Witkoff and Kushner scheduled to meet Putin in Moscow
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said he and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Thursday to discuss a potential peace deal that would end the country’s nearly four-year war with Ukraine.
″[There’s been] lots of progress in the last six to eight weeks,” Witkoff told CNBC, referring to a possible peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
When asked about whether he believed Putin would come to a deal to end the war, Witkoff told CNBC that he is optimistic and has a “sense that everybody wants a peace there, that it’s time.”
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A White House official confirmed to Fox News that Kushner and Witkoff will meet with Putin on Thursday in Russia.
A spokesperson with the Kremlin also confirmed the meeting to Russian state media outlet TASS.
“We expect such a meeting tomorrow; it’s on the president’s schedule,” the spokesperson reportedly said. “It will take place tomorrow.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy will reportedly meet with President Donald Trump on Thursday in Davos, according to Axios.
“I think Russia wants to make a deal, I think Ukraine wants to make a deal. I think I can say we are relatively close,” Trump told the crowd at Davos.
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This will not be Witkoff and Kushner’s first meeting with Putin in Moscow. The two held a five-hour meeting with Putin in December, though they were not able to yield any major breakthroughs.
Representatives of the U.S. and Russia held talks in Davos, Switzerland, where world leaders are gathered for the World Economic Forum, according to Reuters, which added that Washington’s envoys also met with Ukrainian and European leaders. Envoys for Putin and Trump said the talks were “very positive” and “constructive.”
“Dialogue is constructive and more and more people understand the fairness of Russian position,” Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said after the talks in Davos, Reuters reported.
Last month, Witkoff and Kushner spoke with Zelenskyy, who expressed optimism after the talks.
“Today we had a very good conversation with President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and [Jared Kushner]. I thank them for the constructive approach, the intensive work, and the kind words and Christmas greetings to the Ukrainian people,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “We are truly working 24/7 to bring closer the end of this brutal Russian war against Ukraine and to ensure that all documents and steps are realistic, effective, and reliable.”
Feb. 24 will mark four years since Putin’s invasion of Ukraine sparked a war that has drawn international attention. Trump has blamed both Putin and Zelenskyy for prolonging the war, saying at various times that one of the two leaders was seemingly not ready to reach a deal.
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While the issue of territory has long been a major sticking point, with Zelenskyy repeatedly opposing any land concessions, Witkoff told CNBC that “land deals” remain on the table.
The Trump administration has worked to broker a deal between Russia and Ukraine for over a year. Trump has met with both Zelenskyy and Putin, though those meetings did not appear to make major shifts to the peace process.
Graham says Russia sanctions bill ‘never going back on the shelf’ after Trump backs push
The bipartisan push for sanctions against Russia has, for several months, ebbed and flowed on waves of speculation about whether legislation would actually get a vote.
A signal or suggestion of support from President Donald Trump would often push the bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., closer to fruition, only to be swept back into churning, murky waters with no clear path on when or if the package would make its way to the president’s desk.
Now, Trump has given Graham the “greenlight” to move ahead with his long-simmering sanctions package as peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continue to simmer in the background.
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Graham told Fox News Digital that this time around, he believed the bill would actually get a shot.
“It’s never going back on the shelf because President Trump believes he needs it,” Graham said. “I think he needs it.”
But it has been over a week since Graham announced the president backed the package, and so far, it has yet to make it to the floor in the upper chamber. Lawmakers are also out this week and are set to return to Washington, D.C., next week with the primary objective of preventing a partial government shutdown.
Still, the bipartisan duo has been tweaking the legislation over the last several months, but the core objective would be to slap eye-popping tariffs onto countries buying energy products from Moscow.
The intent is to cripple Russia’s war machine by imposing duties on oil, gas, uranium and other exports, largely purchased by China and India, which account for nearly three-quarters of Moscow’s energy business.
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The package has been on the back burner as the Trump administration works to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The latest iteration of that agreement generally included provisions that would have required Ukraine to give up territory to Russia, a non-starter for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump told Reuters during an interview published last week that it was Zelenskyy holding up negotiations toward a peace deal and contended that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “ready to make a deal,” while Ukraine was “less ready to make a deal.”
While the package hasn’t dislodged itself onto the floor in the upper chamber, a White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Trump supports the legislation.
But one issue that threatens to trip up the process once more is where the package actually starts in Congress.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., doubled down on his position that any Russia sanctions package, despite being labored on in the Senate for several months, should start in the House, given the budgetary impact it could have.
That would require buy-in from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to either replicate Graham and Blumenthal’s proposal, or craft their own. Then it would need to hit the House floor, which could take longer than lawmakers in the upper chamber are willing to wait.
On whether Johnson said he would put it on the floor, Thune said, “He hasn’t.”
GRAHAM SAYS TRUMP WANTS TO ‘MOVE THE BILL’ ON RUSSIA SANCTIONS, BUT PROCEDURAL HURDLES AWAIT
“But my guess is that if it’s something that, you know, the White House — it’s important to them, it’s a priority, particularly dealing with Russia and Ukraine, I would assume that they would try and do that,” he said.
That’s where there’s a disconnect.
Johnson supports Russia sanctions but has said on multiple occasions that he believes a sanctions bill should originate in the Senate.
He has argued that starting the legislation in the House would drastically slow down its progress, given the numerous committees any package would have to pass through before ever hitting the floor for a vote.
Graham believed that the “sense of urgency now is the greatest it’s been” and noted that he has told Thune that he wants the legislation to start in the Senate, where it has over 80 co-sponsors.
“This is where the idea came from, get a big bipartisan vote and try to get President Trump to use these tools coming from the Congress so we can end this bloodbath,” Graham said.
“Now, in a normal world it would, but I just think the momentum is in the Senate,” he continued. “We can take a shell — It’s not that hard. I mean, I’ve been working my a– [off] on this thing for over a year, or whatever how long it’s been.”
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Blumenthal told Fox News Digital that he had been speaking with his colleagues in the lower chamber and added that there’s “no reason” that the package should get bogged down or tripped up in the House.
Blumenthal and Graham view their sanctions push as providing Trump with another weapon to force Putin to the negotiating table.
He argued that “security is the linchpin here, but forcing Putin to come to the table also involves economic pressure, and ultimately, we want peace, and that will involve both economic and military security.”
“I feel very, very encouraged, because I think that a lot is coming together,” Blumenthal said.
Russia plots major strike on Europe’s largest nuclear plant power lines: source
Russia is preparing to target Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant’s power lines in a move that could unfold within days, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Ukrainian officials had said Moscow’s plan was focused on high-voltage transmission infrastructure rather than direct strikes on nuclear reactors, but a source has since claimed the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant lines (ZNPP) are Moscow’s focus.
In a statement released Jan. 17, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry (HUR) had warned that Russia was weighing attacks on substations critical to nuclear power generation.
“In order to force Ukraine to sign unacceptable surrender demands to end the war, the aggressor state Russia is considering the option of attacking strategic facilities of our state’s energy system — we are talking about electricity transmission substations that ensure the operation of Ukrainian nuclear power plants.”
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“The threat is at ZNPP,” a source told Fox News Digital. “There are talks of a massive attack either tonight or in the coming nights,” the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that “the talks within the Ukrainian government are about ZNPP and the lines, and these talks have not been for the first time.”
According to The Associated Press, Russia also targeted energy infrastructure in Odesa region overnight Sunday, according to Ukraine’s Emergency Service.
ZNPP is located in southern Ukraine and consists of six VVER-1000 pressurized water reactors, and has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, according to reports.
Although the reactors are no longer producing electricity, the plant needs external power to maintain cooling and safety systems.
The IAEA has repeatedly warned that disruptions to off-site power supplies and lines pose a serious nuclear safety risk.
A Jan. 16 localized ceasefire was agreed between Russia and Ukraine for repairs under IAEA coordination on one backup power line at ZNPP that had already been damaged.
In a statement, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Jan. 16: “The IAEA continues to work closely with both sides to ensure nuclear safety at the ZNPP and to prevent a nuclear accident during the conflict. This temporary ceasefire, the fourth we have negotiated, demonstrates the indispensable role that we continue to play.”
“A deterioration of Ukraine’s power grid from persistent military activity has direct implications on the nuclear safety of its nuclear facilities,” Grossi said.
“Russia is said to be going to do this strike, maybe even tonight,” the source said of the ZNPP operation.
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“Information also from the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukrainian Security Service, or internally, is that the Russian army told the Ukrainian army that if they don’t stop shelling their tankers in the sea or shelling their oil refineries, as well as their electric stations like power stations,” the source said, “then they will fully destroy Kyiv energy facilities aswell.”
“The parliament knows this. But we keep shelling,” the source added.
“This is a very difficult situation,” the source continued, saying Ukrainian leadership, the Ukrainian parliament and “obviously the office of the president” are fully aware that “if we keep shelling Russian tankers and oil refineries, then they will destroy everything that we have.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also recently urged NATO allies to urgently deliver additional air-defense missiles, warning that some systems are running low on ammunition, according to reports.
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“To actually preserve the energy in the country when it is minus 20 outside and people are literally suffering hugely,” the source added. “People don’t have electricity, don’t have warmth and some don’t even have water.”
“And this is a very controversial situation,” the source said, “particularly for the Ukrainian people sitting inside, hungry and freezing, and overall being in this disastrous humanitarian situation.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to President Zelenskyy’s office for comment.
Ukrainian drone strikes leave hundreds of thousands without power across Russian-controlled area
Ukrainian drone strikes targeted energy infrastructure across Russian-controlled areas in southern Ukraine in an attack on Sunday, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power.
Ukrainian officials say the attack is an effort to “weaponize winter,” much as Russian forces targeted Ukraine’s power grid. Russia’s attacks continued in kind overnight, killing two people, Ukraine says.
More than 200,000 households in the Russia-held part of Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region had no electricity on Sunday, according to the Kremlin-installed local governor.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Telegram post that repairing the country’s energy system remains challenging, “but we are doing everything we can to restore everything as quickly as possible.”
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He said that two people were killed in overnight attacks across the country that struck Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, Khmelnytskyi and Odesa.
In total, more than 1,300 attack drones, 1,050 guided aerial bombs and 29 missiles of various types were used by Russia to strike Ukraine this week, Ukraine says.
Meanwhile, discussions continue between the U.S., Ukraine and Russia in an effort to secure a peace deal. Zelenskyy has consistently argued Russia is not committed to the peace process.
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“If Russia deliberately delays the diplomatic process, the world’s response should be decisive: more help for Ukraine and more pressure on the aggressor,” Zelenskyy said Sunday.
President Donald Trump argued last week, however, that it was Ukraine, not Russia, holding up a possible peace agreement.
“I think he’s ready to make a deal,” Trump told Reuters of Putin. “I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal.”
When he was asked why U.S. intervention had not brought about an end to the war, Trump responded: “Zelenskyy,” Reuters reported.
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Trump refused to go into detail on why he believed Zelenskyy was holding back, saying that he believes the Ukrainian president was “having a hard time getting there,” referring to a peace agreement. However, later in the interview, Trump said he would be willing to meet with Zelenskyy at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Piers Morgan clashes with Roger Waters, accuses the rocker of propping up dictators while attacking Trump
Piers Morgan slammed Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters for “trying to prop up terrorists and powerful dictatorships” while Waters criticized President Donald Trump as “demented” and “evil.”
Waters appeared on Friday’s episode of “Piers Morgan Uncensored,” where he lambasted Trump as a “real scumbag,” and, according to Morgan, came to the defense of leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and ex-Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
During the interview, Waters argued that Putin “really has tried not to hurt civilians” during his ongoing invasion of Ukraine and referred to Maduro as the “duly democratically elected leader” of Venezuela despite his election being widely labeled fraudulent by international observers and critics within his own country.
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“I support [Maduro] because he’s the duly democratically elected leader of a country that represents all the principles of Bolivarian and Chávez revolutionary process,” Waters asserted. “So, so he represents the people of Venezuela [who] live a completely different way of life than in the United States, where I live, or in England, where you live.”
Waters said of Trump, “He’s demented. He’s obviously very evil.”
The rock star added that the Trump administration “made up the daft story” of Maduro being a drug trafficker to justify invading Venezuela, calling the claim “errant nonsense.”
Later on in the interview, Waters said the West should “be careful what they wish for” in regard to ousting Putin, warning that whoever replaces him may be far worse than he is.
“Then you will see something completely different, because Putin has conducted the special military operation with his gloves off. He really has tried not to hurt civilians and so on and so forth,” he argued.
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After Morgan expressed his puzzlement at what Waters said about Putin, the Pink Floyd star told the host, “See, you know nothing, Piers.”
“Vladimir Putin illegally invaded a sovereign democratic country and started bombing the s— out of it. Why? Why would you, on any level, try to excuse or defend it?” Morgan asked.
Contrasting Waters’ remarks about the United States with his comments about countries like Russia and Venezuela, Morgan asked the musician why he doesn’t leave America for one of those countries.
“You rail a lot about America and about Donald Trump, but you live in America, right? I mean, there’s inconsistency there. Why live somewhere if you hate it so much or hate the leaders so much? Why don’t you act to the point of principle, get off your backside and go and live in Iran or Venezuela? Live under one of these regimes that you think aren’t too bad,” Morgan railed.
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“Piers, do stop, do stop. Maybe I will, but to answer your question about me being successful in rock and roll and blah, yes I am, very and blah blah blah and all of that. Why do I do all of this? Because I believe — I hope you’re listening — I believe in right and wrong. I have a moral compass. … I have moral compass which I allow to guide my actions,” Waters shot back.
After telling Morgan that he appeared on the show to be a “voice for the voiceless,” Morgan questioned who the “voiceless” people were that Waters was claiming to be speaking out for.
“Although it suits you to say, ‘I only stand up for the voiceless,’ actually, it sounds to me like you like to stand up for terror groups and call them resistance. You like to stand up for dictators and say they’re just massively misunderstood guys,” he told Waters.
“So, when I look at your worldview, I don’t see a guy — with all due respect, Roger — who’s standing up for the voiceless and powerless. I see somebody trying to prop up terrorists and powerful dictatorships and regimes.”
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Former Ukrainian PM accused of bribing politicians with US dollars to weaken Zelenskyy’s government
A former Ukrainian prime minister has been accused of plotting to bribe politicians with stacks of U.S. dollars in a scheme aimed at weakening President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s government, a former political advisor has claimed.
Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (UNACB) first confirmed Jan. 13 it uncovered an alleged effort by the leader of an unnamed parliamentary faction to offer illegal benefits to lawmakers, according to Reuters.
Video released by UNACB showed stacks of U.S. dollars seized during overnight searches earlier this week, including footage of a woman in an office sitting behind a desk. Authorities did not publicly identify the suspect.
According to the Kyiv Post, published recordings allegedly show that three lawmakers were offered $10,000 per month in exchange for their votes, with the case linked by some to Yulia Tymoshenko, a veteran politician, former prime minister and current leader of the Batkivshchyna party.
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Former Zelenskyy press secretary Iuliia Mendel told Fox News Digital the cash allegedly belonged to Tymoshenko and was intended to pay lawmakers to vote against the president’s legislative proposals.
“In Ukraine, such transactions are usually discussed in U.S. dollars, as you can see from the law enforcement reports,” Mendel, a former political advisor said.
“The U.S. dollars shown in that video were allegedly hers that she was supposed to use to pay people to vote against Zelenskyy’s legislative proposals. She said it was her personal savings,” Mendel added.
Mendel said the sums shown in the footage appeared relatively modest, “about $40,000,” she said, noting other corruption cases in Ukraine have involved “much larger sums, sometimes millions of dollars.”
The raid on Tymoshenko’s party office reportedly lasted nearly all night.
“Officers arrived in the evening and remained in her office for almost the entire night,” Mendel said.
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Investigators allege several lawmakers — reportedly including members of Zelenskyy’s own faction — approached Tymoshenko, leading to discussions about regular monthly payments in exchange for coordinated voting.
Despite reportedly being served with a notice of suspicion, Tymoshenko also addressed parliament this week, calling the case “political persecution against me.”
“The so-called ‘urgent investigative actions’ that lasted all night ended at the Batkivshchyna party office. These ‘urgent investigative actions’ have nothing to do with law and order,” Tymoshenko also wrote on Facebook.
According to Mendel, the goal was not to attack Zelenskyy personally but to fracture the ruling mono-majority in parliament.
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“Ukraine’s system is a parliamentary-presidential republic, meaning the legislature plays a central role in governance. When the president controls a mono-majority, legislation can pass quickly,” Mendel said.
“Breaking that majority would significantly weaken Zelenskyy’s legislative authority.”
Tymoshenko, a central figure in the 2004 Orange Revolution and Ukraine’s first female prime minister, has faced legal trouble before.
In 2011, she was jailed over a gas deal with Russia in a case widely viewed as politically motivated before being released in 2014. She is expected to appear before Ukraine’s High Anti-Corruption Court.
“Corruption is one of the key reasons we are losing this war. It severely damages Ukraine’s image on the international stage,” Mendel warned.
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“By 2024, corruption had reached such a scale that Ukrainians chose an extremely dangerous and painful path — exposing it publicly in order to fight it,” Mendel added.
“Now, cases like this bring the issue back into the spotlight. Corruption will destroy Ukraine.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to Zelenskyy’s office for comment.
Zelenskyy holding up Russia-Ukraine peace process, Trump says
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Ukraine, not Russia, is holding up a possible peace deal to end the nearly four-year-long war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
The president made the remarks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office on Wednesday. The outlet reported that Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to end the war, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was noncommittal.
“I think he’s ready to make a deal,” Trump told Reuters, referencing Putin. “I think Ukraine is less ready to make a deal.”
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When he was asked why U.S. intervention had not brought about an end to the war, Trump responded: “Zelenskyy,” Reuters reported.
Trump refused to go into detail on why he believed Zelenskyy was holding back, saying that he believes the Ukrainian president was “having a hard time getting there,” referring to a peace agreement. However, later in the interview, Trump said he would be willing to meet with Zelenskyy at the upcoming World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The president told Reuters that, contrary to reports, he was not aware of a possible trip to Moscow involving his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and White House special envoy Steve Witkoff.
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Trump’s comments stand in stark contrast to those of some European leaders, such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who said on Jan. 11 that the onus was on Russia “to show that they are interested in peace.” Von der Leyen told Reuters that the EU was working on plans to ensure Ukraine would see economic prosperity after the war ends.
Tensions between Trump and Zelenskyy have brewed for some time with the two having a heated exchange in front of reporters and other VIPs in the Oval Office in late February 2025. Trump pushed back when Zelenskyy suggested that the U.S. would feel Russia’s wrath, despite being an ocean away.
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Zelenskyy seemed to express his openness to working with the Americans to end the war despite his sometimes tumultuous relationship with Trump.
“Work with America on security guarantees, on economic agreements, and on the political document, needs to be swift. On our end, we are being as productive as possible. We also expect energy from the American side in their work,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.
France condemns Iran protest crackdown, weighs satellite internet aid amid blackout
EXCLUSIVE: France’s ambassador to the United Nations said Paris has strongly condemned Iran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests, as the French government weighs possible satellite communications support to help Iranians circumvent a near-total internet blackout.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Jerome Bonnafont described what he said was an escalation in repression by Iranian authorities and outlined France’s response, including sanctions and diplomatic pressure.
“We have condemned very, very strongly, at the highest level, the repression against the popular movement in Iran,” Bonnafont said. “This time it seems to me that the repression is even more violent than it used to be.”
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His remarks come as France’s foreign minister confirmed Paris is studying the possible transfer of satellite terminals operated by Eutelsat to Iran, following a sweeping internet shutdown imposed by Iranian authorities during the unrest, and as the G7 issued a joint statement condemning Iran’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests.
The foreign ministers of France, the United States and other G7 nations warned they were prepared to impose additional restrictive measures if Iran continues to violate international human rights obligations.
Earlier Tuesday, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, urged France to support designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization at the EU level during a call with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
Asked whether France would back such a move, Bonnafont did not address the IRGC designation directly, instead emphasizing existing sanctions and international pressure.
“There are sanctions against the police of the regime. And there are sanctions also against several individuals, more than 200 people in Iran for these reasons,” he said.
“What we have to do is to condemn and to address the right message to the people in Iran and to the regime, so that the regime stops with this massive repression.”
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NATO and Europe’s defense responsibility
Bonnafont also addressed repeated calls from President Donald Trump for European allies to shoulder more of NATO’s defense burden, arguing that Europe is already moving in that direction.
“There is a will by the Europeans to take the full responsibility of the protection of its own continent,” he said.
He stressed that the approach reflects a long-standing French position. “It is a very old theme for the French governments that there has to be within NATO an autonomous, self-capable entity for European defense,” Bonnafont said, referring to France’s long-standing advocacy for European strategic autonomy, a position repeatedly emphasized by President Emmanuel Macron.
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Ukraine as a test case
Bonnafont pointed to Europe’s response to Russia’s war in Ukraine as evidence that European governments are prepared to act collectively when core security interests are threatened.
“Ukraine has been attacked by Russia four years ago. Now it has been invaded by Russia, and it has decided to resist and to fight for its independence, its territorial integrity, its sovereignty,” he said.
He described European backing for Kyiv as both unified and extensive. “And Europeans are going in support of Ukraine. And what we are doing in terms of financial support is massive. What we are doing in terms of political support is unanimous,” Bonnafont said.
According to the ambassador, France and the United Kingdom are working to organize what he described as a “coalition of volunteers” to provide Ukraine with long-term security guarantees once negotiations with Russia become possible.
“When Ukraine enters into discussion with Russia, and when Russia accepts to enter into discussion with Ukraine, and when the elements of a peace, sustainable peace, are put on paper, Ukraine can have security guarantees,” he said.
Bonnafont also pointed to France’s domestic budget decisions as evidence that Europe is backing rhetoric with resources. “There is presently the negotiation of the next budget for France for 2026,” he said. “It includes a strong increase in our defense budget, and it is the only budget that is going to be increased in our whole budget this year.”
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UN reform and budget cuts
Beyond NATO and Europe’s defense posture, Bonnafont said France is pushing for institutional reform at the United Nations, where member states recently approved significant budget reductions. “The institution has to reform. It always has to reform,” he said.
“We decided by consensus with the American government and all the others a budget which presents a reduction of 20% of manpower and a reduction of 15% of the funds allocated to the U.N.,” Bonnafont added. “Give me another example of a public structure that is capable of such an effort in such a short time,” he said.
Despite the cuts, he defended the U.N.’s relevance. “Yes, we are serious about reform. Yes, we want it to be streamlined,” Bonnafont said. “But yes, we need the U.N. for the world.”
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UNRWA dispute and U.S. funding cuts
Asked about the U.S. decision to halt funding for several U.N. agencies, including UNRWA, Bonnafont defended the agencies, saying, “Organizations are more efficient when they are universal,” adding that participation remains a sovereign decision for the United States.