary of the activity it recorded during Sunday’s quake and the aftershocks.

The first strong quake struck at about 11:47 p.m. local time on Sunday and was followed by four weaker-but-still-powerful aftershocks into Monday, the USGS said. Those aftershocks measured 5.2, 5.2, 4.7 and 4.6, the organization said.

An estimated 12,000 people have been directly affected by Sunday’s, according to the World Health Organization in Afghanistan.

The hardest hit districts and villages in Kunar were Chawkay, Nurgal, Chapa Dara, Dara-e-Pech and Watapur, the WHO said in a report dated Monday. Structures in other villages in Nangarhar and Laghman provinces were also damaged, the report said.

“As the scale of devastation from the Afghanistan earthquake becomes clearer, my deepest condolences go to the victims and their families,” Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur for the country, said on social media on Tuesday.

Many of the health facilities in the affected regions appeared to be “functional” after the quake, the WHO said, adding that its local staff were working on-site at several locations in the region, including Nangarhar Regional Hospital.

At that hospital in Nangarhar, several injured children were being treated without their parents or relatives, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Health.

“These are painful and unbearable moments,” Dr. Sharafat zaman Amar, the spokesperson, said in a social media post that included pictures of several children with visible injuries and bandages.

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