President Vladimir Putin will not travel to Istanbul to attend Thursday’s direct talks with Ukraine, according to adirectivepublished by the Kremlin late Wednesday.
Instead, presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led previous rounds of failed negotiations with Ukraine in early 2022, was named head of the Russian delegation. He will be joined by Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin and Igor Kostyukov, the head of Russia’s military intelligence agency (GRU).
The order also names a group of expert advisers, including senior officials from the Foreign and Defense Ministries and the presidential administration.
Moscow had previously hesitated to confirm delegates for the negotiations in Istanbul, which Putin unilaterally announced during a surprise conference in the early hours of Sunday as a counteroffer to Western-backed calls for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky challenged the Russian leader to meet with him in person during the talks, arguing that his attendance, or lack thereof, would show whether Moscow was ready to negotiate in good faith.
The Kremlin directive published Wednesday did not list Putin among the officials expected to take part in the negotiations, and top spokesman Dmitry Peskov had refused to say whether the president would travel to Turkey.
Russian officials earlier told The Moscow Times that Putin did not plan on meeting with Zelensky at this current stage in talks, saying that the Kremlin leader does not see Zelensky as his equal and will only agree to meet him in the event of his “public capitulation.”
An unnamed Ukrainian official told Reuters late Wednesday that Zelensky was on his way to Ankara, where he earlier said he plans to meet with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Zelensky has said that he would only meet with Putin in Turkey, refusing to sit down with lower-level Russian officials.
After the Kremlin published its official list of delegates for the Istanbul talks, a White House official told Reuters that U.S. President Donald Trump, who is currently traveling in the Middle East, would also skip the talks. Trump said earlier thathe would consider attending the negotiations if he thought “it would be helpful.”
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubioconfirmedthat they will travel to Turkey on Friday for Russia-Ukraine talks, but it was not immediately clear what role they intend to play in the discussions.
Thursday’s negotiations in Istanbul, if they go through, would mark the first direct meeting between Russia and Ukraine since early 2022, when peace talks collapsed amid Russian demands that Ukraine abandon its bid to join NATO and drastically reduce the size of its military.
Ukraine, in its turn, refused to recognize Russia’s control over the eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions, as well as the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Kyiv also dismissed demands to pay for the reconstruction of war-torn areas on Russian terms.
After staunchly defending his bright idea to extend free health care to illegal aliens as "not on my docket," California's leftist Gov. Gavin Newsom has gone into sudden reversal.
🚨 LA Times: Governor Newsom calls for walking back free healthcare for illegal aliens in California as costs for coverage have exceeded billions more than what was initially projected & the state faces likely challenging economic times ahead.https://t.co/iQKzI8KWah
UPDATE: Newsom still needs to close more than half of a $45 billion budget deficit created by his excessive spending. So far he has refused to roll back free health care for illegal immigrants, which he passed in 2022 at a cost of over $3 billion/year. https://t.co/rccrtd8grB
He was so adamant, he called for schools to be cut, anything but halt free health care to fresh-off-the-boat illegals, which to normal people would have seemed like common sense. The state is facing a $78 billion budget hole and health care for illegals amounts to at least $10 billion of it.
This is his fiscal picture, taking multiple bailouts from his own state's rainy day funds.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, only days after receiving a $3.44 billion loan, requested an additional $2.8 billion from the state to fund Medi-Cal, the state’s health care program that also covers illegal immigrants, his office has confirmed. pic.twitter.com/aL3VLJr3WI
Earlier that year, he called health care for illegals "a fundamental right," never mind the schoolkids:
California taxpayers are now responsible for the full cost of full Medi-Cal benefits for every low-income illegal immigrant who chooses to live in California. No federal matching funds. No limits on coverage. Newsom: "It's a fundamental right." Column:https://t.co/hIkoejCPTX
But after all that resistance, both last year and just a few days ago, he suddenly, he switched course, turned on a dime. Suddenly, he is all in for ending new enrollments of illegals and charging existing illegals a concessionary $100 a month for their health care, still far less than what other citizens pay, beginning in 2027 when he is well out of office.
Now it comes to light what probably has been going on.
The cuts come as the Trump administration is using its federal powers to pressure Democratic-led states to eliminate benefits for undocumented immigrants. As she targeted a California cash aid program, Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary, said Monday, “If you are an illegal immigrant, you should leave now. The gravy train is over.”
According to Homeland Security's press release:
LOS ANGELES - Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Los Angeles Field Office issued a Title 8 subpoena to the State of California’s Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI). This program provides benefits to aliens who are ineligible for Social Security benefits because of their immigration status.
The subpoena requests all records from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services – who administers the state program – to determine if ineligible illegal aliens received Supplemental Security Income (SSI) from the Social Security Administration, between January 2021 to present.
The Times sees some kind of connection, but doesn't want to admit the obvious: That Newsom's sudden quest for fiscal discipline might just be a bid to dissuade Homeland Security from investigating just how he has been using federal funding for illegals, which is illegal.
The Federalist points out that he probably is:
Red States Are Paying For California’s Illegal Aliens’ Health Care
— Trump2024_no_matter_what (@TexasTrump2024) March 24, 2025
Seems the Trump administration, by looking into their finances, has suddenly made Newsom sing soprano about fiscal discipline, accounting for every penny. Prior to that, he didn't care, because he had Joe Biden to lay the bills on. But under President Trump, the gravy train's over. This is as much a victory for Trump as it is his peace agreements in the Middle East and his shutdown of Biden's open border. It's called winning, forcing a recalcitrant Democrat to stop taking taxpayer cash to pay illegals, padding his congressional seats with their presence and getting actual votes to ensure his permanent power. Trump should take a bow for this, because Newsom has been forced to face reality.
As for Newsom, this sums it up well:
Behold this snake shedding his old skin for new skin. Never forget he remains a snake & will always be a snake.
UNH shares are plunging after hours (down 6% and back below $300 for the first time since September 2020) following a report from The Wall Street Journal that, according to people familiar with the matter, the DOJ is investigating UnitedHealth Group for possible criminal Medicare fraud related to its Medicare Advantage business.
While the exact nature of the potential criminal allegations against UnitedHealth is unclear, the people said the federal investigation is focusing on the company’s Medicare Advantage business practices.
The Justice Department’s criminal healthcare fraud unit focuses on crimes such as kickbacks that trigger higher Medicare and Medicare payments.
UnitedHealth’s latest annual securities filing says the company “has been involved or is currently involved in various governmental investigations, audits and reviews,” and flags involved agencies including the Justice Department.
It doesn’t specifically mention the criminal, civil and antitrust probes the Journal has reported.
The probe adds to a list of government inquiries into the company, including investigations of potential antitrust violations and a civil investigation of its Medicare billing practices, including at its doctors offices.
All of this comes as the Trump administration and Congress look to cut federal health spending, a key source of UnitedHealth’s success.
Update(1920ET): Trump's Gulf tour which so far has emphasized deal-making and 'no more chaos' in the Middle East, looks to be resonating with Tehran, whose leadership is closely following from just across the Persian Gulf.
In a major breaking report, NBC says that "Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with certain conditions with President Donald Trump in exchange for lifting economic sanctions, a top advisor to Iran’s supreme leader told NBC News on Wednesday."
This is a surprising and huge development given Iran has long said it can no longer trust the Trump administration, given it was Trump who first pulled the US out of Obama's JCPOA nuclear deal in April 2018.
NBC cites top Iranian official Ali Shamkhani, importantly who serves as military and nuclear advisor to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in the following:
He said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly-enriched Uranium which can be weaponized, agree to only enrich Uranium to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, in exchange for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions on Iran.
Asked if Iran would agree to sign an agreement today if those conditions were met, Shamkhani said, “Yes.”
"It’s still possible. If the Americans act as they say, for sure we can have better relations," Shamkhani said. The top official added, "it can lead to a better situation in the near future."
Again, this is a monumental concession offered by such a high-ranking official deeply involved in nuclear negotiations. The Islamic Republic has consistently cast the enrichment issue as a matter of national sovereignty, but has maintained all along that it does not seek nuclear weapons. Indeed, fatwas going back decades issued by the Ayatallahs have called the nuclear bomb 'unIslamic'.
Trump has already announced the immediate lifting of sanctions on Syria, whose population has suffered through many years of hellish proxy war and a US-led siege and starvation sanctions policy. Is Iran next?Is Trump in the mood for more quick deal-making and major declarations? He's on a roll after all. The White House has certainly been busy presenting that the president is stacking up the wins in the Middle East.
Trump while aboard Air Force One and en route to Qatar had earlier called on Iran "to make the right decision" about its nuclear program "because something's going to happen one way or the other."
"So we'll either do it friendly or we'll do it very unfriendly," Trump warned. "And that won't be pleasant." Tehran seems ready for a major new deal. But it also might have Gaddafi's fate in the back of its mind (who famously gave up his WMD program... and we know what happened years down the line).
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Update(1305ET): President Trump has taken US-Qatar relations to 'another level' by signing a series of deals which boost defense and trade ties. Arms and jets continue to be a focus of Qatar talks, especially Trump's signing a $200 billion deal for an unprecedented order of a whopping 160 American-produced commercial jets.
"So it’s over $200 billion but 160 in terms of the Jets, that’s fantastic," Trump said of the deal involving Qatar Airways reaching an agreement with Boeing and GE Aerospace to acquire Boeing 787 Dreamliner and 777X aircraft powered by GE Aerospace engines. Boeing’s stock rose 1.7% Wednesday immediately after the headlines hit.
Of course defense and arms continue to be a big theme, coming off Trump's Saudi leg of the trip. "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also signed agreements regarding defense, including a statement of intent on defense cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States," reports CNN. "Hegseth also signed offer and acceptance letters for MQ 9B aircrafts and FS-LIDS. Trump signed a joint declaration of cooperation between the State of Qatar and the United States of America." As we said before, this remains the bread and butter of historic US-Gulf relations.
Among the deals include Qatar acquiring "counter-drone" capabilities from US defense company Raytheon, valued at $1billion, as well as MQ-9B drones from General Atomics, an agreement valued at $2 billion.
We should note that there seems to be some exaggerated numbers being casually tossed about amid the array of headlines coming out of Doha, given especially Qatar's GDP is just over $200 billion... and yet the T-word keeps being used, interestingly enough:
In a statement, the White House has said the agreements signed today between Trump and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will “generate an economic exchange worth at least $1.2 trillion”.
The statement pointed to $243.5 in economic deals, which includes Qatar Airways buying Boeing planes, weapons acquisitions, and deals related to natural gas and quantum technologies.
It also said the US and Qatar had signed a statement of intent outlining over $38bn in potential investments including support for burden-sharing at Al Udeid Air Base, as well as future defense capabilities related to air defense and maritime security.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard has also sounded a tone of skepticism amid the avalanche of breathless "trillion dollar" headlines from the Gulf tour:
At crude near $60 a barrel Saudi Arabia faces fiscal trouble and belt-tightening austerity. At $50 or lower it faces a slow-motion crisis and ultimately an existential threat to its economic model. That fate is no longer a remote tail-risk.
Donald Trump cares little for such hard economic constraints as he visits Saudi Arabia. The petrostates of the Gulf represent a vast pot of money in his pre-modern mind.
Saudi Arabia’s GDP is barely more than $1 trillion, smaller than the economy of the Netherlands. Saudi per capita income is on a par with Portugal. Trump will have to make do with blockbuster headlines and hope that nobody audits the details.
The International Monetary Fund estimates that Saudi Arabia’s “fiscal break-even cost” is $96 a barrel. That is the Brent price required to fund the kingdom’s cradle-to-grave welfare system and to keep the lid on political dissent.
Meanwhile, also of note is that on Wednesday Qatar’s central bank governor, Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al Thani, met with billionaire Elon Musk on the sidelines of Trump’s visit.
"We've always liked each other," said Trump of Qatar's head of state.
And for injecting a little geopolitical realism on Qatar as a regional hub of US dirty wars...
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As a last major event while still on the ground in Saudi Arabia, and before embarking for Qatar, President Donald Trump met with Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa. This signifies a monumental, historic shift in the entire regional order. We are witnessing the final blood soaked after-effects of the culmination of what was laid out in Seymour Hersh's The Redirection, a policy which began all the way back in the Bush administration.
Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, got his start early in the Syria war as an emissary of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and later became founder of Syrian al-Qaeda, called Jabhat al-Nusra. The terror group went through several name changes, and is now the ruling Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the wake of Bashar al-Assad's December ouster. The CIA had helped the group take over Idlib in 2015.
Trump had yesterday in a speech before the US-Saudi Investment Forum described that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had asked him to remove the long in place sanctions against Syria. Trump expressed hope that the country could become stable again under its new rulers. "The sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important — really an important function — nevertheless, at the time. But now it’s their time to shine," he said. "So I say, 'Good luck, Syria.' Show us something very special.'" As for 'special'...
Indeed, Jolani/Sharaa, went from head of AQ-linked HTS in Idlib province, which is ruled by Sharia law, to standing in Riyadh alongside the United States president and Saudi crown prince. He actually still has not been removed from the US terrorism list, though the ten million dollar bounty which had been on his head was taken off months ago.
Trump described the terrorism elephant in the room by telling reporters aboard Air Force One just after the meeting that Sharaa was a "young, attractive guy — tough guy" with a "strong past" and that he now has an opportunity to stabilize Syria.
"He's got a real shot at pulling it together," Trump added. Trump had reportedly urged Sharaa to make peace with Israel and join the Abraham Accords. Washington has also been pressing Damascus to protect and respect religious minorities after recent mass killings of Alawites, Druze, and Christians - especially along the coast, in the south, and in some Damascus suburbs.
The conservative publication National Review has it right in pointing out the following:
Trump’s meeting with Ahmed al-Sharaa is even more extraordinary than an American president meeting with some repugnant branch of the Assad family. Until late December, the U.S. government was willing to pay $10 million for information about al-Sharaa’s location, because he was on the “specially designated global terrorist” list.
The irony is that the Sharaa meeting happened on the sidelines of the summit of the United States and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members in Riyadh. It was the GCC which early in the Syria proxy war had a big role in funding the anti-Assad jihadist insurgency, which included ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Qatar especially was a big financier of the Islamists in Syria who beheaded civilians, massacred Christians, and took women as sex slaves. Qatar even hosted "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) training camps, in coordination with the CIA and Western and Gulf intelligence services. FSA commandoes would then often, fresh of this training, take their weapons into Syria and fight right alongside ISIS. We have previously documented this many times.
As for highlights from the readout from the Trump-Sharaa meeting:
Trump told al-Sharaa that he had "a tremendous opportunity to do something historic in his country," the readout said. He urged the Syrian leader to sign on to the Abraham Accords, a framework for Arab states to recognize Israeli sovereignty that the U.S. mediated during Trump's first term.
He also advised al-Sharaa to tell foreign terrorists to leave Syria, deport Palestinian terrorists, help the U.S. prevent the resurgence of the Islamic State terrorist group and assume responsibility for ISIS detention centers in Syria's northeast.
Al-Sharaa affirmed his commitment to Syria's 1974 disengagement with Israel and invited American companies to invest in Syrian oil and gas, the readout said.
On Wednesday Trump landed in Qatar, where as Al Jazeera explains "Regional peace, investments, energy and security cooperation on agenda as US President Donald Trump holds talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in the Qatari capital Doha during the second leg of his Gulf visit."
An American president has not visited Qatar in more than 20 years. But certainly the two sides became closer in the context of the covert push to overthrow Assad, and to wage proxy war against the 'pro-Iran axis' in the region. Qatar is also home to major regional US military and naval facilities, and is of course an oil and gas hub far beyond its tiny geographic size.
As for another theme which Trump is continued to expected pushing, he said Wednesday: "This is good for Israel" - after reporters asked whether the Netanyahu government is being sidelined in his Gulf trip. "Having a relationship like I have with these countries … I think it’s very good for Israel."
And as for the ongoing Gaza crisis, not much has been said publicly, but it is likely high on the agenda behind closed doors. After all, the White House wants to "be able to say he hit a home run in all three kingdoms – that he was able to build relationships that are going to transcend his presidency. He wants to overwhelm the US press with a success list." Trump is holding talks with the Emir of Qatar.
TD Cowen's Ritu Baral has given her Buy rating due to a combination of factors related to Sangamo Biosciences’ financial and strategic positioning. The company has recently secured a $23 million equity raise, which, along with other financial maneuvers, positions them with a pro forma cash balance of approximately $58 million. This financial runway is expected to support operations until the end of the third quarter of 2025, providing a stable foundation for ongoing and future projects.
Additionally, Sangamo Biosciences has made significant progress in their regulatory pathway for the ‘920 gene therapy for Fabry disease. The alignment with the FDA on an accelerated filing process, based on promising early trial data, reduces the need for an expensive and time-consuming confirmatory trial. This strategic advantage could expedite the approval process, enhancing the company’s potential for future revenue growth. These factors contribute to the positive outlook and justify the Buy rating.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testified before Congress on Wednesday for the first time since taking the role of U.S. health secretary, facing questions over the firing of thousands of health agency employees and a fast-growing measles outbreak.
Kennedy is testifying before the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee on his department's proposed budget for the 2026 fiscal year, and will do so later on Wednesday before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Since he was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services in February, Kennedy has slashed jobs at the nation's top food and drugs regulator, public health agency and biomedical research institute, part of the Trump administration's campaign to shrink the federal workforce.
Kennedy says his top priorities as health secretary include identifying the environmental contributors to autism and tackling rising rates of chronic disease.
Kennedy, who for years has sown doubt over the safety and efficacy of vaccines, has also drawn condemnation from health officials for what they say is a weak endorsement of measles shots during an outbreak that has infected more than 1,000, mostly unvaccinated, people and killed three.
"Measles, a disease eliminated in the United States just decades ago, has now claimed the lives of three Americans, including two children who died needlessly, and over 1,000 are confirmed to have contracted the disease," said Representative Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the Appropriations Committee.
"All while you peddle unfounded and dangerous vaccine skepticism, spread lies and misinformation about people living with autism," she added.
Kennedy's confirmation partially hinged on the vote of HELP Committee Republican Chair Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor from Louisiana who had expressed wariness about Kennedy's history of anti-vaccine views before clearing the path for his appointment.
Cassidy said at the time he ultimately supported the nomination because Kennedy assured him he would protect vaccine access and promised cooperation with his committee.
Cassidy had called on Kennedy to appear before the committee in early April to explain plans to restructure HHS and lay off 10,000 workers.
The hearing on Wednesday is billed as a session on Kennedy's health-related spending plans under President Donald Trump's budget proposal. The plans include an $18 billion cut to National Institutes of Health funding and $3.6 billion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"People instinctively fear change, even when it's from worse to better. But without a clearly defined plan or objective, people will assume the worst," Cassidy will tell Kennedy at the hearing, according to prepared remarks shared by his office.
"Much of the conversation around HHS' agenda has been set by anonymous sources in the media and individuals with a bias against the president," Cassidy will say. "Americans need direct reassurance from the administration, from you Mr. Secretary, that its reforms will make their lives easier, not harder."
Democrats and other critics have portrayed the cuts as a gutting of the country's public health infrastructure. Kennedy told the Appropriations Committee they would save taxpayer dollars and make the department more efficient.
"It could save taxpayers an estimated $1.8 billion per year through a reduction in workforce. Our reductions have focused on aligning HHS staffing levels to reflect the size of HHS prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw around a 15% increase in the number of employees," Kennedy said in his opening statement.
