Rubio meets with Zelenskyy ahead of crucial Geneva talks, says Trump wants solution that ‘ends bloodshed’
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Saturday at the Munich Security Conference, saying that President Donald Trump “wants a solution that ends the bloodshed once and for all.”
“Met with Ukrainian President @ZelenskyyUa on Ukraine’s security and deepening defense and economic partnerships,” Rubio wrote in an X post in which he shared a photo of him shaking hands with the Ukrainian leader. “President Trump wants a solution that ends the bloodshed once and for all.”
Earlier Saturday, Zelenskyy revealed he had spoken with Rubio and Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner ahead of talks in Geneva, which he said his government expected to be “truly productive.”
“I had a conversation with envoys of President Trump @stevewitkoff and @JaredKushner, ahead of the trilateral meetings in Geneva,” Zelenskyy wrote on X. “We count on the meetings being truly productive.”
US OFFICIALS TOUT PROGRESS IN TALKS TO REACH ‘LASTING AND DURABLE PEACE’ BETWEEN UKRAINE, RUSSIA
Zelenskyy said they also discussed “some developments following the meetings in Abu Dhabi, which were held at the end of last month and the beginning of this month.
“Not everything can be shared over the phone, and our negotiating team will present Ukraine’s position next week,” the Ukrainian president added.
After the Abu Dhabi talks, Zelenskyy told reporters the U.S. had set a June deadline for Moscow and Kyiv to strike a peace agreement.
“The Americans are proposing the parties end the war by the beginning of this summer and will probably put pressure on the parties precisely according to this schedule,” Zelenskyy said at the time, according to The Associated Press.
Zelenskyy added at the time that if the June deadline is not met, the Trump administration would likely put pressure on Moscow and Kyiv to meet.
On Saturday, he also thanked the U.S. for its “constructive approach” to ending the war.
“We greatly appreciate that America consistently maintains a constructive approach and is ready to assist in protecting lives,” Zelenskyy wrote. “I thank President Trump, his team, and the people of the United States for their support.”
Rubio on Saturday also said he had discussed peace between Ukraine and Russia at the Munich Security Conference with his G7 counterparts.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Met with my @G7 counterparts in Munich to advance @POTUS’s vision of pursuing peace through strength,” Rubio wrote. “We discussed ongoing efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war, promote stability in Venezuela, and address global threats to achieve international peace and prosperity.”
The talks between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are expected to start Tuesday in Geneva.
Global protests call for Iran regime change in major cities worldwide after bloody crackdown
Anti-Iran regime protesters gathered in major cities across the globe Saturday calling for a leadership change in a Global Day of Action Rally.
Over 250,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, Saturday with the Munich Security Conference as a backdrop.
“With the number of participants recorded, this gathering is one of the largest rallies held in Munich in recent years,” the Munich Police reported in a press release. “The peaceful atmosphere is particularly noteworthy, despite the high number of participants in the meeting.”
IRAN REGIME REPORTEDLY ISSUED NATIONWIDE SHOOT-TO-KILL ORDERS AS PROTEST DEATH TOLL SURGES
Crowds reportedly chanted “change, change, regime change” and “democracy for Iran” with green, white and red flags with lion and sun emblems waving in the air with a few “Make Iran Great Again” red hats spotted.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi was among the hundreds of thousands protesting, telling Reuters a possible attack on Iran will either weaken the regime or accelerate its fall.
“It’s a matter of time. We are hoping that this attack will expedite the process, and the people can be finally back in the streets and take it all the way to the ultimate regime’s downfall,” said Pahlavi.
He said he hopes President Trump will have the United States intervene and “have the people’s back.”
UPROAR AFTER IRAN NAMED VICE CHAIR OF UN BODY PROMOTING DEMOCRACY, WOMEN’S RIGHTS
On Friday, President Trump said regime change in Iran would be the “best thing” to happen while speaking to troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
“People are hoping that, at some point, the decision will be made that there’s no use, there’s no point, we’re not going to get anywhere with negotiations,” said Pahlavi. “Intervention is a way to save lives.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was present in Munich for the security conference and echoed a similar sentiment in a sideline interview Friday.
NIKKI HALEY URGES TRUMP TO MAKE IRAN ACTION A ‘LEGACY-DEFINING MOMENT’ BEFORE LEAVING OFFICE
“There’s no negotiating with these people in my view. They’re hell-bent on enacting an agenda based on religion that teaches them to lie, teaches them to destroy in the name of God,” said Graham.
He shared that the regime is the weakest it has been since 1979, adding, “It is a regime with American blood on its hand.” And he called on protesters to “keep protesting.”
The senator also took the stage at the Global Day of Action, speaking to the crowd and holding up a black “Make Iran Great Again” hat.
Large demonstrations were also held in Toronto, Melbourne, Athens, Tokyo, London and Los Angeles.
An estimated 350,000 people marched on the streets of Toronto, the city’s police spokesperson, Laura Brabant, told The Associated Press.
Iranian American activist and Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Sheila Nazarian told Fox News Digital the protests across the globe represent a universal truth.
“When regimes silence their people, the people eventually find their voice. Whether in the streets of Tehran or in diaspora communities around the world,” she said.
Nazarian left Iran when she was 6 years old along with her family.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“As someone who came to this country from Iran, I know firsthand that these protests are not about politics. They’re about basic human dignity, women’s rights and the fundamental freedom to live without fear,” she added.
US military in Syria carries out 10 strikes on more than 30 ISIS targets: photos
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Saturday that it had carried out ten strikes against over 30 ISIS targets in Syria in recent days as part of a joint military effort to “sustain relentless military pressure on remnants from the terrorist network.”
CENTCOM said, from Feb. 3-12, its forces “struck ISIS infrastructure and weapons storage targets with precision munitions delivered by fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and unmanned aircraft.”
Recently, CENTCOM forces conducted five strikes against an ISIS communication site, critical logistics node and weapons storage facilities in Syria between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2.
US MILITARY IN SYRIA CARRIES OUT 5 STRIKES AGAINST ‘MULTIPLE ISIS TARGETS’
“Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement at the time.
“Operating in coordination with coalition and partner forces to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS makes America, the region and the world safer.”
AFTER TRUMP DECLARED ISIS DEFEATED, US FACES NEW TEST AS DETAINEES MOVE AMID SYRIA POWER SHIFT
On Jan. 27, President Trump told reporters he had a “great conversation with the highly respected” president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa.
“All of the things having to do with Syria in that area are working out very, very well,” said President Trump. “So, we are very happy about it.”
The Operation Hawkeye Strike mission was launched in response to an ISIS “ambush” attack that left two U.S. service members and an American interpreter dead Dec. 13, 2025, in Palmyra, Syria.
AFTER TRUMP DECLARED ISIS DEFEATED, US FACES NEW TEST AS DETAINEES MOVE AMID SYRIA POWER SHIFT
“More than 50 ISIS terrorists have been killed or captured and over 100 ISIS infrastructure targets have been struck with hundreds of precision munitions during two months of targeted operations,” CENTCOM said.
On Thursday, CENTCOM announced it had completed its withdrawal of American forces from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, pointing to a broader shift in U.S. posture in the region.
CHAOS IN SYRIA SPARKS FEARS OF ISIS PRISON BREAKS AS US RUSHES DETAINEES TO IRAQ
Operation Inherent Resolve was launched in 2014 to combat ISIS with American troops maintaining a limited presence to support partner forces and prevent ISIS from returning after it was territorially defeated in 2019.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
AOC accuses Israel of genocide in Germany where Holocaust was launched, sparking outrage
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., alleged at the Munich Security Conference on Friday that U.S. aid to the Jewish state enabled a genocide by Israel. AOC’s attack on the Jewish state in Munich unfolded in the birthplace of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi movement that carried out the worst genocide in human history.
AOC’s assault on Israel’s war campaign to defeat the U.S. and EU-designated terrorist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip sparked outrage and intense criticism from academic military and Middle East experts.
During the town hall event in Munich, the Squad member said, “To me, this isn’t just about a presidential election. Personally, I think that the United States has an obligation to uphold its own laws, particularly the Leahy laws. And I think that personally, that the idea of completely unconditional aid, no matter what one does, does not make sense. I think it enabled a genocide in Gaza. And I think that we have thousands of women and children dead that don’t, that was completely avoidable.”
‘DOUBLING DOWN ON STUPID’: NEWSOM, AOC, TRASH TRUMP AT EUROPEAN SUMMIT AS THEY RAISE 2028 PROFILES
She continued, “And, so I believe that enforcement of our own laws through the Leahy laws, which requires conditioning aid in any circumstance, when you see gross human rights violations, is appropriate.”
The Leahy Laws prohibit the Department of Defense and the State Department from funding “foreign security force units when there is credible information that the unit has committed a ‘gross violation of human rights.” Former Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT., introduced the bill in 1997.
Tom Gross, an expert on international affairs, told Fox News digital that “AOC has flown all the way to Munich — infamous as the city in which Hitler staged his Nazi Beer Hall Putsch that marked the beginning of the road to the Holocaust — in order to smear the Jewish people further with a phony genocide allegation.”
Gross added, “Such preposterous allegations of ‘genocide’ form the bedrock of modern antisemitic incitement against Jews in the U.S. and globally. This shocking ignorance and insensitivity by Ocasio-Cortez should rule her out of any potential presidential bid or other high office.”
RASHIDA TLAIB HIT WITH HOUSE CENSURE THREAT, ACCUSED OF ‘CELEBRATING TERRORISM’ IN PRO-PALESTINIAN SPEECH
Military experts and genocide researchers have debunked the allegation that Israel carried out a genocide against Palestinians during its self-defense war against the Hamas terrorist organization that started after Hamas terrorists attacked communities in parts of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023 that saw over 1200 Israeli and foreign nationals killed and 251 brutally kidnapped and taken into Gaza by Hamas and other terrorists.
Danny Orbach, a military historian from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and co-author of “Debunking the Genocide Allegations: A Reexamination of the Israel-Hamas War from October 7 2023, to June 1, 2025,” told Fox News Digital that Ocasio-Cortez accusation that Israel committed genocide is an “accusation that is incorrect both factually and legally. Under the Genocide Convention, genocide requires proof of a special intent to destroy a protected group, in whole or in part, and as a baseline condition, an active effort to maximize civilian destruction.
“The evidence shows the opposite: as demonstrated in our multi-author study Debunking the Genocide Allegations, Israel undertook unprecedented measures to mitigate civilian harm, including establishing humanitarian safe zones that independently verified data show were approximately six times safer than other areas of Gaza.”
Orbach added, “Israel also issued detailed advance warnings before strikes and facilitated the entry of over two million tons of humanitarian aid, often at significant cost to its own military advantage, including the loss of surprise and the sustainment of an enemy during wartime.”
He concluded, “These measures were taken despite Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre, its systematic use of human shields and hospitals for military purposes, and a tunnel network exceeding 1,000 kilometers — an operational challenge without historical precedent. Finally, no credible evidence demonstrates the kind of unambiguous, exclusive genocidal intent toward Palestinians that international law requires and that cannot be reasonably interpreted otherwise.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The conservative commentator Derek Hunter posted on X. “Imagine going to Germany to complain about a fake genocide by Jews…in Munich, of all places. @AOC is about as smart as clogged toilet.”
In Dec. 2024, Germany joined the U.S. in rejecting the allegations that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.