BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A Serbian government minister and three others went on trial on Wednesday on charges of abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for a real estate project that was to be financed by a company of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
Kushner has since withdrawn from the planned multi-million investment that envisaged building a high-rise hotel, a luxury apartment complex, office spaces and shops to replace a sprawling bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade.
The plan was backed by the government of Serbia's autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic who had said it would help improve ties with the U.S. But the Serbian public and international heritage groups opposed the idea to turn a protected cultural heritage zone into a commercial compound.
Built by a prominent 20th century Yugoslav architect, Nikola Dobrović, the building was damaged in the 1999 U.S.-led NATO bombing of Serbia over Kosovo. The building is considered a masterpiece of modernist architecture, and heritage groups have called for it to be preserved and revitalized.
Many Serbs are still angry over the air war, launched to stop Belgrade’s crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.
Culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, who is a close ally of Vucic, and three other officials are accused of illegally lifting the protection status in 2024 for the site by forging documentation. If convicted they could face up to three years in prison. They pleaded not guilty as the trial opened.
Dozens of anti-government protesters chanting “thieves!” had gathered outside the organized crime court building as the defendants arrived.
The trial comes days after the Serbian parliament passed a set of legal changes seen as an attempt to curb the independence of Serbia's judiciary, particularly of the organized crime prosecutors who have been handling high-profile cases.
The European Union's Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos urged Serbia to retract the amendments, describing them as “a serious step back on Serbia’s EU path."
Prosecutors on Wednesday held a 10-minute silent protest outside their offices against the changes.
Vucic, who has faced more than a year of street protests over a Nov. 2024 train station disaster, has launched a crackdown on protesters and moved to strengthen control over the police and other state institutions to tighten his grip on power. Many in Serbia blamed the collapse of a concrete canopy at the train station in the northern city of Novi Sad on sloppy renovation work fueled by corruption. Sixteen people died in the crash, triggering massive demonstrations.
Almost daily youth-led protests have shaken Vucic's tough rule in the Balkan country for the first time since his right-wing populist party came to power over a decade ago.
Vucic formally has promised to take Serbia into the EU but he has forged close ties with Russia and China while clamping down on democratic freedoms. He has labeled organized crime prosecutors as a “corrupt gang” and “criminals."
Serbia culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, charged with abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for a real estate project that was to be financed by a company of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, looks on during an inauguration ceremony in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
People gather outside the organized crime court building to watch the arrival of Serbian culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, charged with abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for a real estate project that was to be financed by a company of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia culture Minister Nikola Selakovic, charged with abuse of office and falsifying of documents to help pave the way for a real estate project that was to be financed by a company of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, arrives in the court building in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Envoys from Russia and Ukraine met in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday for another round of U.S.-brokered talks on ending the almost four-year war, a Ukrainian negotiator said.
The delegations from Moscow and Kyiv were joined in the United Arab Emirates by U.S. officials, Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council chief, who was present at the meeting, said on social media.
Umerov said the planned two-day negotiations started with all three delegations present, after which negotiators were to break into groups according to topics and then meet as a full group again at the end.
The American team was due to include special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who also attended last month’s meeting, according to the White House.
The current talks also coincide with the expiry of the last remaining nuclear arms pact between Russia and the United States on Thursday. Trump and Putin could extend the terms of the treaty or renegotiate its conditions in an effort to prevent a new nuclear arms race.
Last month’s discussions in the Emirati capital, part of a U.S. push to end the fighting, yielded some progress but no breakthrough on key issues, officials said.
The Abu Dhabi talks were held amid Ukrainian outrage over major Russian attacks on its energy system, which have occurred each winter since Russia launched its all-out invasion of its neighbor on Feb. 24 2022.
A huge Russian bombardment overnight from Monday to Tuesday included hundreds of drones and a record 32 ballistic missiles, wounding at least 10 people. This came despite Ukraine’s understanding that Russian President Vladimir Putin had told Trump he would temporarily halt strikes on Ukraine’s power grid.
Ukrainian civilians are struggling with one of the coldest winters in years, which saw temperatures around minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov wouldn’t offer any details on the Abu Dhabi talks and said that Moscow wasn’t planning any comment on their results.
He said that “the doors for a peaceful settlement are open,” but noted that Moscow will press its military action until Kyiv meets its demands.
Russia is hitting Ukraine’s energy facilities because its armed forces believe the targets are associated with Kyiv’s military effort, Peskov said.
There has been a lack of clarity about how long Putin promised to observe a pause on power grid attacks, and Moscow hasn't stopped its aerial attacks on other targets in Ukraine despite a Kremlin official saying last week that Russia had agreed to halt strikes on Kyiv for a week until Feb. 1.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday barely four days had passed and a fresh wave of attacks targeted Ukraine's power grid, accusing Putin of duplicity.
Trump claimed Tuesday that Putin “kept his word” on the temporary pause. Meanwhile, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was “unfortunately unsurprised” by Moscow’s resumption of attacks.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, said the developments were part of Moscow’s negotiating strategy.
“The Kremlin will likely attempt to portray its adherence to this short-term energy strikes moratorium as a significant concession to gain leverage in the upcoming peace talks, even though the Kremlin used these few days to stockpile missiles for a larger strike package,” it said late Tuesday.
Russia launched 105 drones against Ukraine overnight, and air defenses shot down 88 of them, the Ukrainian air force said Wednesday. Strikes by 17 drones were recorded at 14 locations, as well as falling debris at five sites, it said.
In the central Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian strike on a residential area killed a 68-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, regional military administration head Oleksandr Hancha said.
The southern city of Odesa also came under a large-scale attack, regional military administration head Oleh Kiper said. About 20 residential buildings were damaged, with four people rescued from under the rubble, he said.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
In this image made from video provided by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026, Russian Multiple rocket launcher TOS-1A fires towards Ukrainian positions on an undisclosed location in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)
