World

(LONDON) — A month after a massacre that was reported in a war-ravaged city of Sudan shocked the world, the United Nations and others are warning that there’s nowhere near enough humanitarian aid being provided to the tens of thousands of residents who fled.

Many thousands more are believed to still be trapped inside El Fasher, the besieged capital of the Darfur region in Sudan’s west. The Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the powerful Sudanese paramilitary group that took over the city last month, is allegedly preventing people from leaving and stopping lifesaving supplies from coming in.

The U.N. Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Denise Brown, who returned from the Darfur region last week, said the amount of aid they were able to currently provide to the survivors from El Fasher wasn’t close to what is needed.

“We do not have enough food, we do not have enough of anything,” Brown told ABC News in a telephone interview last Friday. “The international community has to step up.”

Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal civil war since 2023, when fighting erupted in the capital of Khartoum between forces loyal to rival military leaders. It was the culmination of weeks of tensions between Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, the commander of the Sudanese Armed Forces, and Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, the head of the RSF. The two men were once allies who had jointly orchestrated a military coup in 2021 that dissolved Sudan’s power-sharing government and derailed its short-lived transition to democracy, following the ousting of a long-time dictator in 2019.

Officially formed in 2013, the RSF evolved out of the notorious Janjaweed militias used by the Sudanese government to crush an armed rebellion in the Darfur region in the 2000s. Sudanese forces and the Janjaweed were accused of committing war crimes in Darfur.

Ultimately, the International Criminal Court charged Sudan’s former dictatorial ruler Omar al-Bashir with genocide. The reported atrocities in El Fasher are seen by experts as a continuation of that genocide.

Sudan’s civil war has since become “one of the worst humanitarian crises of the 21st century,” according to the U.N., with tens of thousands of people killed and millions more displaced. In January, the U.S. Department of State said both sides had committed war crimes and concluded “that members of the RSF and allied militias have committed genocide in Sudan,” citing the systematic murder of civilians, sexual violence and denial of humanitarian aid for civilians caught in the conflict.

El Fasher was the last stronghold of the Sudanese army and its allied militias in the wider Darfur region, under total siege for over a year and a half before falling to the RSF in late October. At least 80,000 people are estimated to have fled El Fasher and sought refuge in a massive displacement camp in the town of Tawila, with most making the 35-mile journey on foot. The camp was already home to around 600,000 displaced people, according to humanitarian aid workers.

Many of those from El Fasher bring with them horrific accounts of atrocities allegedly carried out by the RSF, including summary executions, gang rape and killing anyone who tries to flee the city. The U.N. believes as many as 50,000 people may still be trapped in El Fasher, considered to be detained there by the RSF, according to Brown.

An analysis of satellite imagery by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab found evidence of continuing mass killings in the days after the RSF took control of El Fasher, with blood-stained sand and piles of bodies apparently visible from space. Moreover, a U.N.-backed monitor for food security declared earlier this month that famine had taken hold in El Fasher and surrounding areas.

Brown said the U.N.’s capability to respond to the crisis is limited by a yawning shortfall in funding from countries and donors.

“We are 28% funded,” she told ABC News. “So what would the international community like me to do to respond to the needs of the people who are traumatized?”

Despite having less than a third of the funding needed, Brown said: “We’re one of the best funded humanitarian responses in the world, at 28%, and there have been cuts across the board by donors. So it’s a cumulative effect of those cuts.”

The United States has long been the U.N.’s largest donor but, under President Donald Trump, has recently withdrawn from several U.N. agencies, frozen funding for others and clawed back $ 1 billion in previously approved funds for the U.N.

“Everyone is calling and asking how can we help? Well, here is how you can help,” Brown told ABC News. “Money is not the solution to what’s going on in Sudan, but money is surely going to help our humanitarian response.”

In particular, Brown said, the U.N. was currently unable to provide enough care or psychological support for women and girls in the Tawila camp who had suffered sexual violence. The U.N. has hundreds of documented cases of gang rape and other sexual violence in the Darfur region, but that is believed to be just “the tip of the iceberg,” according to Brown.

The U.N. has been trying to negotiate with the RSF to allow humanitarian access into El Fasher — so far, unsuccessfully.

The head of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Tom Fletcher, traveled with Brown to Darfur last week to meet with the RSF, requesting complete access throughout Sudan for humanitarian operations and providing the U.N.’s conditions for such an agreement.

“We need safe passage. We want a small team, no presence of any armed militia,” Brown told ABC News. “We need to go to the sites which we have identified as important. We need to be able to evacuate the injured and access to detainees.”

“And so far,” she said, “the answer is no.”

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(LONDON) — A woman has died, and a man was seriously injured after a shark attack off Australia’s east coast, police said Friday.

Emergency services were called to a beach at Crowdy Bay, about 40 miles south of Port Macquarie in New South Wales, around 6:30 a.m. Thursday after reports that two people had been bitten, according to New South Wales Police.

A witness helped the victims before paramedics arrived, but the woman, who was believed to be 25, died at the scene, police said.

“The 26-year-old man sustained serious injuries and was airlifted to the John Hunter Hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition,” police said.

Authorities said the pair are believed to have been visiting from Switzerland, though neither victim has been publicly identified.

The beach remained closed Friday as police continued their investigation, and a report is being prepared by the coroner.

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(NEW YORK) — Authorities on the Caribbean island of Tobago say they’re investigating the death of an American man who was found fatally stabbed on Wednesday.

The victim was identified as Christopher Brown, 42, of Silverthorne, Colorado, the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service told ABC News.

Brown was having dinner with friends at Marguarite’s Local Cuisine in the seaside village of Castara on Wednesday and accompanied the group when they went to a second restaurant and bar nearby to have drinks afterward, police said.

He then apparently left the second location, telling his friends that he was going to buy marijuana, and walked along a main road in Castara, according to the police report.

Police received a report just after 10:30 p.m. local time of a “motionless body bearing a stab wound to the back” on Depot Road in Castara, the report states. When they arrived at the scene, they observed several wounds on the man’s body, as well as a “metallic object” protruding from his back.

“The Division of Tourism, Culture, Antiquities and Transportation is profoundly saddened and deeply disturbed by the tragic murder of a foreign national in the peaceful community of Castara,” the agency said in a statement. “The Division strongly condemns this horrific act of violence and extends our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and loved ones of the deceased during this unimaginably difficult time,” a statement from the agency read.

One suspect is in custody, but they have not been charged at this time, police said.

The investigation is ongoing, authorities said.

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(LONDON and KYIV, Ukraine)– Russian President Vladimir Putin said a U.S. delegation is expected to arrive in Moscow in the first half of next week to discuss the latest American proposal to end the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

Speaking at a press conference during a visit to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, on Thursday, Putin said no draft peace agreement had been agreed to in recent talks between the U.S. and Ukraine, only a list of issues to be discussed.

Putin also said it was “pointless” to sign any documents with Ukraine’s current leadership, alleging that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lacked legitimacy to do so.

In a series of hardline statements — his most extensive comments on the latest U.S.-proposed peace plan to date — Putin repeated some of Russia’s most hardline demands, including that Ukrainian troops must withdraw from territory Moscow claims. Putin ruled out signing any ceasefire deal before Ukrainian troops withdraw.

“If Ukraine’s troops leave the territory occupied, then military action will stop. If they won’t leave then we will achieve that by armed force,” Putin said.

He also said recognition of Russia’s occupation of Crimea, Donbas and a swath of eastern and southern Ukraine must be part of negotiations with the U.S.

Putin projected confidence about Russia’s battlefield position, claiming there was a “positive dynamic” everywhere on the front. The president said Russia was “ready in principle” to “fight to the last Ukrainian.”

Ahead of Witkoff’s expected trip to Moscow next week, Putin said the latest American peace proposals “can be the basis for future agreements.”

“Overall, we see that the American side is taking into account our position, which was discussed before Anchorage and after Alaska,” he added, referring to his August summit with Trump. “In some areas, we definitely need to sit down and seriously discuss specific issues,” Putin said.

Putin also answered questions about a leaked recording of a purported phone call between President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, in which Witkoff appeared to be offering Ushakov advice on how Moscow could present its own peace plans to Trump.

“This may be some kind of fake news,” Putin said. “Maybe they really did eavesdrop. Actually, this is a criminal offense; eavesdropping is illegal in our country. It’s not about us. It’s about the battle of opinions between the collective West and the U.S. over what needs to be done to end the hostilities.”

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(LONDON and KYIV, Ukraine) — Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared last week to be cautiously optimistic on the U.S. 28-point peace plan to end his invasion of Ukraine, but statements made by his emissaries in the days since then have led some analysts to believe he thinks he can get a better deal.

“I believe that it could also form the basis for a final peace settlement, but this text has not been discussed with us in detail,” Putin told his Security Council on Friday.

Momentum has appeared to be building as U.S., European, Ukrainian and Russian representatives met first in Geneva, Switzerland, and then in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. U.S. President Donald Trump has now said a deal could be “very close” and has ordered his envoy Steve Witkoff to travel to Moscow next week to present the plan to Putin.

But despite the diplomatic flurry and public optimism, many close observers of Russia still doubt Putin is actually ready to take a deal now or sees much need to compromise.

“I see nothing at the moment that would force Putin to recalculate his goals or abandon his core demands,” Tatiana Stoyanova, founder of R.Politik and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center wrote on X. 

“He feels more confident than ever about the battlefield situation and is convinced that he can wait until Kyiv finally accepts that it cannot win and must negotiate on Russia’s well-known terms,” Stoyanova said. “If the Americans can help move things in that direction — fine. If not, he knows how to proceed anyway.”

Boris Bondarev, a former Russian diplomat who quit in protest after Russia’s 2022 invasion, also told ABC News he thought it “most likely” that this latest round of negotiations will fizzle out with the combatants still far apart on key issues, as has been the case with previous efforts.

The new 19-point plan negotiated with Ukraine this week is highly unlikely to align with Moscow’s goals, Bondarev said. Even the original 28-point plan that Russia helped draw up with Witkoff “wasn’t fully acceptable to Russia in the first place,” he said, pointing to the Kremlin’s apparent hesitance to commit to the initial blueprint.

“Now it’s even less acceptable,” he said. “So, of course, they would not accept it.”

But Bondarev didn’t rule out entirely that Putin might lunge for a deal that contains many of his demands.

“Of course, we can and we should be ready for any surprises from the Kremlin,” he said. “They can still surprise sometimes.” 

The original 28-point U.S. proposal that heavily favored Russia was revised down to 19, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials, during the Geneva negotiations.

Some of the most unacceptable points to Kyiv have been removed, according to sources familiar with the discussions, including a cap on Ukraine’s army and a war crimes amnesty. But it is not entirely clear what the new plan includes and the most intractable issues, including Ukraine ceding more unoccupied territory remain.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday again downplayed hopes for a deal, saying it was “too early to say” whether the warring parties are close to an accord. Russia’s deputy foreign minister has since said Moscow will not make any major concessions.

Previous rounds of talks have resoundingly failed. And, while the U.S. has been projecting hope, it’s unclear how serious Russia — which has been eking out battlefield gains — is about making peace.

“Putin does not want an agreement,” John Herbst, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, said at an Atlantic Council event on Tuesday. “The only agreement he wants is diktat — a Ukrainian surrender. Otherwise, he wants to continue fighting.”

“I suspect if Ukraine had accepted those dreadful 28 points, Putin would come back for more,” Herbst said. “He realizes those 28 points reflected great flexibility moving his direction on the part of the United States, and he would say, ‘See what else we can get’.”

Putin’s long march
The Kremlin has indicated that the new peace plan was discussed at the summit between Putin and Trump in Alaska in August.

Putin left Alaska with Trump’s endorsement of the “fantastic relationship” between the two presidents, having successfully neutralized Trump’s previous demand he agree an immediate ceasefire and pushing off the threat of more American sanctions, while gaining the prospect of potentially lucrative bilateral economic cooperation.

Despite a nominal commitment to peace talks, as summer turned to fall, Russia only intensified its frontline offensives and expanded its long-range attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure, according to information released by Russian and Ukrainian forces.

Russian forces have captured some 350 square miles of Ukrainian territory — roughly the same area as the German capital of Berlin — since Trump and Putin sat down together in Alaska, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War think tank.

Putin has for years said that any peace deal in Ukraine must reflect the “new territorial realities” of Russian occupation of large chunks of the country. As Russian troops edge forward, Putin appears to be trying to entrench those territorial realities.

That new territory is a tiny sliver of the roughly 44,600 square miles — nearly 20% — of Ukraine controlled by Russian forces. But despite the slow rate and reportedly high human cost of Russia’s advance, independent military analysts worry it reflects a growing momentum for Moscow.

A high-profile advance around the destroyed Donetsk city of Pokrovsk and an unexpected local breakthrough on Ukraine southern Zaporizhzhia front have further burnished the Kremlin’s propaganda campaign promoting what they claim as an inevitable Russian victory.

Relentless Russian drone and missile strikes continue to kill civilians and wreak havoc on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, particularly the energy grid. Concentrated strikes on power stations and natural gas infrastructure have precipitated rolling blackouts in many parts of the country — including in Kyiv — as winter bites.

Zelenskyy’s government has also been rocked by a corruption scandal that has seen two cabinet ministers removed from their posts and figures close to the president investigated.

Bondarev said he believes Russia is repeating its strategy of delay and obfuscation. Putin is “playing for time,” he said, and “outsmarting” his Western adversaries.

“Putin says we need to remove the root causes of the war,” Bondarev said. “You cannot remove these root causes of the war just by signing some memorandum. You need to work it through. It takes a lot of experts, meetings, coordination — so it may take months. And at the same time, he will be fighting.”

“With each new tiny victory — every new village occupied, every square kilometer occupied — the Russian position will be more and more robust, less and less flexible,” Bondarev said.

Red lines
“People’s expectations for how long a process like this will take are wildly exaggerated,” Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, told ABC News this week.

“I think even in the best case we are talking about months not weeks,” Charap added.

Still, Charap said, the new push by the Trump administration was positive, noting it had jumpstarted negotiations and for the first time produced a framework document that at least included almost all the core issues of the conflict.

“You have to give them credit, they have certainly shaken up the stasis which had set in,” he said. “There are conversations happening that weren’t happening a week ago.”

Ukrainian lawmakers and analysts told ABC News there remains little hope in Ukraine that Putin can be trusted to abide by the terms of any peace deal. That is why Kyiv’s demands for Western security guarantees, NATO membership and more military aid have been so central to the Ukrainian negotiating position.

Still, Yehor Cherniev — a member of the Ukrainian parliament and the chairman of his country’s delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly — told ABC News that the framework established with the U.S. “is a good signal and it’s good progress in our peace negotiations, because before we were stuck.”

But some “red lines” remain, Cherniev said, “as before, about the concession of our territories or of or our sovereignty.” Ukrainian officials have said they want to leave such thorny topics to a meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy at the White House.

“I have doubts that Russia will agree with this,” Cherniev added.

Oleksandr Merezhko, another member of parliament and the chair of its foreign affairs committee, told ABC News he believes “Putin will reject this peace plan and will reiterate his maximalist demands.”

“He is not interested in peace or ceasefire — he is only interested in our surrender,” Merezhko said. “We should insist not on a ‘peace treaty’ but on a ceasefire agreement.”

Zelenskyy has consistently urged more pressure on Russia twinned with more muscular Western military aid for Kyiv. Trump has often threatened a tougher line on Moscow, but — according to Daniel Fried, a former U.S. ambassador to Poland — it is unclear if he is willing to deliver.

“In the end, Trump is going to have to stare down Putin to get his deal in any kind of decent form,” Fried said at an event Tuesday.

But Bondarev said he sees little hope of an imminent change in U.S. strategy, suggesting that any disunity within the administration will only further strengthen Moscow’s hand.

“Western diplomacy has never tried to get the initiative, to first elaborate its own agenda and impose it on Russia,” the former diplomat said. “They only follow what Russia is doing. You can never prevail if you just follow your adversary and let him lead.”

“Trump mentioned that ‘it takes two to tango,'” he added. “But there is someone in every couple who leads and someone who follows.”

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(LONDON) — The death toll from the massive fire at a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong rose to 55 as of Thursday, as search and rescue efforts continued.

Fifty-one of the deceased victims died at the scene, fire department officials said in a press conference, while four more people died in hospital.

There are currently 76 people being treated in hospital, with 15 in a critical condition and 28 in a serious condition, the officials added.

Fires are still burning in three of the seven affected buildings in Tai Po district, officials said, with all remaining blazes now under control. Seven of the eight buildings in the complex were impacted by the fire, officials said.

Three men associated with the construction firm in charge of the renovation at the housing complex have been arrested and are under investigation in connection with the fire, Hong Kong police said during a press conference early Thursday morning.

Police suspect the mesh used during the renovation was not up to standard, and the company installed a large amount of Styrofoam in the windows and the outer walls which acted as an accelerant once the fire began, police said.

The mesh and the Styrofoam were found in the one building that wasn’t impacted by the fire, police said.

More than 140 fire engines and over 800 firefighters and paramedics were deployed on Wednesday to respond to the fire, with drones also in use, officials said.

Some 279 people have been reported missing, Hong Kong leader John Lee said during a press briefing earlier Thursday.

“The fire has resulted in many casualties, including a fireman who died in the line of duty,” Lee said in an earlier statement posted to social media. “I express my deep sadness and my deep condolences to the families of the dead and the injured.”

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences and sympathies to the victims’ families and those affected in a statement.

He said he ordered authorities to “do everything possible to ensure search and rescue operations, medical treatment for the injured, and post-disaster relief, and to provide necessary assistance to relevant departments and local authorities to minimize casualties and losses.”

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(LONDON) — At least 13 people were killed and dozens of others were injured as a massive fire engulfed a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday, according to fire officials.

“A fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po at 2.51 p.m. today … The fire was upgraded to No. 3 alarm at 3.02 p.m., and to No. 4 alarm at 3.34 p.m.,” according to a statement from the Hong Kong government.

By 6:22 p.m. local time the fire had been upgraded again to a No. 5 alarm, city officials said.

At least 13 people were dead, fire officials said in an update at about 8 p.m. local time. About two hours earlier, city officials had released a statement saying at least four people were dead.

Another 28 people were injured, including many who were transferred to two local hospitals, fire officials said.

One of the dead had been a firefighter who was called to the scene from nearby Sha Tin Fire Station, according to Andy Yeung, the director of Fire Services.

Yeung in a statement named the firefighter as Ho Wai-ho, 37, adding that he “was found collapsed at the scene” of the fire. He was rushed to the hospital, where he later died, Yeung said.

“The fire has resulted in many casualties, including a fireman who died in the line of duty,” Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee said in a statement posted to social media, “I express my deep sadness and my deep condolences to the families of the dead and the injured.”

Secretary for Security Tang Ping-keung said in a statement that emergency departments were at the scene of the blaze. The fire department was “doing its utmost to put out the fire,” he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed his condolences to the victims and firefighters who died in the fire in a statement. The president also extended his sympathies to the families of the victims and the affected people.

The statement said Xi had ordered authorities to “do everything possible to ensure search and rescue operations, medical treatment for the injured, and post-disaster relief, and to provide necessary assistance to relevant departments and local authorities to minimize casualties and losses.”

ABC News’ Joe Simonetti and Karson Yiu contributed to this report.

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(LONDON and KYIV, Ukraine) — The Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, confirmed there is a “preliminary agreement” for U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff — and likely Jared Kushner — to visit Moscow next week, as the White House claims momentum toward a possible Ukraine-Russia peace plan.

“As for Witkoff, I can say that a preliminary agreement has been reached that he will visit Moscow next week,” Ushakov said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,” broadcast on Wednesday.

“We have agreed to meet with Mr. Witkoff. I hope he will not come alone, but will be accompanied by other representatives of the American team who are working on the Ukrainian dossier, and then we will begin discussions,” Ushakov added.

Witkoff, Ushakov said, will “definitely” meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin if he comes to Moscow next week.

The interview came after Bloomberg published excerpts of a recording of purported phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov, in which Trump’s envoy appeared to offer guidance on how Putin should present the Kremlin’s plan to end the war to Trump.

Ushakov appeared to confirm the call happened but declined to comment. Ushakov also alleged that the leak was intended to undermine the ongoing peace efforts.

“I speak with Witkoff quite often, but I do not comment on the substance of our conversations because they are confidential. No one should comment on them, actually,” he said.

The reported leak was “probably” intended to “hinder” discussions, Ushakov said. “It is unlikely that this is being done to improve relations. They are now being established, with difficulty, through contacts of this kind, including by telephone.”

Ushakov denied that Russia leaked the call. “Someone is leaking them, someone is listening in, but it’s not us,” he said.

In a separate interview with Russia’s Kommersant newspaper published Wednesday, Ushakov said he regularly contacted Witkoff “via secure communication” and via WhatsApp.

Ushakov then suggested that the leak could have been organized by Witkoff’s detractors.

Trump had already told reporters on Tuesday that his envoy would travel to Russia. “Now, Steve Witkoff is going over maybe with Jared. I’m not sure about Jared going, but he’s involved in the process, smart guy, and they’re going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe, next week in Moscow,” he said.

Pressed on the Bloomberg report and concerns that Witkoff was too sympathetic to Russia’s maximalist war goals, Trump replied, “No, but that’s a standard thing, you know, because he’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what he’s, that’s what a deal maker does.”

“You got to say, look, they want this. You’ve got to convince him with this. You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation. I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation, and I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take,” Trump added.

Asked whether Witkoff was “too pro-Russia,” Trump did not answer directly. He instead said  that a deal would be beneficial for both sides, while appearing to talk up Russia’s military capabilities.

“I think, look, this war could go on for years, and Russia’s got a lot more people, a lot more soldiers,” Trump said. “So I think if Ukraine can make a deal, it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both. Frankly, I think it’s great for both.”

Weekend talks in Geneva, Switzerland, saw American, European and Ukrainian officials meet to discuss the controversial U.S.-backed peace plan proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would have constituted a Ukrainian capitulation. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week the blueprint “could also form the basis for a final peace settlement,” and suggested it aligned closely with the outcomes of his meeting with Trump in Alaska in August.

On Monday, a Ukrainian official close to the matter told ABC News that the original 28-point draft had been revised down to 19 points after the Geneva talks, with both American and Ukrainian representatives framing the Geneva talks as productive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the Geneva talks produced a “framework,” adding Kyiv is “ready to move forward together — with the United States of America, with personal engagement of President Trump, and with Europe.”

“I am ready to meet with President Trump,” Zelenskyy continued. “There are sensitive points to discuss,” he said.

After the Geneva meetings, a U.S. delegation held additional talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. A U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday, “The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal … There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”

A source familiar with the discussions confirmed to ABC News that Ukraine agreed to the new 19-point peace plan during the talks in Geneva, not in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump did not elaborate on which issues are still to be agreed with Kyiv. “Standard things,” Trump said when asked. “But people are starting to realize it’s a good deal for both parties if they got to stop the war, they’re losing a lot of people, a lot of soldiers, mostly soldiers.”

Pressed about Ukraine ceding land to Russia, Trump hinted at land swaps and called the overall process “complicated” and said it “doesn’t go that quickly.”

Trump also did not say what concessions Moscow is being asked to make. “They’re making concessions. They’re big concessions. You say stop fighting, and they don’t take any more land again,” the president said.

As to future security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said the issue is being discussed with European countries. “Europe will be largely involved in that,” he said. “We’re working that out with Europe. Europe really wants to see it end, if possible.”

Moscow is yet to officially comment on the new 19-point plan. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Tuesday that “if the spirit and letter of Anchorage are removed in terms of the key understandings that we have established, then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation.”

In his interview with Zarubin broadcast on Wednesday, Ushakov said the new plan was “passed on to us,” as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. But the Kremlin aide added that the plan “hasn’t been discussed in detail with anyone yet.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, told reporters on Wednesday it is “too early to say” that the warring parties may be nearing a deal, according to Tass.

ABC News’ Luis Martinez, Hannah Demissie and Anna Sergeeva contributed to this report.

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(LONDON and KYIV, Ukraine) — The Kremlin’s top foreign policy aide, Yury Ushakov, confirmed there is a “preliminary agreement” for U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff — and likely Jared Kushner — to visit Moscow next week, as the White House claims momentum toward a possible Ukraine-Russia peace plan.

“As for Witkoff, I can say that a preliminary agreement has been reached that he will visit Moscow next week,” Ushakov said in an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin for the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin,” broadcast on Wednesday.

“We have agreed to meet with Mr. Witkoff. I hope he will not come alone, but will be accompanied by other representatives of the American team who are working on the Ukrainian dossier, and then we will begin discussions,” Ushakov added.

Witkoff, Ushakov said, will “definitely” meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin if he comes to Moscow next week.

The interview came after Bloomberg published excerpts of a recording of purported phone call between Witkoff and Ushakov, in which Trump’s envoy appeared to offer guidance on how Putin should present the Kremlin’s plan to end the war to Trump.

Ushakov appeared to confirm the call happened but declined to comment. Ushakov also alleged that the leak was intended to undermine the ongoing peace efforts.

“I speak with Witkoff quite often, but I do not comment on the substance of our conversations because they are confidential. No one should comment on them, actually,” he said.

The reported leak was “probably” intended to “hinder” discussions, Ushakov said. “It is unlikely that this is being done to improve relations. They are now being established, with difficulty, through contacts of this kind, including by telephone.”

Ushakov denied that Russia leaked the call. “Someone is leaking them, someone is listening in, but it’s not us,” he said.

Trump had already told reporters on Tuesday that his envoy would travel to Russia. “Now, Steve Witkoff is going over maybe with Jared. I’m not sure about Jared going, but he’s involved in the process, smart guy, and they’re going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe, next week in Moscow,” he said.

Pressed on the Bloomberg report and concerns that Witkoff was too sympathetic to Russia’s maximalist war goals, Trump replied, “No, but that’s a standard thing, you know, because he’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what he’s, that’s what a deal maker does.”

“You got to say, look, they want this. You’ve got to convince him with this. You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation. I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation, and I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take,” Trump added.

Asked whether Witkoff was “too pro-Russia,” Trump did not answer directly. He instead said that a deal would be beneficial for both sides, while appearing to talk up Russia’s military capabilities.

“I think, look, this war could go on for years, and Russia’s got a lot more people, a lot more soldiers,” Trump said. “So I think if Ukraine can make a deal, it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both. Frankly, I think it’s great for both.”

Weekend talks in Geneva, Switzerland, saw American, European and Ukrainian officials meet to discuss the controversial U.S.-backed peace plan proposal put to Kyiv last week, with terms critics say would have constituted a Ukrainian capitulation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week the blueprint “could also form the basis for a final peace settlement,” and suggested it aligned closely with the outcomes of his meeting with Trump in Alaska in August.

On Monday, a Ukrainian official close to the matter told ABC News that the original 28-point draft had been revised down to 19 points after the Geneva talks, with both American and Ukrainian representatives framing the Geneva talks as productive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that the Geneva talks produced a “framework,” adding Kyiv is “ready to move forward together — with the United States of America, with personal engagement of President Trump, and with Europe.”

“I am ready to meet with President Trump,” Zelenskyy continued. “There are sensitive points to discuss,” he said.

After the Geneva meetings, a U.S. delegation held additional talks with Russian and Ukrainian representatives in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. A U.S. official told ABC News on Tuesday, “The Ukrainians have agreed to the peace deal … There are some minor details to be sorted out but they have agreed to a peace deal.”

A source familiar with the discussions confirmed to ABC News that Ukraine agreed to the new 19-point peace plan during the talks in Geneva, not in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump did not elaborate on which issues are still to be agreed with Kyiv. “Standard things,” Trump said when asked. “But people are starting to realize it’s a good deal for both parties if they got to stop the war, they’re losing a lot of people, a lot of soldiers, mostly soldiers.”

Pressed about Ukraine ceding land to Russia, Trump hinted at land swaps and called the overall process “complicated” and said it “doesn’t go that quickly.”

Trump also did not say what concessions Moscow is being asked to make. “They’re making concessions. They’re big concessions. You say stop fighting, and they don’t take any more land again,” the president said.

As to future security guarantees for Ukraine, Trump said the issue is being discussed with European countries. “Europe will be largely involved in that,” he said. “We’re working that out with Europe. Europe really wants to see it end, if possible.”

Moscow is yet to officially comment on the new 19-point plan. But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned on Tuesday that “if the spirit and letter of Anchorage are removed in terms of the key understandings that we have established, then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation.”

In his interview with Zarubin broadcast on Wednesday, Ushakov said the new plan was “passed on to us,” as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. But the Kremlin aide added that the plan “hasn’t been discussed in detail with anyone yet.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, meanwhile, told reporters on Wednesday it is “too early to say” that the warring parties may be nearing a deal, according to Tass.

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(LONDON) — At least four people were killed and three others were injured as a major fire engulfed a residential apartment complex in Hong Kong’s Tai Po district on Wednesday, with photos and video from the scene appearing to show serious damage to several buildings.

“A fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po at 2.51 p.m. today … The fire was upgraded to No. 3 alarm at 3.02 p.m., and to No. 4 alarm at 3.34 p.m.,” according to a statement from the Hong Kong government.

By 6:22 p.m. local time the fire had been upgraded again to a No. 5 alarm, city officials said.

Officials said nine people had been transfered to two local hospitals, including four people who were pronounced dead.

Three people were in critical condition, one was in serious position and another was listed as stable, officials said.

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

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