Oil drilling rigs in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The Polar LNG plan called for the company to tap into the giant load of natural gas available in the state’s northern reaches.
The first lady, who is positioning herself as an intermediary between two warring nations as her husband sides with Russia, said the agreement would allow residents to evacuate.
“It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible,” Melania Trump, the first lady, said in a statement.
The call from the president about the Starshield network came after officials in Ukraine reported that they found new limits on the use of military drones in their war against Russia.
Russia has sought to separate the war in Ukraine from potential business deals and diplomacy with the United States. Its efforts now appear to be working.
After Russia released an American prisoner, President Trump’s special envoy praised President Vladimir V. Putin as “a humanitarian.” Our White House and national security correspondent, David E. Sanger, describes how the release comes amid Mr. Trump’s broader shift toward Russia and away from Ukraine.