Category: Deal

Zelensky Rejects Trump’s Mineral Deal, Warns of Imminent Russia-NATO War

KYIV, UKRAINE - SEPTEMBER 09: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen during his joint press conference with Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Latvian President Egils Levits on September 9, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. As war wages in eastern Ukraine, Belarus' military drills near the border with Poland, EU nations are increasingly concerned over safety at their borders as well as the energy sources this winter. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is seen during his joint press conference with Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Latvian President Egils Levits on September 9, 2022 in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Photo by Alexey Furman/Getty Images)

OAN Staff Blake Wolf
2:22 PM – Sunday, February 16, 2025

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky revealed on Sunday that he refused to accept the United States’ proposal which would have provided the U.S. with Ukraine’s rare earth minerals in exchange for military aid.

The proposal, which was pitched on Friday at the Munich Security Conference by Vice President JD Vance, would give the United States access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals “as compensation” for support previously provided by the Biden administration, as well as for future military aid.

Ukraine is particularly rich in graphite, lithium, titanium, beryllium and uranium, which are critical materials for defense and tech industries.

Zelensky stated that he “didn’t let the ministers sign a relevant because in my view it is not ready to protect us, our interest.”

Zelensky has repeatedly stated that any deal handing over valuable minerals to the United States would need to be accompanied by security guarantees to deter any future Russian aggression.

“There are voices which say that Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no,” Zelensky stated on Tuesday. “Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees.”

Meanwhile, White House National Security Council Spokesman Brian Hughes stated that “President Zelensky is being short-sighted about the excellent opportunity the Trump Administration has presented to Ukraine.”

The Ukrainian president also added that Kyiv believes that Russian President Vladamir Putin is gearing up to “wage war against NATO.”

“We know for sure that he is preparing that from the territory of Belarus this year. It can happen in summer, maybe in the beginning, maybe in the end of summer. I do not know when he will prepare it. But it will happen,” Zelensky stated.

“There are risks that this could be Poland and Lithuania because we believe – we believe that Putin will wage war against NATO,” he added.

“That is why I told you that, ‘What is he waiting for?’ For a weakening of NATO by, for instance, the policy of the United States of America, for example, that the United States of America will think to take its military from Europe. Yes, Putin thinks that. But I will believe that the United States will not take its forces, its contingents from Europe because that will severely weaken NATO and the European continent. Putin definitely counts on that. And the fact that we receive information that he will think of the invasion against former Soviet republics. And forgive me, but today these are NATO countries.”

Ukraine is now in the process of crafting a “counter proposal” to be delivered to the United States in “the near future,” according to the Associated Press.

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El Salvador Agrees To Accept Deported Migrants Under New U.S. Deal, Including Criminals

Inmates look on as they remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, in Tecoluca, El Salvador on January 27, 2025. The CECOT, the largest prison in Latin America and emblem of the war against gangs of the government of President Nayib Bukele, celebrates two years since it was inaugurated on February 1. (Photo by Marvin RECINOS / AFP) (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)
Inmates look on as they remain in a cell at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) mega-prison, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, in Tecoluca, El Salvador on January 27, 2025. The CECOT, the largest prison in Latin America and emblem of the war against gangs of the government of President Nayib Bukele, celebrates two years since it was inaugurated on February 1. (Photo by MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff James Meyers
10:34 AM – Tuesday, February 4, 2025

El Salvador has agreed to take in violent U.S. criminals who are currently in jails and prisons. They have also agreed to accept deportees of any nationality.

Monday’s announcement came after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele during his visit to the nation. 

Rubio said the Salvadoran president had “agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.”

The former Florida Senator said that, in addition to taking deportees, El Salvador had “also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentences in the United States, even though they’re U.S. citizens or legal residents.”

He made the announcement when he was visiting El Salvador. He went to the country to help push its government to help meet Trump administration demands for cracking down on immigration. 

“President Bukele agreed to take back all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members who are in the United States unlawfully.”

Additionally, Bukele promised to accept and incarcerate violent illegal immigrants, including members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang, but also criminal illegal migrants from any country," State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement. 

“And in an extraordinary gesture never before extended by any country, President Bukele offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens and legal residents,” Bruce added. 

Bruce called it a “tremendously successful meeting that will make both countries stronger, safer, and more prosperous.”

However, it is unclear whether the U.S. government will take up the offer as there are questions around the legality of such moves. Any effort by the Trump administration to deport incarcerated U.S. nationals to another country would face significant legal pushback.

El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, commonly referred to as CECOT, is the country’s largest and newest prison, with a maximum capacity of 40,000 inmates.

“The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable,” he added.

Additionally, the State Department’s travel advisory for El Salvador also warns that those imprisoned in the country face “harsh” prison conditions and zero access to due process. 

“Overcrowding constitutes a serious threat to prisoners’ health and lives,” the advisory said. “In many facilities, provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, temperature control, and lighting are inadequate or nonexistent.”

Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order in January specifically naming MS-13 and Tren de Aragua, citing their “campaigns of violence and terror in the United States and internationally” as threats to “the stability of the international order in the Western Hemisphere.”

The order also included a recommendation that the State Department start the process of designating Tren de Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. 

Last Friday, the U.S. special envoy for Latin America Mauricio Claver-Carone alluded to an agreement between the U.S. and El Salvador, saying Tren de Aragua members “will want to go back to Venezuela rather than having to share a prison with Salvadorean gangs like MS-13. That’s part of what we want to discuss and how President Bukele can help us.”

This comes after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said they would push ahead with a massive round of border security measures after crisis talks with President Donald Trump on Monday. 

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3 More Hostages Released In Cease-Fire Deal, Including U.S.-Israeli Dual Citizen

TOPSHOT - Palestinian militant group Hamas fighters escort Israeli-French hostage Ofer Kalderon before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP) (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)
Hamas fighters escort Israeli-French hostage Ofer Kalderon before handing him over to a Red Cross team in Khan Yunis on February 1, 2025, as part of fourth hostage-prisoner exchange. (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN Staff Sophia Flores
11:51 AM – Saturday, February 1, 2025

The terrorist group Hamas has released three more hostages as part of its current cease-fire deal with Israel. The hostages that returned home during this release included a U.S. – Israeli dual citizen from North Carolina, a father whose children were captured and released in a 2023 ceasefire-hostage deal, and the father of the youngest hostage.

On Saturday, Yarden Bibas and Ofer Kalderon were released from Hamas’s hands. Two hours later, U.S.-Israeli citizen Keith Siegel was handed over by Hamas.

“Finally, after 484 long, terrifying days and nights, full of immense worry for our father, we can breathe again,” Siegel’s family said in a statement. “Thank you, President Trump, for bringing our father back to us. There are now 79 hostages who are also waiting to be reunited with their loved ones. Our hope rests with you.”

Siegel, who is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7th, 2023 alongside his wife Aviva. She was released as part of a hostage deal that occurred in November 2023.

His release makes him the first American hostage to be released in the new 42-day truce.

Kalderon, a French-Israeli national, was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his daughter and son. His children, Sahar and Erez, were released in the November 2023 hostage swap.

French President Emmanuel Macron took to X to share his relief that Kalderon was home.

“Ofer Kalderon is free! We share the immense relief and joy of his loved ones after 483 days of unimaginable hell,” Macron wrote. “Our thoughts are with Ohad Yahalom, still in the hands of Hamas, and with his family. France is doing everything it can to secure his release without delay.”

Bibas was taken from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz along with his wife Shiri and the couple’s young children, Ariel, 5, and Kfir. Kfir was nine months old at the time he was kidnapped.

The fate of his beloved family is unknown. The terrorist group stated that Shiri and their two red-headed children died. However, the terrorist group is known for creating mental warfare by lying about hostage deaths.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has made it known that they have “grave concerns about their well-being.”

Under the current cease-fire agreement, Hamas was to free all female hostages first, followed by men over the age of 50 and those considered ill. There are 33 total hostages set to be released in the first phase of the fragile ceasefire deal. Not all of those released will be alive.

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Alleged 9/11 mastermind agrees to plead guilty | LiveNOW from FOX~U.S. Defense Austin Secretary Withdraws From Plea Deal

The Department of Defense said Wednesday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of al-Qaida’s Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, agreed to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. Mohammed and two accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, are expected to enter pleas at the military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as soon as next week. Authorities captured Mohammed in 2003.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis: Biden administration is 'not serious about national security'

"Saturday Report" host Rita Cosby spoke with Rep. Nicole Malliotakis about the 9/11 plea deal that was originally pursued and expressed her support for it being revoked.

U.S. Defense Austin Secretary Withdraws From Plea Deal With 9/11 Mastermind

Wikipedia • The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. That morning, 19 terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners scheduled to travel from the East Coast to California.

The US has scrapped the plea deal with 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his two accomplices Walid bin Attash & Mustafa al-Hawsawi. According to reports, the trio had agreed to plead guilty in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin withdrew from the plea deal in a memorandum to Susan Escallier, who is the convening authority for military commissions. The decision comes after outrage over the plea deal, criticised by victims' families and Congress members. The case against the 9/11 terror attack accused has been dragging on for years. The terror attack on the World Trade Centre on September 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000.

9/11 Attack Survivor on ESCAPING the WORLD TRADE CENTER | Giovanni Renteria

Sep 12, 2023

On the morning of September 11, 2001 Morgan Stanley employee Giovanni Renteria was attending a training seminar on the 64th floor in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. During a short break, Renteria headed to the ground floor and as he was exiting the building noticed a large amount of debris falling from the North Tower. The remnants of American Airlines Flight 11. Rushing back inside the building, Renteria and his fellow co-workers stood in the lobby of the South Tower trying to game plan what to do next. It was then that the South Tower was hit by United Airlines Flight 175 and September 11, 2001 turned into a harrowing day of survival for Giovanni Renteria.

Israel Will Invade Rafah ‘With or Without a Deal’ | CBN NewsWatch – April 30, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promises to Israel will go into the last Hamas stronghold in Rafah “with or without a deal” as talks continue with Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release agreement, and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls Israel’s offer “extraordinarily, extraordinarily generous;” why Rafah is so important for Hamas operations, and why Israel wants to take it out; and the concerns over the International Criminal Court possibly indicting Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders for war crimes; Chris Mitchell talks about what it would mean if Hamas survives in Gaza, concerns about charges against Israeli leaders, who’s behind the pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel protests on college campuses, and more; Israelis traveled to the Western Wall in Jerusalem during Passover for a special priestly blessing, and the focus was on the hostages and their families; four law enforcement officers killed in shootout in the Charlotte, North Carolina area; and how the church is providing support for parents whose children who unexpectedly decide to switch genders.

 

Hamas Issues Counter-Proposal Hostage And Ceasefire Deal, Netanyahu Says Deal Is ‘Absurd’

Hamas Issues Counter-Proposal Hostage and Ceasefire Deal, Netanyahu Says Deal Is 'Absurd'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv on January 7, 2024. (Photo by RONEN ZVULUN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by RONEN ZVULUN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:00 PM – Friday, March 15, 2024

SEE: https://www.oann.com/newsroom/hamas-issues-counter-proposal-hostage-and-ceasefire-deal-netanyahu-says-deal-is-absurd/; republished below in full, unedited, for informational, educational, & research purposes:

In continuing negotiations over a temporary truce and hostage agreement in its conflict with Israel, Hamas has presented a formal counter-proposal, raising hopes for the first time in weeks that more Israelis kidnapped on October 7th may be freed and that hostilities may end.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that the terror group was making “ridiculous demands” during a meeting with the families of roughly 20 captives on Thursday night, raising doubts about whether the negotiations would move forward.

“For the first time, we can envision embracing them again,” said the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group created to lobby for the captives. “Please grant us this right.”

Following weeks of contentious negotiations during which both Israeli and Hamas leaders voiced pessimism about finding common ground, a counter-proposal was made.

The conditions that Hamas has set forth call for the release of hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails, including 100 who have been found guilty of murder or multiple murders, in exchange for the release of innocent hostages, which include women, children, the elderly, and the sick.

According to the proposal, Israel would have to agree to a long-term ceasefire, evacuate Gaza, and free all of the Palestinian security prisoners it is holding in order to free the remaining male hostages, whom Hamas views as “freedom fighters,” regardless of whether they were taken while serving in the armed forces.

At a meeting of his war cabinet on Friday, Netanyahu rejected the parameters, calling them “still absurd.” In addition, he declared that the Israeli army will keep getting ready for an impending invasion of Rafah, a city in southern Gaza that has become a haven for about 1.5 million Palestinians. However, according to Israeli officials, many of whom are Hamas leaders and members.

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