Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrive in Romania after weeks in the United States

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — After weeks in the United States, influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrived early Saturday back in Romania, where they face charges of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

The Tates, who are dual U.S. and British citizens, were arrested in Romania in late 2022 and formally indicted last year on charges that they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were allegedly sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny all of the allegations against them.

The brothers' plane — which Andrew Tate said earlier in a post on X cost $185,000 to “jet across the Atlantic to sign one single piece of paper” — landed at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport shortly before 1.00 a.m. local time Saturday morning (2300 GMT, Friday).

After arriving at their residence near the capital, Bucharest, Andrew Tate told reporters they returned because “innocent men don’t run from anything” and he vowed to clear his name in court.

“After all we’ve been through, we truly deserve the day in court where it is stated that we’ve done nothing wrong and that we should have never been in court in the first place. We should have never gone to jail. We should have never had our assets seized. We should have never had our names slandered," he said. “Anyone who believed any of this garbage has a particularly low IQ.”

Their return to Romania comes nearly a month after a travel ban imposed on the brothers was lifted, after which they flew on a private jet to the U.S., landing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The brothers remain under judicial control, which requires them to appear before judicial authorities in Romania when summoned. Eugen Vidineac, one of the Tate brothers’ lawyers in Romania, told The Associated Press that the Tates are due to check in with a surveillance officer on Monday.

Days after the Tates arrived in the U.S., on March 4, Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office had opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate. He said in a social media post that he directed his office to work with law enforcement to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the brothers.

A day after the investigation was opened, Andrew Tate said in a post on X: “I didn’t commit any crime and they’re trying to find one because they don’t like me."

The lifting of their two-year travel ban came after a Bucharest court in December ruled that a case against the brothers could not go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors. The case, however, remained open.

For his part, Tristan Tate said after returning to Romania, “I think it’s very telling that we were investigated for two and a half years, and we were dragged ... in front of the media, into prison, out of prison, all this time, and in December last year, a judge said ... there’s not evidence enough for this to even go to trial."

Last August, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT also launched a second case against the brothers, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. They have denied those charges as well.

Andrew Tate, 38, a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him.

“There are a lot of people in the world today that do not have faith in Romanian institutions ... but we’re going to restore that faith by coming home, as American citizens, going to court, and getting the not guilty that we deserve,” Andrew Tate said. “If a court needs to speak to us, we’ll be there because we’re innocent.”

The Tate brothers’ legal battles are not limited to Romania.

Four British women who accused Andrew Tate of sexual violence and physical abuse are suing him in the U.K. after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute him.

In March last year, the Tate brothers appeared at the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case after U.K. authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a case dating back to the period from 2012 to 2015.

The appeals court granted the U.K. request to extradite the Tates, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Andrew Tate, right, speaks to media next to his brother Tristan, after returning from the United States, outside his home on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, March 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

FILE - Andrew Tate gestures, next to his brother, Tristan, outside the Bucharest Tribunal in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Britain and France on Friday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of dragging his feet in ceasefire talks aimed at halting his country's invasion of Ukraine and demanded a swift response from Moscow after weeks of U.S. efforts to secure a truce.

Russia has effectively rejected a U.S. proposal for a full and immediate 30-day halt in the fighting. A Kremlin official said Monday that Moscow views efforts to end its more than three-year war with Ukraine as “a drawn-out process.”

“Our judgment is that Putin continues to obfuscate, continues to drag his feet,” British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at NATO headquarters, standing alongside his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot in a symbolic show of unity.

A Kremlin envoy who visited Washington this week for talks with Trump administration officials said Friday that further meetings will be needed to resolve outstanding issues.

Kirill Dmitriev told Russian reporters that “the dialogue will take some time, but it’s proceeding positively and constructively.”

He criticized what he called a “well-coordinated media campaign and attempts by various politicians to spoil Russia-U.S. relations, distort what Russia says, and cast Russia and its leaders in a negative way.”

Dmitriev, the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, was sanctioned by the Biden administration after the invasion of Ukraine, and the U.S. had to temporarily lift the restrictions to allow him to travel to Washington this week.

Meanwhile, the war of attrition continued to claim civilian lives. A Russian Shahed drone struck a residential area of Kharkiv late Thursday, killing five people and injuring 32, according to Mayor Ihor Terekhov. Kharkiv is Ukraine's second-largest city.

Civilian areas in three other Ukrainian regions were also hit, officials said. The Ukrainian air force said Russia fired 78 strike and decoy drones overnight.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses destroyed 107 Ukrainian drones.

Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize pressure on Ukraine and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in the ceasefire talks, according to Ukrainian government and Western military analysts.

Russia is preparing a major, multi-pronged ground offensive along the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line as muddy fields dry out and allow tanks, armored vehicles and other heavy equipment to roll into key positions across the countryside.

Britain and France are helping to lead a multinational effort known as the “coalition of the willing” to set up a force that might police any future peace agreement in Ukraine. A senior Ukrainian official said earlier this week that between 10 and 12 countries have said they are ready to join the coalition.

Lammy said that while Putin should be accepting a ceasefire, “he continues to bombard Ukraine. It’s civilian population. It’s energy supplies. We see you, Vladimir Putin. We know what you are doing.”

Barrot said that Ukraine had accepted ceasefire terms three weeks ago, and that Russia now "owes an answer to the United States.” U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed frustration with Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after he promised last year to bring the war to a swift conclusion.

“Russia has been flip-flopping, continuing its strikes on energy infrastructure, continuing its war crimes,” Barrot said. “It has to be ‘yes.’ It has to be ‘no.’ It has to be a quick answer.”

He said that Russia shows no intention of halting its military campaign, noting that Putin on Monday ordered a call-up intended to draft 160,000 conscripts for a one-year tour of compulsory military service.

The two foreign ministers pledged to continue helping to build up Ukraine’s armed forces – the country’s best security guarantee since the U.S. took any prospect of NATO membership off the table.

Coalition army chiefs were due to meet in Kyiv on Friday. Defense ministers from the group will meet at NATO headquarters next Thursday.

Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

Firefighters put out a fire following Russia's drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)

A resident responds to a fire following Russia's drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)

Rescuers carry the body of a killed resident following Russia's drone attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, late Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Yevhen Titov)

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot arrive to address the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot addresses the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy addresses the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot address the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, left, and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot address the media during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)