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U.S. President Donald Trump is joining European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for an emergency virtual summit on Wednesday organized by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. -snip- The virtual summit will focus on pressure options against Russia, questions about Ukrainian territories seized by Russia, security guarantees for Kyiv and the sequencing of potential peace talks, a German government spokesperson told POLITICO. Merz and other European leaders demand that Putin first agrees to a ceasefire before any peace talks or land swaps between Moscow and Kyiv can take place. They have also made clear that any potential land swaps must be...

Israel's military said it killed Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif in a strike on Gaza City on Sunday, accusing him of heading a Hamas cell. "Anas Al Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops," the military said in a statement.

One of President Trump’s core objectives heading into negotiations with Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin will be to prevent a third invasion of Ukraine, according to Sen. Lindsey Graham. “I am here to tell you that President Trump will end this war in a way to prevent a third invasion and not to entice China to take Taiwan,” Graham (R-SC), who went golfing with Trump on Saturday, told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We’re not out to humiliate Putin, we’re out to get a deal to make sure there’s no third invasion.” -snip- “Militarily, we need to keep Ukraine strong, keep flowing...

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said Sunday that President Trump will be "testing" Russian President Vladimir Putin in their landmark face-to-face meeting set for Friday, as world leaders push for a ceasefire deal in Russia's war with Ukraine. "On Friday, it is important to see how serious Putin is, and the only one who can do that is President Trump," Rutte said on "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan." -snip- The secretary general said NATO-coordinated weapons deliveries will continue regardless of what happens at the Friday summit, emphasizing its commitment to "making sure that Ukraine has what it needs to...

The path to ending the Ukraine conflict should be based on the existing battle lines, US Vice President J.D. Vance has said. He described it as a realistic if imperfect foundation for a negotiated peace. Speaking to Fox News, Vance credited President Donald Trump with securing a breakthrough that could bring Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky to the table. "If you take where the current line of contact between Russia and Ukraine is, we're going to try to find some negotiated settlement that the Ukrainians and the Russians can live with... where the killing stops," Vance said,...

United States Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that the US is working on setting up a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, he told Fox News that it would not be "productive" to schedule the meeting before Putin meets with US President Donald Trump on August 15. Vance said he spoke to the Ukrainian government earlier today but that Trump will have to "force President Putin and President Zelensky to sit down, to figure out their differences."

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva spoke with Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Saturday for about 40 minutes, the Brazilian presidential palace said, adding that Putin shared information about his discussions with the United States and "recent peace efforts between Russia and Ukraine." -snip- Lula has been in a public spat with Trump since the U.S. imposed a 50% tariff on the imports of Brazilian goods, which Trump linked to an alleged "witch hunt" against his ally and Brazil's former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro. U.S. imports of some Brazilian products, such as orange juice and aircraft, received a lower...

We welcome President Trump’s work to stop the killing in Ukraine, end the Russian Federation’s war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine. We are convinced that only an approach that combines active diplomacy, support to Ukraine and pressure on the Russian Federation to end their illegal war can succeed. We stand ready to support this work diplomatically as well as by upholding our substantive military and financial support to Ukraine, including through the work of the Coalition of the Willing, and by upholding and imposing restrictive measures against the Russian Federation. We share the...

US Vice-President JD Vance and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy are hosting a meeting of senior security officials near London to discuss the war in Ukraine. Earlier on Saturday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and said they agreed it would be a "vital forum" to discuss progress towards peace. Zelensky has stressed he will make no territorial concessions to Russia ahead of a summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin next week to discuss the future of the war. Trump earlier signalled Ukraine may have to cede territory...

President Vladimir Putin has presented US President Donald Trump's special envoy with an award to pass on to a senior CIA official whose son was killed fighting with Russia in Ukraine. Putin gave the Order of Lenin to Steve Witkoff during his trip to Moscow this week to discuss a plan to end the Ukraine war, sources familiar with the matter told the BBC's US partner CBS. Michael Gloss, 21, who was killed in Ukraine last year, was the son of Juliane Gallina, who is the CIA's deputy director for digital innovation. Reports of the award emerged as it was...

European powers and Ukraine responded to Vladimir Putins cease-fire plan on Saturday with a counterproposal that they say must serve as a framework so that upcoming talks between President Trump and the Russian leader can gain traction, according to two European officials familiar with the talks. -snip- The European proposal includes demands that a cease-fire must take place before any other steps are taken. It also says that territory can be exchanged only in a reciprocal manner—meaning that if Ukraine pulls out of some regions, Russia must withdraw from others. “You can’t start a process by ceding territory in the...

A newly built Russian Navy tugboat, Kapitan Ushakov (Project 23470), sank on August 9 near the pier of the Baltic Shipyard in St. Petersburg during final outfitting works, according to Russian media outlet Fontanka. The incident occurred in the evening of August 8 when the vessel developed a list to starboard. Emergency services and shipyard personnel attempted to stabilize the tug throughout the night but were unable to prevent it from capsizing. By morning, the vessel had settled on the bottom alongside the pier. The Baltic Shipyard’s press office stated that the pier was leased by the Yaroslavl Shipbuilding Plant,...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday confirmed he discussed a trilateral meeting to include Russian President Vladimir Putin, potentially as soon as next week, in a call with President Donald Trump one day prior. Zelenskyy – who echoed comments issued by Trump on Wednesday and said the discussion was also held with European leaders – called on Putin to "be brave" and take the meeting. "Yesterday, various potential formats for leader-level meetings to bring peace were also discussed – two bilateral and one trilateral," he said in a post on X. "Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the...

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday described the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as “one of the suitable” venues for an upcoming meeting with US President Donald Trump. “We have many friends who are ready to help us organize events of this kind. One of our friends is the president of the United Arab Emirates,” Putin told journalists in the Kremlin following a meeting with his Emirati counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who arrived in Moscow on an official visit. “I think we will decide, but this would be one of the suitable, quite suitable locations,” Putin said, expressing...

The Kremlin confirmed that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was expected to meet with President Trump in the coming days, saying that the meeting was being planned for a location that would be named later. The Russian statement on Thursday came hours after Trump said there was a “good chance” he would meet with Putin. The idea was raised by Russia during a meeting between special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian leader on Wednesday. Witkoff relayed the idea to Trump. During the meeting with Witkoff, Putin provided “concrete examples” of Russia’s conditions for agreeing to peace, according to Secretary of...

US Senator Lindsey Graham has applauded President Donald Trump’s move to slap a 50% tariff on India over its purchase of Russian oil, describing it as a key step towards ending the war in Ukraine. Posting on social media on Thursday, the Republican senator called the decision a “defining moment” in the conflict, hoping that it strikes at the financial lifeline fuelling Russia’s war efforts. -snip- Graham stressed that President Trump and his team’s push to end the war was showing “real dividends”. Graham also expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to help end the war “justly” and prevent future conflict....

The US has a better understanding of the conditions under which Russia would be prepared to end its war in Ukraine after President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday. "For the first time perhaps since this administration began, we have some concrete examples of the kinds of things that Russia would ask for in order to end the war," Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network's Kudlow, adding that the key elements of any agreement would involve territory. He added that he doesn't know if...

A bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin could happen as soon as next week, according to a White House official. White House special envoy Steve Witkoff returned from Moscow on Wednesday and relayed to President Trump that Putin would like to meet with him, the official said. In response, Trump indicated he is open to that if Putin also meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the official added. Witkoff met with Putin for several hours on Wednesday ahead of the Friday deadline imposed by Trump for Russia to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine or...

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his special envoy Steve Witkoff had made "great progress" in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Washington continued its preparations to impose secondary sanctions on Friday. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said he had briefed some European allies about Witkoff's meeting with Putin, which was focused on ending the 3-1/2-year war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. "Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come," Trump added, without providing further...

Trump's imposition of additional tariffs is "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable", the Ministry of External Affairs said. Shortly after US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25% tariffs on India on Wednesday, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement, noting that the country will "take all all actions necessary to protect its national interests." The additional import levies have been slapped by Trump to "penalise" India for its continued purchase of Russian crude oil. The MEA, in its statement, said India's imports are based on market factors and done with the "overall objective of ensuring the energy security of...