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Once a vague proposal for a territorial swap gained clarity, a worried President Volodymyr Zelensky worked to rally allies before Friday’s Trump-Putin summit.President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine was returning from the front line last week when he joined a pivotal call with President Trump.Hours earlier, Mr. Zelensky had visited soldiers defending Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region against Russian ground assaults. Now, stopping in the small city of Romny, he listened on a secure line with other European leaders as Mr. Trump outlined Russia’s proposal to end the war.Moscow, Mr. Trump told them, was ready to halt hostilities under a deal involving...

United States President Donald Trump commented on Thursday that he is unsure whether he will hold a joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Speaking on Fox News radio, Trump explained that everything depends on how their meeting goes. The US head of state detailed that if discussions go well, the two will appear together and address the press. On the other hand, should talks not go well, the joint press conference will not happen. Trump further added that if negotiations go badly, he would hold a solo press briefing and head right back to...

After three years of war, with the commentariat on both sides eagerly predicting the looming collapse of the enemy, it behooves one to develop a prudent aversion to histrionic predictions. However, it seems fairly obvious that the war in Ukraine is at a critical juncture, and August 2025 will receive considerable play in retrospective accounts of the conflict, as perhaps the last opportunity for Ukraine to cut a deal and slither out of its strategic grave. On Friday, August 15, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are slated to meet in Alaska to discuss steps to end the war. Whether those...

According to The Telegraph on August 13, US President Donald Trump is preparing to offer Russian leader Vladimir Putin a series of economic incentives to end the ongoing war in Ukraine. These proposals will be presented during their highly anticipated meeting on Friday, which will take place in Trump’s offer to Putin includes access to Alaska’s rich natural resources, lifting some sanctions on Russia’s aviation industry, and providing access to the rare earth minerals in Ukrainian territories currently occupied by Russian forces. The Telegraph reports that Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, is briefing Trump on these economic trade-offs as...

“Russia is planning a new missile surprise for the world as it prepares to test its 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile. The development comes ahead of a crucial face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to discuss the Ukraine war. Moscow is likely to test its nuclear-tipped 9M730 Burevestnik intercontinental cruise missile in the Novaya Zemlya archipelago in the coming days, according to the Barents Observer. Using a nuclear…… …. This gives it an unlimited range that can hit any point on the planet. The range of this missile is unlimited because it has...

President Trump’s upcoming summit in Alaska with President Putin will be a defining moment not just in U.S. relations with the Russian Federation, but also for the safety and survival of the world. I do not believe that most Americans fully understand the gravity of the situation. My personal assessment is that if these two leaders cannot reach an agreement this weekend, then the chances increase dramatically that events could spiral out of control, leading to an unthinkable catastrophe. Zelensky appears to be trying to box in President Trump by his trip to Germany to continue funds flow to him...

President Donald Trump told European leaders during a call on Wednesday that he does not intend to discuss any possible divisions of territory when he meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska this week, according to two European officials and three other people briefed on the call. Trump said on the call, which also included Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that he is going into the meeting with Putin with the goal of securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, those sources said. Trump and European leaders agreed that a ceasefire in Ukraine has to be implemented before peace negotiations can begin,...

Speculation has swirled over whether the Trump-Putin summit will result in the map of Ukraine being forcibly – and fundamentally – altered. Russia has laid claim to vast parts of Ukraine since 2014, when President Vladimir Putin made his first move. At the time, in the space of a short few months, Moscow carried out the relatively bloodless occupation and annexation of the Crimean peninsula. But that was followed by a Russian-backed separatist movement in the eastern Donbas region – specifically the two regions, or "oblasts", known as Donetsk and Luhansk. A war simmered there for eight years. Ukraine lost...

And it’s not where Putin wants to be.Putin has decided to talk peace with Trump while he dominates the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. His troops are closing in on Donetsk’s main urban centers, whose capture would give him total control of Donbas, where he already fully occupies the province of Luhansk. But it could be looking to get the best deal possible while he is ahead.The prolonged sieges and intense urban warfare that capturing Donetsk’s cities of Kramatorsk, Kostyantynivka, and Sloviansk with a combined population of one quarter million and fortified by Ukrainian military engineers during months, risks dangerously...

Anna Conkling was recently in the town of Dobropillia in Eastern Ukraine, where the Russian military is making one of its most aggressive offensives in recent months.A significant military advance by Russia in Ukraine is forcing thousands of civilians to evacuate from towns near the frontlines. Recent reports indicate that Russian forces have surged as much as 10 miles past Ukrainian defenses in what officials characterize as one of the most aggressive offensives in recent months. This offensive appears to be strategically aimed at encircling critical cities that play a vital role in Ukrainian logistics and defense. Independent reporter Anna...

President Trump agreed with European leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to red lines for the coming talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and said he hoped to follow up quickly with a trilateral summit with the two warring leaders. -snip- “President Trump was very clear that the American desire was to obtain a cease-fire at this meeting in Alaska,” Macron told reporters after the meeting. -snip- While Trump’s decision last week to meet Putin on American soil worried Europeans, trans-Atlantic relations have since warmed. In a flurry of calls and meetings, senior U.S. officials—including Trump, Vance and...

... In 2022, after eight years of intermittent fighting in Ukraine’s east, Russia initiated a full-scale invasion, with the aim of reducing a rump Ukraine to a satrapy. Putin has given no indication of renouncing that ambition or of abandoning his broader goal of restoring Moscow’s sway over much of the former Soviet or tsarist empires, including the Baltic states and other nations to Russia’s west. Any “deal” between Trump and Putin (and the U.S. president, who has more recently referred to a “feel-out” meeting, is clearly downgrading expectations) will, given the Kremlin’s longer-term objectives, never be enough. The best...

The participants have also spoken in favor of firm security guarantees for UkraineLONDON, August 13. /TASS/. The European ‘Coalition of the Willing’ urged to toughen anti-Russian sanctions if the forthcoming talks between the presidents of Russia and the United States in Alaska fail to produce a ceasefire, according to a statement released by the UK Prime Minister’s Office. The participants of the recent online meeting on Ukraine "were clear that the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine," reads the joint statement, published on behalf of the meeting’s co-chairs - UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President...

President Donald Trump threatened "very severe consequences" for Russia if President Vladimir Putin doesn’t agree to end the war in Ukraine after their meeting in Alaska on Friday. -snip- Trump later appeared to cast doubt on whether he could convince Putin to stop bombing Ukrainian civilians. "I'll tell you what. I've had that conversation with him. I've had a lot of good conversations with him then I go home and I see that a rocket hit a nursing home or a rocket hit an apartment building, and people are laying dead in the streets," Trump said. "So, I guess the...

Today the leaders from Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Poland, Finland, the E.U. and NATO will be holding a conference call with President Trump and Vice-President Vance to give instructions in advance of the Trump-Putin summit.None of the European leaders were invited to the Alaska summit, yet all of the European leaders want to tell President Trump what to do at the summit with President Vladimir Putin. Because, of course they do…EUROPE – […] The Europeans recognize that they can only do so much to influence a president who often veers off-script and likes nothing more than to declare a deal.But...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bloody years-long conflict between Ukraine and Russia was finally brought to an end this week, as President Donald Trump successfully negotiated a ceasefire between the countries by agreeing to give Vladimir Putin California. The deal was struck after several months of stop-and-start negotiations between the two sides mediated by Trump, with Russia finally agreeing to bring the hostilities to an end after being gifted the entire state of California as a substitute for the territory it coveted from Ukraine. "It's a great deal for every party involved," Trump told reporters when announcing the agreement. "I told...

Ukraine says it has struck a critical oil-pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region, igniting a large fire at a hub feeding the Druzhba pipeline to Europe. The Unecha facility also links to the Baltic Pipeline System-2, which carries Russian crude to Ust-Luga, the country’s second-largest Baltic oil port.

United States President Donald Trump told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky during their call earlier today that territorial exchanges between Russia and Ukraine will be needed to achieve a peace deal, Axios reported on Wednesday. On the other hand, the US president stressed that he cannot make final decisions on territorial issues because he's "not from the region." The alleged remark echoes similar statements previously made by Trump, stressing the importance of direct negotiations between Moscow and Kiev to achieve a lasting solution to the long-standing conflict. "Trump said it's Vladimir and Volodymyr who have to discuss territories with each...

Russia’s production of its most advanced tank, the T-90M “Breakthrough,” has fallen off dramatically in 2025, casting serious doubt on claims of a manufacturing surge. After upgrading its existing fleet of older T-90As, the main tank factory, UralVagonZavod, has struggled to produce new builds. This production crisis is compounded by reports of poor quality, including bad welds, and deep-seated company issues like lawsuits for unpaid bills, low wages, and corruption.

Stay up-to-date with The Post’s live coverage of the Trump administration as the National Guard deploys to Washington, D.C., and the president’s Alaska meeting with Putin awaits. Follow The Post’s live updates for the latest Trump and national politics news and analysis: 35 minutes ago Trump speaking with Zelensky, European allies today President Trump has confirmed in another Truth Social post Wednesday morning that he will be speaking with European heads of state and government — including Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky — ahead of his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. "Will be speaking to European...