What The Hell America!

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a high-stakes phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the collapse of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and Germany clearing a major hurdle to amend its constitution.

‘Very Good and Productive’

A high-stakes phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday produced modest progress toward reducing the fighting between Russia and Ukraine but failed to secure the full cease-fire that Trump had been seeking.

Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a high-stakes phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, the collapse of the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, and Germany clearing a major hurdle to amend its constitution.

‘Very Good and Productive’

A high-stakes phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday produced modest progress toward reducing the fighting between Russia and Ukraine but failed to secure the full cease-fire that Trump had been seeking.

According to a Kremlin readout of the call, Putin agreed to pause strikes on Ukraine’s “energy and infrastructure” for 30 days and “immediately gave the Russian military the corresponding order.” Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly accused Moscow of “weaponizing winter” by targeting critical energy facilities in large-scale missile and drone attacks, and even after the call, the Ukrainian Air Force reported several Russian drones, ballistic missiles, and guided bombs in the air.

Washington and Moscow also agreed to immediately begin “technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace,” according to the U.S. readout. The Kremlin’s readout added that the two parties agreed to organize hockey matches between Russian and U.S. players.

On Truth Social, Trump described the call, which lasted at least 90 minutes, as a “very good and productive one.” Yet he did not mention that Putin had rejected the full cease-fire that the United States was pushing for.

Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed a limited air and sea truce, but the White House convinced Kyiv to support a U.S.-proposed full cease-fire instead. That was what Trump was aiming to secure on Tuesday, only for Putin to ultimately agree to something closer to where Zelensky originally stood.

Even more concerning for the prospects for longer-term peace, the Kremlin laid out several terms for resolving the conflict that Ukraine and its European allies are likely to reject, including the “complete cessation of foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kyiv.” Putin has previously argued that Ukraine cannot be allowed to rearm its military during any future cease-fire. But many of Ukraine’s European partners believe that protecting Kyiv militarily is vital not just for the country’s future but for the continent’s safety.

“European security starts in Ukraine,” British Defense Secretary John Healey said on Monday, ahead of talks with military chiefs in London later this week. More than 30 countries have already pledged to join a “coalition of the willing” that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have spearheaded to enforce a peace deal in Ukraine, a spokesperson for Downing Street confirmed on Monday. This would include a “significant number” of countries that would provide troops on the ground alongside other logistics and background support. Russia has rejected such a proposal.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials outlined Kyiv’s own red lines on Tuesday, prior to the Trump-Putin phone call. “Ukraine will not discuss neutral status or a reduction in numbers of our armed forces,” Andriy Yermak, one of Zelensky’s advisors, wrote on Telegram. “We will never recognize any temporarily occupied territory as Russian.”

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What We’re Following

Shattered cease-fire. Israel launched massive airstrikes across Gaza early Tuesday, killing more than 400 Palestinians and injuring hundreds of others, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The surprise bombardment, held during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and marking the single deadliest day in Gaza since November 2023, shattered the region’s fragile cease-fire and reignited the potential of all-out war. “From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israeli officials said Netanyahu ordered the strikes after Hamas refused to alter the agreed-upon terms of the cease-fire; Israel wanted an extension of phase one of the deal and the immediate release of all hostages instead of moving on to phase two, which would have included a permanent truce and the removal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

A senior Hamas official warned on Tuesday that the decision to renew war amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining Israeli captives, of whom officials believe less than half are alive. Arab states were also quick to denounce the attacks. “This constitutes a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said, adding that the strikes were “aimed at reintroducing tension to the region and undermining efforts to achieve de-escalation and restore stability.”

But the White House blamed Hamas. “Hamas could have released hostages to extend the cease-fire but instead chose refusal and war,” U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said. The Trump administration said it had been consulted over Israel’s latest moves and supported military action.

Opening Berlin’s wallet. German lawmakers passed a massive spending package in the Bundestag on Tuesday that would also amend the country’s constitution to relax its strict debt limits. The plan would exempt all defense spending above 1 percent of GDP (including military aid to Ukraine) from Berlin’s constitutionally enshrined debt brake. This would allow up to $1 trillion in defense and infrastructure investments over the next decade, with lawmakers approving a $546 billion infrastructure fund, of which more than $100 billion is earmarked for climate-related projects.

The vote faced stiff criticism from the far right and far left, but the package’s passage demonstrated growing support in Germany to boost defense spending in the face of Russian security threats. “The circumstances are determined above all by Putin’s war of aggression against Europe,” Germany’s presumed incoming chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said. “It is a war against Europe, not only a war against Ukraine’s territorial integrity.”

The parliament’s second chamber, the Bundesrat, will vote on the package on Friday. A two-thirds majority is needed for its approval. If the Bundesrat votes against it, then ongoing coalition talks could collapse. “The forming of this new government is to some extent built on this new debt package,” German constitutional law expert Christoph Gusy said.

Extortion crisis. Peruvian President Dina Boluarte declared a 30-day state of emergency in the capital of Lima on Monday, following the killing of popular singer Paul Flores. Hitmen targeted the 39-year-old, who was the frontman of the cumbia band Armonía 10, on Sunday while he was leaving a concert with his bandmates. According to the group’s representatives, a criminal gang had attempted to extort money from the musicians.

The attack on Flores was the latest in a string of violent assaults in Peru tied to extortion efforts. Police reported more than 450 murders between Jan. 1 and March 16, with 1,909 extortion reports filed in January alone. Among those targeted included a journalist reporting on Lima’s extortion crisis, who was shot dead in January, and two individuals who were injured in a bomb attack on a prosecutor’s office that was investigating racketeering.

“In the fight against organized crime, all Peruvians must stand united, overcoming all our differences of any kind,” Peruvian Prime Minister Gustavo Adrianzén posted on X. Opposition lawmakers have requested a no-confidence vote against Interior Minister Juan José Santiváñez, arguing that he does not have a plan to tackle rising violence; the vote is expected to be discussed later this week.

Odds and Ends

After 95 days lost at sea, a Peruvian fisherman has finally found his way home. Máximo Napa, 61, set off from the coastal Peruvian town of Marcona on Dec. 7, but rough weather pushed him off course. For the next three months, he survived by drinking rainwater and eating insects, birds, and a turtle. “I said I didn’t want to die for my mother,” Napa said. “I had a granddaughter who is a few months old; I held on to her. Every day, I thought of my mother.” An Ecuadorian vessel spotted Napa on Tuesday, and he has since been released from the hospital.