President Biden arrived back in Poland on Monday evening following a roughly five-hour surprise visit to Kyiv ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war.
Why it matters: While American presidents have visited war zones before, Biden's visit to Ukraine was "historic and unprecedented" the White House said, as there has never been a visit by a president to an active war zone where the U.S. does not have a military presence.
The U.S. will continue to provide aid to Turkey in the wake of this month's deadly earthquakes "for as long as it takes to recover and to rebuild," Secretary of State Antony Blinken vowed in Ankara on Monday.
Senior aides of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have been holding secret talks for almost two months in an effort to de-escalate rising tensions in the occupied West Bank, three sources briefed on the matter told Axios.
Why it matters: The weeks of secret talks, which have not been previously reported, are among the first pieces of evidence of direct high-level engagement between the Palestinian Authority and the new right-wing Israeli government.
North Korea launched at least two short-range ballistic missiles into waters off its east coast on Monday, marking its second test in three days, AP reports.
Why it matters: The missile launches come after the U.S. held joint air exercises with South Korea and Japan in response to Pyongyang's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday.
President Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday — his first visit to Ukraine since Russia's invasion began nearly a year ago.
Driving the news: The visit just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war is a major sign of U.S. support for Ukraine. Biden said in a statement he traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and "reaffirm our unwavering and unflagging commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."
The big picture: The unannounced visit is a major sign of American support for Ukraine and marks the first time Biden has visited the country since the war began.
North Korea's launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile on Saturday was meant to showcase the country's efforts to strengthen its capacity for "fatal nuclear counterattack," Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency said in a statement Sunday.
Driving the news: The agency added that the launch was organized "suddenly" without prior notice and at the direct order North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The U.S.' declaration that it has formally determined that Russia has committed crimes against humanity during the war in Ukraine is an attempt to "demonize Russia," Anatoly Antonov, Russia's ambassador to the United States, told reporters Saturday.
Driving the news: Vice President Kamala Harris made the announcement about the administration's formal determination at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, just days ahead of the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Palestinian Authority agreed to suspend its efforts to push for a UN Security Council vote on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank after U.S. pressure and mediation, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
Why it matters: It's a diplomatic achievement for the Biden administration, which was trying to avoid a situation in which it had to decide whether to use its veto to support Israel, which it has repeatedly done in the past.
