Russia has reportedly freed a second American detained on drug charges, less than a week after releasing teacher Marc Fogel from three years in captivity.

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South Africa has responded to President Donald Trump's criticism of its expropriation legislation and its foreign policy by suggesting that it is prepared to work with Iran and Russia in developing domestic nuclear power plants.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News said he is not ruling out nuclear weapons for Ukraine, and that ultimately it is up to President Donald Trump.

The post Exclusive — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth: Nuclear Weapons for Ukraine Is Up to President Donald Trump appeared first on Breitbart.

Trump wants to deploy a “next-generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks,” adding it “will be made all in the USA.”

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Former National Security Advisor John Bolton said Wednesday on CNN's "The Source" that President Donald Trump "has effectively surrendered" to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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The United States is releasing Russian prisoner Alexander Vinnik as part of the deal to secure Marc Fogel's freedom, a Trump administration official told Fox News on Wednesday.

Fogel, an American teacher who had been detained in Russia since 2021, was freed on Tuesday. A plane carrying him landed in the U.S. late last night. 

Vinnik was arrested in 2017 in Greece at the request of the U.S. on cryptocurrency fraud charges. He was later extradited to the United States where he pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said the Russian prisoner’s name would be revealed when he returns home. 

FREED AMERICAN HOSTAGE MARC FOGEL LANDS IN US AFTER YEARS IN RUSSIAN CAPTIVITY 

"Recently, work has been intensified through the relevant agencies, there have been contacts," Peskov said in a conference call with reporters, according to the Associated Press. "And these contacts have led to the release of Fogel, as well as one of the citizens of the Russian Federation, who is currently being held in custody in the United States. This citizen of the Russian Federation will also be returned to Russia in the coming days." 

The State Department did not immediately respond Wednesday morning to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Fogel, a history teacher from Pennsylvania, was serving a 14-year prison sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana. 

Anne Fogel, his sister, told "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday that she is "so happy to have this massive boulder" lifted off her shoulders with her brother’s release. 

"I am so incredibly grateful to the president," she added. "Just amazing." 

Fogel said her brother's situation has "taken a toll" on her family but they "can’t even believe that he is safe and at home and can get medical attention." 

AMERICAN MARC FOGEL RELEASED FROM RUSSIAN CUSTODY 

After his arrival in the U.S., Fogel met with President Donald Trump at the White House and called him a hero for securing his release. 

"I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all. And President Trump is a hero," Fogel said after meeting Trump. 

"These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes," Fogel continued. "The senators and representatives that passed legislation in my honor – they got me home – they are heroes." 

When asked by reporters on Tuesday whether the U.S. had given up anything in return for Fogel, Trump replied "not much" without offering additional details. 

Fox News’ Pat Ward, Landon Mion and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told allies at NATO headquarters Wednesday that "returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective," as President Donald Trump is working to bring an end to the war. 

Hegseth, speaking to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium, also said "stark strategic realities prevent the United States from being primarily focused on the security of Europe" because the U.S. is focusing on "securing our own borders" and "deterring war with China in the Pacific." 

"President Trump has been clear with the American people -- and with many of your leaders -- that stopping the fighting and reaching an enduring peace is a top priority," Hegseth said about Ukraine, noting that the war is approaching its third anniversary. 

"He intends to end this war by diplomacy and bringing both Russia and Ukraine to the table.  And the U.S. Department of Defense will help achieve this goal," Hegseth continued. "We want a sovereign and prosperous Ukraine. But we must start by recognizing that returning to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders is an unrealistic objective. Chasing this illusionary goal will only prolong the war and cause more suffering." 

JD VANCE, TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT TO MEET WITH ZELENSKYY AS TRUMP TEAM SETS SIGHTS ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR 

In early 2014, Russia first invaded Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula before annexing the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin then launched a larger military conflict with Ukraine in 2022, which remains ongoing. 

"A durable peace for Ukraine must include robust security guarantees to ensure that the war will not begin again," Hegseth said Wednesday. "The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement. Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops."

"If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission and not covered under Article 5. There also must be robust international oversight of the line of contact," he continued. "To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine." 

ZELENSKYY CALLS TRUMP’S TERMS ACCEPTABLE FOR SECURITY PARTNERSHIP 

Trump, during an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on "Special Report," said "tremendous progress" has been made over the last week when it comes to a Ukraine-Russia peace deal. 

"They have tremendously valuable land in terms of rare earth, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things. I want to have our money secured because we're spending hundreds of billions of dollars," Trump said about Ukraine. "And, you know, they may make a deal. They may not make a deal. They may be Russian someday, or they may not be Russian someday."

"I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare earth. And they've essentially agreed to do that. So at least we don't feel stupid. Otherwise, we're stupid," Trump added. "I said to them, we have to, we have to get something. We can't continue to pay this money, you know." 

In an interview this week with The Guardian, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said "There are voices which say that Europe could offer security guarantees without the Americans, and I always say no" and that "Security guarantees without America are not real security guarantees."

Hegseth also said he is in Brussels today to "directly and unambiguously express that stark strategic realities prevent the United States from being primarily focused on the security of Europe."  

"The United States faces consequential threats to our homeland. We must -- and we are -- focusing on securing our own borders," he said. "We also face a peer competitor in China with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific."  

"The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific, recognizing the reality of scarcity, and making the resourcing tradeoffs to ensure deterrence does not fail," Hegseth added. "As the United States shifts its attention to these threats, European allies must lead from the front." 

The mother of Marc Fogel, an American who had been detained in Russia since 2021, is expressing relief and gratitude to President Donald Trump for securing his release Tuesday.

"(Trump) promised me he would get him out, and he kept his promise," Malphine Fogel told "America Reports." "I can't thank him enough." 

Marc Fogel, a history teacher who was working at the Anglo-American School in Moscow, is heading back to U.S. soil after Russia released him following talks with Trump administration officials. Fogel was serving a 14-year sentence after his arrest in August 2021 at a Russian airport for being in possession of drugs, which his family and supporters said were medically prescribed marijuana.

His mother, Malphine, met with Trump before his fateful rally in Butler, Pennsylvania last year, asking the then-presidential nominee to not forget her son’s name. He assured her that he would bring her son home. 

Now, Malphine is celebrating that fulfilled promise. 

RUSSIA SAYS US RELATIONS ‘ON THE BRINK OF A BREAKUP,’ WON'T CONFIRM TRUMP-PUTIN TALK 

"I met with President Trump, and he was just as cordial as he could be," Malphine Fogel recalled of the Butler meeting. "He told me three different times, 'If I get in,' he said, 'I'll get him out' and I really think he's been instrumental." 

Besides wanting to thank Trump "profusely" for his work in bringing her son home, Malphine Fogel also expressed gratitude to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others who worked on the case. 

She described the relief she felt after learning her son would soon be home.  

"It was a total surprise when he called, and he said he was in the Moscow airport," the joyous mom. "So, that meant that (they) had taken him out of the prison to Moscow. ... The last week or so, for some crazy reason, I had a better feeling about things, but I hadn't heard from him in a week, so I thought that was odd and when he called this morning, it was just a total shock." 

Fogel said her son will be "sore from all the hugs" he receives once he lands in the United States. 

"It's just an unbelievable situation right now," she said. "We're just waiting and waiting to get him into the U.S. I think the first thing he'll do is stoop down and kiss the ground." 

Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.

Vice President JD Vance will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday after years of railing against the U.S.’ continued funding of Ukraine in the war against Russia. 

The vice president will meet with Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, a Vance spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital, just ahead of U.S. envoy Keith Kellogg’s trip to Ukraine on Feb. 20. 

Trump announced on Tuesday he would also send Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to meet with Zelenskyy in Ukraine. 

"This War MUST and WILL END SOON — Too much Death and Destruction. The U.S. has spent BILLIONS of Dollars Globally, with little to show," Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

‘LET’S DO A DEAL’: ZELENSKYY CALLS TRUMP’S TERMS ACCEPTABLE FOR SECURITY PARTNERSHIP

Bessent is expected to talk about sanctions, rare Earth minerals and where U.S. funding has gone with the Ukrainian leader. 

Trump tasked Kellogg with hashing out a peace deal with Ukraine and Russia to bring the three-year-long war to an end. Last week Kellogg met with Ukrainian delegations at the State Department.  

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are also attending the conference where the Russia-Ukraine war is sure to be a top focal point. 

RUSSIA SAYS US RELATIONS ‘ON THE BRINK OF A BREAKUP,’ WON'T CONFIRM TRUMP-PUTIN TALK

The U.S. does not have a concrete plan yet to end the war, contrary to public reporting, and is listening to concerns and proposals from allies, a European official familiar with peace talks told Fox News Digital. 

"Munich is too soon to unveil a Ukraine peace plan," the official said. "The negotiations between the principals – Trump, Zelenskyy, Putin – will be tough. All options to end the killing are on the table – the course of action will be Trump’s call. There’s still plenty of room to ramp up sanctions." 

Trump said last week he might meet with Zelenksyy himself in the days ahead. 

"I will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy next week and I will probably be talking to President Putin," Trump said. 

In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier Monday night, Trump emphasized the need for Ukraine to give the U.S. access to its rare Earth minerals in exchange for its defense. He also suggested Ukraine "may be Russian" someday. 

"They may make a deal, they may not make a deal. They may be Russian some day, or they may not be Russian some day," Trump mused. 

"We are going to have all this money in there, and I say I want it back. And I told them that I want the equivalent, like $500 billion worth of rare Earth," Trump said. "And they have essentially agreed to do that, so at least we don’t feel stupid."

TRUMP'S 'RARE' PRICE FOR US MILITARY AID TO UKRAINE CALLED 'FAIR' BY ZELENSKYY

Both Zelenskyy and Putin have remained opposed to direct talks with each other. Putin is demanding that Ukraine withdraw from regions in the south and east that Kyiv still has control over. Zelenskyy has scoffed at any territorial concessions to Moscow, though he has admitted Ukraine may have to rely on diplomatic means to take back some of its territory. 

Vance was long at the forefront of opposition to Ukraine aid in the Senate. 

"I gotta be honest with you, I don't really care what happens to Ukraine one way or another," he said in February 2022 as Russia invaded. 

"Vladimir Putin is not Adolf Hitler. It doesn't mean he's a good guy, but he has significantly less capability than the German leader did," Vance said in an April 2024 speech on the Senate floor.

A Munich Security report, released just days before world leaders gather in Germany, said that Trump’s election has turned the U.S. into a "risk to be hedged against."

"Without global leadership of the kind provided by the United States for the past several decades, it is hard to imagine the international community providing global public goods like freedom of navigation or tackling even some of the many grave threats confronting humanity," the report warned. "The US may be abdicating its historic role as Europe’s security guarantor – with significant consequences for Ukraine."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's regime suggested relations between Washington, D.C., and Moscow are on "the brink" of collapse this week.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov made the announcement during a Monday press conference. Ryabkov reiterated Putin's stance that there would be no peace in Ukraine unless the country dropped its ambitions to join NATO and ceded Russian-occupied regions.

"We simply imperatively need to get ... the new U.S. administration to understand and acknowledge that without resolving the problems that are the root causes of the crisis in Ukraine, it will not be possible to reach an agreement," Ryabkov said.

While President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he has spoken to Putin, a spokesman for the Russian leader declined to confirm the call this week.

ZELENSKYY WANTS NUKES OR NATO; TRUMP SPECIAL ENVOY KELLOGG SAYS 'SLIM AND NONE' CHANCE

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday that he expects to have "many more conversations. We have to get that war ended."

"I hate to see all these young people being killed. The soldiers are being killed by the hundreds of thousands," he added.

TRUMP'S FOURTH WEEK IN OFFICE COULD INCLUDE MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY, IRONING OUT STEEL DEAL

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing to meet with Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference later this week after confirming on Friday he is ready to "do a deal" with President Donald Trump.

According to an interview with Reuters, Zelenskyy said he was ready to supply the U.S. with rare-earth minerals in exchange for Washington’s continued backing of its war effort.

"If we are talking about a deal, then let's do a deal, we are only for it," Zelenskyy said. 

The Ukrainian president has made clear he is also open to engaging in peace talks with Russia to end the three-year-long war, though possible terms for securing a peace deal remain varied and unknown. 

Though Zelenskyy has said he is looking for "guarantees" when it comes to future security assurances for the war-torn country.

These security assurances will likely need to be more than a formal handshake paired with a signed document, as Russia has twice violated its last agreement with Ukraine, known as the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

Zelenskyy apparently first floated the idea of trading Ukraine’s mineral resources – roughly 20% of which are located in now Russian-controlled territory, including half of the rare-earth variety – under his "victory plan" first presented to Western allies last fall, reported Reuters. 

The flow of electricity between the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and Russia was officially severed Saturday morning after officials switched off the Soviet-era grid's transmission lines and prepared to join the rest of Europe on Sunday.

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Hundreds of sabotaged cars in Germany may have actually been attacked by Russian agents in a plot to discredit Green politics, reports claim.

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JOHANNESBURG - President Donald Trump’s announcement that he plans to cut off all foreign aid to South Africa because he claimed it is "confiscating" land "and treating certain classes of people very badly" in "a massive human rights violation" has provoked strong reaction from the South African presidency and commentators. 

"The South African government has not confiscated any land", South African President Cyril Ramaphosa responded in a statement, adding "We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest. We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters". 

Last week, Ramaphosa signed a bill into law permitting national, provincial and local authorities to expropriate land – to take it -"for a public purpose or in the public interest," and, the government stated "subject to just and equitable compensation being paid". However, sources say no expropriation has happened yet.

SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL LAND SEIZURE BILL, ERODING PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS 

On his Truth Social Media platform, President Trump hit out at South Africa, posting "It is a bad situation that the Radical Left Media doesn’t want to so much as mention. A massive Human Rights VIOLATION, at a minimum, is happening for all to see. The United States won’t stand for it, we will act. Also, I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!" Trump later repeated his comments while speaking to the press on Sunday night at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland.

Pieter du Toit, assistant editor of South African media group News 24, posted on X "The U.S. President, clearly advised by Elon Musk, really has no idea what he’s talking about." 

South African-born Musk is trying to expand his Starlink internet service into South Africa, but President Ramaphosa has reportedly told him he must sell off 30% of his company here to local broad-based so-called Black empowerment interests.

In response to the South African president’s statement, Musk fired back on X, asking Ramaphosa, "Why do you have openly racist ownership laws?"

INCOMING TRUMP ADMIN, CONGRESS SHOWDOWN LOOMS WITH SOUTH AFRICA OVER SUPPORT FOR RUSSIA, US FOES

Analyst Frans Cronje told Fox News Digital that President Trump may be referring to the ongoing killing of farmers in South Africa when he posted that certain classes of people are being treated very badly.

"President Trump's recent comments on land seizures in South Africa cannot be divorced from his past comments on violent attacks directed at the country's farmers. Whilst these comments have often been dismissed as false, the latest South African data suggests that the country's commercial farmers are six times more likely to be violently attacked in their homes than is the case for the general population." 

Cronje said there may be agendas in play behind President Trump’s statements.

"Such seizures may also apply to the property of American investors in South Africa. Cronje is an adviser at the U.S. Yorktown Foundation for Freedom. He added "with regards to land specifically, the legislation could enable the mass seizure of land which has been an oft expressed objective of senior political figures in the country. To date, however, there have been no mass seizures, in part because there was no legislative means through which to achieve such seizures." 

Now, with the bill having been signed into law, Cronje says that has changed. 

"The comments around property rights in South Africa must be read against broader and bipartisan US concern at developments in South Africa. In 2024 the US/South Africa Bilateral Relations Review Act was introduced (in Congress) amid concerns that the South African government's relationships with Iran, Russia, and China threatened US national security interests."

Cronje, who also advises corporations and government departments on economic and political trajectory, continued. "Last week, South Africa’s government, together with that of Cuba, Belize and four other countries supported the formation of the ‘Hague Group’ in an apparent move to shore up the standing of the International Criminal Court, amid the passage through Congress of the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act that prescribes sanctions against any country that is seen to use the court to threaten US national security interests. South Africa has in recent years been prominent in employing both that court and the International Court of Justice in the Hague to press for action against Israel and Israeli leaders."

South Africa’s Ramaphosa played down the importance of U.S. aid, stating "with the exception of PEPFAR (The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) Aid, which constitutes 17% of South Africa’s HIVAids program, there is no other significant funding that is provided by the United States in South Africa." President George W. Bush introduced PEPFAR in 2003.

Analyst Justice Malala, speaking on South African news channel, ENCA, said that, under the Trump administration, "the United States is going to upend South Africa in many ways."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday that excluding his country from talks between the U.S. and Russia about the war in Ukraine would be "very dangerous" and asked for more discussions between Kyiv and Washington to develop a plan for a ceasefire.

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