Israel-Iran live: Trump announces Israel-Iran ceasefire has begun and tells them: 'Please do not violate it' - as Tehran says it has stopped attacks
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The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Putin hopes to meet with Zelensky one-on-one. Trump insists the meeting needs to involve him
Russian President Vladimir Putin hoped to meet alone with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the two countries try to work towards peace, but U.S. President Donald Trump keeps saying he needs to be involved in the talks. Days after Trump met with Putin during a summit in Alaska, Trump met with Zelensky — and several European leaders — at the White House Monday to try to find the best path forward to end Russia 's war in Ukraine. After the meeting, the U.S. president called his Russian counterpart to begin making 'arrangements for a meeting' between Putin, Zelensky and himself, Trump wrote on Truth Social. Putin mentioned wanting a bilateral meeting with Zelensky, but Trump suggested that he be included, a senior administration official told Politico. When the U.S. president offered to attend a potential Zelensky-Putin meeting, the Russian leader reportedly said: 'You don't have to come. I want to see him one-on-one.' Trump's team 'started working on that,' the official told Politico. 'Steve Witkoff has the assignment to get it figured [out].' The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment. Following the Alaska summit Friday, Trump appeared on Fox News' Hannity, where he emphasized that both Zelensky and Putin 'want' the U.S. president to be present for a meeting between them. Then, over the past several days, Trump has continued to push the idea that there should be trilateral meetings. 'I don't know if I trust the two of them in a room alone together. I think it would be better if you are there,' Fox News host Sean Hannity said. Trump agreed: 'They both want me there, and I'll be there. You got to see it out.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who attended Monday's White House meeting, suggested that Putin had agreed to meet with Zelensky after his call with Trump within the next two weeks - but a date has not yet been set. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state-run channel Rossiya-24 that Russia is open to participating in either a trilateral or bilateral meeting, BBC reported. "The key point is that these formats are not pursued for the sake of media coverage or evening broadcasts," Lavrov said. "Any contacts involving national leaders must be prepared with the utmost thoroughness.' Following Monday's summit, Zelensky declared: 'We are ready for a trilateral.' If the leaders of Russia and Ukraine meet, it would mark the first one-on-one since 2019 in Paris, three years before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a move that launched the war. Trump touted Monday's summit as a 'very good meeting,' during which the world leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine that would be 'provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,' according to the U.S. president. Regarding the trilateral meeting, the U.S. president wrote: 'Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, are coordinating with Russia and Ukraine.' 'We are already working on the concrete content of the security guarantees,' Zelensky said in a social media post Tuesday, hailing Monday's meeting as 'truly a significant step' toward ending the war. World leaders who attended the meeting also praised the progress that was achieved. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that there was "real progress" and a "real sense of unity." Merz similarly said "the path is open now" for a temporary ceasefire, but the next steps are "more complicated.'
The Independent
12 minutes ago
- The Independent
Meloni caught making strange confession to Trump at Ukraine summit
Giorgia Meloni was heard telling Donald Trump that she never wants to speak to the Italian press during the summit on Ukraine in Washington, DC on Monday, 18 August. As European leaders including Sir Keir Starmer sat round a table with the US president, the Italian prime minister remarked: "He [Mr Trump] loves it, he loves it and he does it always. I never want to speak with my press." Ms Meloni's comment was caught on camera as reporters were leaving the room ahead of a meeting between Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Trump and European leaders.
The Guardian
13 minutes ago
- The Guardian
What security guarantees might Ukraine get in return for a peace deal?
European leaders have been holding a virtual conference call to discuss what security guarantees they could give to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal with Russia. The discussion follows Monday's unprecedented get-together in the White House hosted by Donald Trump. The US president met with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and held talks with Britain's Keir Starmer, as well as the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Finland, the European Union and Nato. The main topic was how to end the war in Ukraine, the continent's biggest since 1945, and how Europe might stop Russia from attacking again. Zelenskyy has said that the details will be worked out and 'formalised on paper' within a week to 10 days. As many as 30 countries – dubbed the coalition of the willing – are likely to be involved, with some help from the US, although what that might mean is unclear. Speaking after his meeting on Monday with Donald Trump and European leaders in the White House, Zelenskyy said their support could take many forms. One of those could be prysutnist (the Ukrainian word for presence), meaning they would provide troops. And it might include intelligence, as well as providing security in the air and on the Black Sea. They could provide funds instead, he said. The key question is, which European governments are willing to take part in a peacekeeping mission inside Ukraine? The UK and France have indicated they are ready to send soldiers as part of a 'reassurance force'. France's president, Emmanuel Macron, confirmed: 'We have to help Ukraine on the ground.' Germany is more sceptical. Many details have yet to be worked out. Would western troops be stationed along a ceasefire line or provide a more limited training role in big cities such as Kyiv and Lviv? And what rules of engagement would they have if they came under Russian fire? Trump has promised to coordinate a Europe-led peacekeeping operation in Ukraine. 'When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help,' he said on Monday, sitting next to Zelenskyy in the Oval Office. The US president made clear European countries would be expected to carry most of the burden. 'They are a first line of defence because they're there. But we'll help them out,' he said. Ukraine wants to buy $90bn worth of US weapons and says they could form part of the security guarantee. Overall, however, Trump has been vague about how much the US would contribute. He has ruled out Ukraine's membership of Nato, which Kyiv believes would be the best deterrent against a future Russian onslaught. There seems no prospect the US would send its own troops to take part in a peace-keeping mission. One more realistic option would be for the Pentagon to provide logistical support to a proposed 'sky shield'. The plan envisages an air protection zone in the west and the centre of Ukraine, including over the capital Kyiv, enforced by European fighter jets. According to Trump, Vladimir Putin agreed during their summit in Alaska that Ukraine required security guarantees. Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff has said that these would be outside the auspices of Nato, but would be the equivalent of article 5, Nato's self-defence pact in which an attack on one is considered an attack on all. Russia's interpretation of guarantees, however, seems different from Witkoff's version. The Kremlin says it is categorically opposed to western troops in Ukraine. It is unlikely to accept a peacekeeping force, as part of any deal. Putin's war goals, meanwhile, are unchanged and framed in terms of Russia's own existential security needs. He is demanding the entirety of Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, including territory Russia has been unable since 2014 to capture. Putin also wants Ukraine's 'demilitarisation and denazification' – meaning severe limits on the size of Kyiv's army, as well as Zelenskyy's removal. The intense diplomacy of the past few days may seem like progress. But Russia's basic position hasn't changed. Putin has shown no sign he respects Ukraine's sovereignty or that he wants to stop the war. While Russia's bombing continues discussion of security guarantees seems moot. We have been here before. In 1994 Kyiv agreed to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for international security assurances. Under the terms of the Budapest memorandum the US, Russia, the UK, China and France said they would ensure Ukraine's 'territorial integrity' and 'political independence'. And to 'refrain from the use and threat of force'. At the time Ukrainian politicians thought giving up the country's nuclear arsenal left it open to Russian attack. The Clinton administration was insistent. In May 1997 Russia's president Boris Yeltsin signed a friendship treaty with his Ukrainian counterpart, Leonid Kuchma. Russia recognised Ukraine's post-Soviet borders. As part of the deal, Kyiv gave Moscow most of its navy, and leased the Crimean port of Sevastopol to the Russians for 20 years. Neither agreement stopped Russian aggression. In 2014 the Kremlin used its troops stationed in Crimea to seize and annex the peninsula. Putin now says the whole of Ukraine is 'historical Russia'. Ukraine's experience of betrayal – with late 20th-century pledges proving to be worthless – means it will want better guarantees this time.
