The Syrian army’s rapid-fire conquest of important areas and towns previously controlled by the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), culminated on Sunday in a fragile ceasefire agreement with a stern warning from a powerful U.S. Senator and experts about the reported crimes of forces controlled by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Jim Risch, R-Idaho., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News Digital, “The Syrian government’s decree to respect Kurdish rights is a good sign, but the conduct of its forces on the ground must match. Division and violence in Syria between U.S. partners only benefit bad actors like ISIS and Iran who exploit Syria to use as a breeding ground for international terrorism, including against the U.S. I welcome the announcement of a ceasefire and will be watching its implementation closely.”

Al-Sharaa, a former U.S.-designated terrorist who was a member of the Islamic State and al-Qaeda, greenlighted an incursion into territory ruled peacefully by the SDF for over a decade.

Amid Risch’s warning, reports coming out of Syria claim skirmishes between the Syrian army and SDF are continuing. 

134 HOUSE REPUBLICANS DEMAND ‘ASSURANCES’ BEFORE US EASES SYRIA SANCTIONS

The news organization, Kurdistan 24, showed alleged footage of al-Sharaa’s forces releasing Islamic State prisoners. According to the report, “The Syrian Arab Army releases ISIS prisoners in al-Tabqah city.” 

The footage has been widely posted on social media. Fox News Digital could not independently verify the video.

The State Department referred Fox News Digital to an X post from the U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, who also serves as the Special Envoy for Syria. Barrack wrote on X about the deal between SDF General Mazloum Abdi and al-Sharra.

“Two great Syrian leaders, driven by the shared vision of liberating their country and people from tyranny, have now come together to forge a brighter future for all Syrians. This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division.”

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Barrack added, “President al-Sharaa has affirmed that the Kurds are an integral part of Syria, and the United States looks forward to the seamless integration of our historic partner in the fight against ISIS with the Global Coalition’s newest member, as we press forward in the enduring battle against terrorism.”

However, the People’s Protection Units (YPG) commander Sipan Hamo — a Syrian organization that is part of the SDF — said on the Saturday meeting between U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and Kurdish officials produced no roadmap to a ceasefire. He denied Syria’s Kurds wanted to secede or create an independent state and said their future was in Syria.

“Our greatest hope is that there will be a tangible outcome, especially from the coalition and the United States, meaning that they will intervene more forcefully in the existing problems than what they are currently doing,” Hamo said.

The head of the main Kurdish forces told Reuters that the U.S. should intervene more forcefully to end a Syrian offensive that has gained key territory from Kurdish fighters in recent days.

DEADLY STRIKE ON US TROOPS TESTS TRUMP’S COUNTER-ISIS PLAN — AND HIS TRUST IN SYRIA’S NEW LEADER

Government troops launched an offensive on Saturday into territory run for the last decade by semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in the northeast of Syria, capturing towns on both sides of the Euphrates River and the country’s largest oil and gas field, officials and security sources said.

But given Kurdish “concerns about the changes taking place,” the U.S. should offer assurances of protection to them.

Hamo said that, “In the current situation and the chaos we are living in, the only ones who can offer guarantees are the United States or the coalition,” he added in a rare interview from Hasakeh province, which is still under Kurdish control.

“We believe that the responsibility for everything currently happening inside Syria lies with the Western countries, and especially the United States of America,” he said.

“Of course, we consider Israel a powerful state in the region with its own agenda. We hope that the same stance taken by other countries in the region towards certain minorities in Syria will be extended to the Kurds as well,” Hamo said.

Asked if he was referring to Israel’s stance towards the Druze minority last summer — when Israel carried out air strikes on the defense ministry, near the presidential palace in Damascus and on Syrian troops advancing on Druze cities, Hamo said, “of course.”

ISRAEL AND SYRIA RESUME DIPLOMATIC DIALOGUE AFTER MONTHS OF SILENCE UNDER US MEDIATION

Mutlu Civiroglu, a Kurdish affairs analyst, told Fox News Digital that, “President Trump has spoken about giving Syria and all its peoples a fresh opportunity to turn a new page. Yet, Ahmed al Sharaa’s actions appear to move against that intention, and many Kurds believe he is abusing the political space that was meant to support stability rather than deepen tensions. “

Civiroglu added that “I don’t think the U.S. is abandoning the Kurds, but President Trump’s good intention is being abused by Sharaa. Lawmakers in Washington have also expressed unease about the interim Syrian government’s treatment of minorities, which reflects broader questions about its commitment to inclusive governance.”

Civiroglu posted footage on his popular X account of al-Sharaa supporters toppling “a statue of a female Kurdish fighter after interim Syrian government forces seized Tabqa from the SDF. Kurdish fighters backed by the United States had liberated the town from ISIS in May 2017.”

Civiroglu said, “al-Sharaa’s confrontations with Kurdish forces, following earlier pressure on Alawite and Druze areas, reinforce doubts about the interim government’s legitimacy and its ability to represent Syria’s diverse population.

“The International community must remember that the Kurdish people have long fought alongside the United States, France and the West in the campaign against ISIS, and many are watching closely to see how these partners interpret the latest escalation,” he said.

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Max Abrahms, a leading expert on counter-terrorism and a professor of political science at Northeastern University, told Fox News Digital, “The YPG and then SDF were America’s primary counterterrorism forces against Islamic State in Syria during the war. Unlike the so-called “rebels,” our Kurdish warrior friends exhibited both capability and moderation. It’s not surprising that the jihadists, upon taking power in Damascus, would turn their guns on the Kurdish forces. Of course, we need to stand with them.”

Key transport projects intended to increase connectivity of people and goods across the European Union by 2030 are well behind schedule despite the €15.3 billion invested from EU funds since 2020, the latest report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published on Monday reveals.

The bloc’s legislation designed to improve transport networks, the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), was adopted in 2013, but suffered major setbacks first from the COVID pandemic and then Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which led to a massive surge in energy and construction prices.

The EU auditors write that the eight megaprojects previously assessed in 2020 and again in the latest report had experienced an overall real cost increase of 47% against original estimates.

Data from 2025 shows that costs have increased further to more than 82%, with two of the audited projects contributing most to the drastic cost gap: Rail Baltica, intended to integrate the Baltic states in the European rail network, and the Lyon-Turin rail link, intended to link the Italian and French high-speed rail networks.

The EU executive’s oversight of the completion of the core network corridors by the member states “remained distant”, the auditors’ report says, arguing that the Commission should have been more proactive in light of a 2020 ECA report that flagged major delays, cost increases, and weaknesses in the Commission’s supervision.

“We also provided the Commission with a set of recommendations aimed at improving the financial management of the EU co-funding going to megaprojects,” reads the ECA report.

Fragmented continent

Failure to deliver TEN-T badly undermines the EU’s 2030 targets since transport is central to Europe’s economy and climate goals. Delayed rail, waterways, and clean infrastructure keep emissions high, threatening the bloc’s aim to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Moreover, fragmented and inefficient transport will inevitably lead to higher costs for businesses and consumers and reduce trade opportunities across the EU.

Even though the upward trend has slowed down in recent years, EU auditors say, construction costs of the Canal Seine Nord Europe have tripled in total since the project began.

“EU transport flagship infrastructures are supposed to reshape Europe, bringing people closer together and facilitating economic activity”, said Annemie Turtelboom, the ECA member leading the report.

“But three decades after most of them were designed, we are still a long way from cutting the ribbon on these projects, and a long way from achieving the intended improvements in passenger and freight flows across Europe.”

EU auditors have assessed eight major projects in their latest report. Among them are four railways, Rail Baltica, Lyon-Turin, Brenner Base Tunnel and Basque Y; one waterway, Seine-Scheldt; one motorway, the A1 in Romania; and two multimodal connections, the Fehmarn Belt road/rail link and the E59 rail link to ports in Poland.

These megaprojects directly involve 13 EU countries: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Spain, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Poland, Romania and Finland.

“The conclusion is unambiguous: the 2030 objective for the completion of the EU TEN-T core network will undoubtedly be missed,” EU auditors said.

Repeated delays

An average delay of 11 years against original deadlines was noted in the ECA’s 2020 report on the TEN-T’s implementation. The 2025 report reveals that the situation has worsened, with an average delay of 17 years for five of the assessed projects.

The Basque Y railway line, which was supposed to be operational by 2010 according to its initial timeline and by 2023 according to the revised plan from 2020, is now expected to be ready by 2030 at the very earliest.

The opening of the Lyon-Turin rail link is now forecast for 2033, rather than the original goal of 2015 or revised one of 2030; the Brenner Base Tunnel is now expected to open at the earliest in 2032, not in 2016 or 2028.

The Canal Nord Seine Europe, meanwhile, was initially scheduled to commence operations in 2010, and was postponed to 2028. 2032 is now considered more likely.

Timeline of a failure

The TEN-T was proposed in the early 1990s as part of the EU’s effort to strengthen the internal market and improve connectivity across member states. Its initial guidelines were adopted in 1996, focusing on a list of priority projects mainly for major cross-border infrastructure.

Over time, the policy evolved to address gaps, bottlenecks, and technical fragmentation, especially in rail, inland waterways, ports, and intelligent transport systems. A major reform in 2013 introduced a two-layer structure, defining routes to be completed by 2030 and a more comprehensive route to be finished by 2050.

The latest revision in 2024 was designed to align the TEN-T with the bloc’s European Green Deal and defence goals.

“The agreement falls short of our expectations and raises concerns about the real commitment of member states to create a functioning European transport network,” said former lawmaker Barbara Thaler (European People’s Party/Austria) after the last TEN-T’s revision, noting that national priorities jeopardise shared European goals.

“The impracticalities imposed on cargo trains create even more disparity between rail and other modes of transport. It goes against the EU’s commitment to shift traffic from road to rail,” the former Austrian lawmaker said.

Back in 2024, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) said that completing the TEN-T required “massive investments” – €500 billion by 2030 and €1,500 billion by 2050.

“The new Connecting Europe Facility, the EU’s dedicated funding instrument, should be increased to at least €100 billion under the next long-term EU budget plan (2028-2035) and be complemented with other funds to be able to meet the new TEN-T targets and completion deadlines,” a CER statement said.

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He gave no indication whether any agreements had been achieved at the meeting.

“We agreed to continue work at the team level during the next phase of consultations in Davos,” Umerov wrote.

The two sides, in the latest of a series of meetings intended to work out the details of an agreement, had “discussed in depth” the two issues, “focusing on practical mechanisms and carrying out and implementing them,” Umerov said.

Kyiv’s team, which also included the head of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office, Kyrylo Budanov, and the head of Zelenskiy’s parliamentary faction, Davyd Arakhamia, is also seeking clarity from Washington on the Russian stance toward the U.S.-backed diplomatic efforts to end the war.

Washington has pushed Ukraine to agree to a peace framework that it will then present to Moscow, while Kyiv and its European allies have sought to guard against any future attack by Russia.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said it was important to outline the effects of the Russian strikes as they demonstrated that Russia was not interested in diplomacy.

“If the Russians were seriously interested in ending the war, they would have focused on diplomacy,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

RECOVERING FROM RUSSIAN STRIKES

Zelenskiy said repair crews made up of nearly 58,000 people remained engaged in restoring the heating network as night-time temperatures dip to minus 16 degrees Celsius (3 degrees Fahrenheit).

Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said 30 apartment buildings in the capital Kyiv, particularly hard-hit by last week’s attacks, still had no heating.

Zelenskiy said Ukrainian intelligence had determined that Russia was conducting reconnaissance on key sites in preparation for strikes, including targets linked to nuclear power stations.

Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Saturday that there was evidence Russia was considering attacks on power substations supplying nuclear power stations.

Russian officials made no immediate response to a request for comment.

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