Nov 13, 2026, 01:30 PM UTC

Trilateral discussions between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States concluded in Abu Dhabi without reaching a peace agreement. Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky affirmed Moscow's unyielding position, stating that "every inch of Russian land will be recovered, one way or another," while questioning European media portrayals of the conflict.

The talks addressed potential ceasefire terms, territorial claims, and security guarantees. During the meeting, Russian envoys also introduced proposals for bilateral non-aggression pacts with select NATO member states.

Simultaneously, military operations continued across Ukraine. Overnight Russian air strikes targeted critical energy grid infrastructure, causing extensive power outages affecting hundreds of thousands of civilians in the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions as winter approaches.

Sources: Adevărul, HotNews, Moldova1, TV8, Ziarul de Gardă.

Efforts to resolve a major global Microsoft 365 outage continued into Friday as engineers worked to stabilize affected infrastructure. Disruptions began on Thursday evening, impacting Outlook, Teams, Word, and Copilot services across more than 70 countries.

Microsoft confirmed that the blackout resulted from an internal technical failure rather than a cyberattack. Officials explained that a process handling secure connections became overwhelmed under heavy traffic, rendering servers unresponsive. Although technical teams have begun reversing recent network changes, deploying configuration updates, and restarting hardware, full recovery remains slow. The company reported that returned servers initially became unresponsive again once traffic resumed, prompting engineers to prioritize critical sectors such as life, safety, and government services during the restoration process.

Sources: The Guardian, The Herald, STV News, Cyprus Mail, BBC News

U.S. negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner held separate meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Ireland following two days of trilateral discussions in Abu Dhabi. While the Abu Dhabi talks concluded without an immediate breakthrough, negotiations focused on post-war European security structures to lower tensions between Russia and NATO.

Following the bilateral sessions, President Zelenskyy and U.S. envoys confirmed that European representatives will directly join the next round of peace negotiations. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the preliminary talks as "very productive," though he noted substantial work remains. Negotiators emphasized that European participation is vital to reaching a lasting continental security agreement.

Sources: BBC News, France24, Politico Europe (Defense), Sweden Herald, The Guardian.

Regional tensions remain elevated following reports of explosions involving commercial oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported that multiple vessels caught fire after striking naval mines or experiencing incidents while under U.S. military escort, with statements noting ships carrying millions of barrels of crude oil were affected.

At the same time, regional rhetorical exchanges have continued. Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei stated that Tehran would target U.S. military bases in Europe if they are utilized for strikes against Iran. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz affirmed that Israel's strategic mission regarding Iran is "still not complete." Despite reports of explosions near Qeshm Island, Iranian state television indicated officials have not confirmed direct foreign missile strikes on domestic territory.

Sources: Cyprus Mail, Daily Sabah, France24, Sweden Herald, Trend News Agency.

United States intelligence agencies and Nvidia's board of directors have launched investigations into Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang following concerns he was targeted in a foreign espionage operation. The inquiries focus on Huang's extramarital affair with Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed, who U.S. authorities suspect sought sensitive semiconductor data for Chinese intelligence.

While Huang acknowledged the relationship in an internal memo to employees, he did not name the woman involved. U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the matter, noting that Huang denied any awareness of potential foreign intelligence links. An internal audit conducted by Nvidia found no evidence indicating that corporate or government secrets were compromised, though news of the investigations caused a drop in the company's stock price.

Sources: Hospodářské noviny, Money, Rzeczpospolita, Seznam Zprávy, TVP info.