The Latest: Trump planning for Putin-Zelenskyy meeting while affirming security guarantees
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, after meeting with President Donald Trump and European leaders Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) JE flag wire: true flag sponsored: false article_type: pubinfo.section: cms.site.custom.site_domain : thestar.com sWebsitePrimaryPublication : publications/toronto_star bHasMigratedAvatar : false firstAuthor.avatar :
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27 minutes ago
Poilievre's byelection win sets the table for his return to Parliament this fall
After a summer of rodeos, dinosaurs and door-knocking, Pierre Poilievre is now officially heading back to Ottawa as a Conservative member of Parliament for Alberta. The Tory leader will represent the sprawling rural riding of Battle River–Crowfoot, in the province's eastern region, after winning a byelection on Monday. Getting to know the people in this region has been the privilege of my life, Poilievre told a crowd at a victory party in Camrose, Alta., on Monday night. In fact, I've had a hell of a lot of fun. Poilievre spent weeks this summer meeting constituents, attending events and stopping by local businesses in his new riding. It was precisely the kind of boots-on-the-ground campaign he ran in 2004 when he became an MP for the first time in the Ontario riding of Carleton. It's also exactly the kind of local campaign he could not run in Carleton in the spring, when his leader's tour criss-crossed the country for 36 days, before holding a final rally in his home riding the night before the April 28 election. Poilievre lost to Liberal MP Bruce Fanjoy, who had spent more than two years campaigning against him in the Ottawa-area riding. Poilievre's return to the House of Commons in one of the safest Conservative seats in Canada was all but guaranteed, observers said. Now Poilievre's attention will turn to two things: the fall sitting of Parliament and his upcoming leadership review. WATCH | Poilievre projected to win byelection, return as MP: Top priorities When Parliament resumes on Sept. 15, Poilievre will square off with Prime Minister Mark Carney in the House of Commons for the first time. The [Conservative] Party and the country have moved past the election campaign. We're now in a new government. He's going to have to show that he's really good at holding their feet to the fire, said Amanda Galbraith, a Conservative strategist and partner at Oyster Group. Poilievre has already signalled some of what he plans to focus on. At a news conference on Aug. 7, he said he will introduce a bill in the House of Commons called the Canadian Sovereignty Act (new window) to speed up the development of major projects. He also said Conservatives were calling on Carney to begin construction of at least two pipeline projects, a new natural gas liquefaction project and a road to the Ring of Fire in Ontario by March 14. WATCH | Conservative leader celebrates byelection result in Battle River–Crowfoot: With Poilievre once again leading the party in Parliament, Andrew Scheer will return to his Opposition House leader duties. There will be changes to the party's front bench, too. The Conservative leader pledged in the spring to shuffle his shadow cabinet — a group of 74 MPs appointed to critic or leadership roles in the House of Commons — this fall. We've seen which ministers are performing, which ministers are not, where the weaknesses lie in that government. So they'll realign, said Galbraith. Poilievre's former campaign manager, Jenni Byrne, said in a recent podcast interview that the fall House sitting is when the real next chapter starts for the party. The Conservatives will focus on issues like immigration and crime, said Byrne, who noted in the interview that she's still involved as an adviser to Poilievre and takes calls on a daily basis. The cost of living will likely remain a top priority for the Opposition, particularly as trade and U.S. tariffs command the government's attention. Leadership review to start 2026 Ginny Roth, a partner at Crestview Strategy and a Conservative commentator, said Poilievre has been successful as Opposition leader in pointing out the places where Canadians are struggling and where the government is failing. The Conservative Party will hold a national convention in Calgary in late January. The party's constitution stipulates that any leader who has just lost an election will face a vote on their future. Running a byelection campaign all summer has meant Poilievre has not been travelling the country. Enlarge image (new window) Poilievre meets a supporter during a break at a Battle River-Crowfoot byelection candidate forum in Camrose, Alta., on July 29. Photo: The Canadian Press / Jason Franson The rallies that were a fixture of his leadership since 2022 have been scrapped in favour of door-knocking. And while that's likely given him a good window into the mindset of Conservative voters during the Carney government's post-election honeymoon, it's also meant he has not been in the national spotlight. While that might feel frustrating when you come off this high-energy election, I think it was the right approach. Lie low, get back to basics, Roth said. The Tory caucus has been firm in its support for Poilievre, and it is widely expected that he will win the leadership review — not least because no one has so far publicly challenged his leadership. There's a lot to be excited about and I think Conservative members will recognize that in the leadership review, Roth said. Galbraith said things can shift quickly, and Poilievre can't take the leadership review for granted. For example, he was going to be prime minister until he wasn't going to be prime minister, right? she said. With files from CBC News
Toronto Sun
27 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Despite a flurry of meetings on Russia's war in Ukraine, major obstacles to peace remain
Published Aug 19, 2025 • 4 minute read President Donald Trump, centre, walks in the Cross Hall with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, followed by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. Photo by Alex Brandon / AP Photo The second Oval Office meeting in six months between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went off smoothly Monday, in sharp contrast to their disastrous encounter in February. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account European leaders joined the discussions in a show of transatlantic unity and both they and Zelenskyy repeatedly thanked Trump for his efforts to end Russia's three-year war on Ukraine. 'I don't want to hide the fact that I wasn't sure it would go this way,' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in Washington. 'But my expectations were not just met, they were exceeded.' But despite the guarded optimism and friendly banter among the leaders, there was little concrete progress on the main obstacles to ending the war — and that deadlock likely favours Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose forces continue to make steady, if slow progress on the ground in Ukraine. 'Putin cannot get enough champagne or whatever he's drinking,' Gabrielius Landsbergis, a former foreign minister of Lithuania, said of Monday's meeting. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. As NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Fox News: 'All the details have to be hammered out.' Here is a look at the issues that need to be resolved: Security guarantees for Ukraine To agree to a peace deal with Russia, Ukraine wants assurances that it can deter any future attacks by the Kremlin's forces. That means, Zelenskyy says, a strong Ukrainian army that is provided with weapons and training by Western partners. It could potentially also mean offering Ukraine a guarantee resembling NATO's collective defence mandate, which sees an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack on all. How that would work is not clear. Additionally, Kyiv's European allies are looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement in Ukraine. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, have signed up to support the initiative, although the role that the U.S. might play in such a force is unclear. European leaders, fearing Moscow's territorial ambitions won't stop in Ukraine, are keen to lock America's military might into the plan. Trump said he'll help provide protection but stopped short of committing American troops to the effort, instead promising U.S. 'coordination.' Russia has repeatedly rejected the idea of such a force, saying that it will not accept NATO troops in Ukraine. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired an online meeting Tuesday of the coalition countries. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Once officials have discussed proposals in more detail, Rutte said, a virtual meeting will take place with Trump and European leaders. Agreeing on a ceasefire Ukraine and its European supporters have repeatedly called for a ceasefire while peace talks are held. Putin has balked at that prospect. With his forces inching forward in Ukraine, he has little incentive to freeze their movement. Ahead of his meeting with the Russian leader last week, Trump threatened Russia with 'severe consequences' if it didn't accept a ceasefire. Afterward, he dropped that demand and said it was best to focus on a comprehensive peace deal — as Putin has pushed for. Trump said in Monday's Oval Office meeting with Zelenskyy that a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine was 'unnecessary.' But after his closed-door meeting with European leaders and Zelenskyy, Trump told reporters that 'all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Where Trump ultimately falls on that issue is important because it could affect how much Ukrainian land Russia has seized by the time the two sides get around to hammering out how much it could keep. Occupied Ukrainian territory Zelenskyy and European leaders said that Putin has demanded that Ukraine give up the Donbas, an industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has seen some of the most intense fighting but that Russian forces have failed to capture completely. Moscow's forces also hold Crimea as well as parts of six other regions — all adding up to about one-fifth of Ukraine. Zelenskyy has long noted the Ukrainian Constitution prohibits breaking up his country. He has also suggested the demand for territory would serve as a springboard for future invasion. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Rutte said the possibility of Ukraine ceding occupied territory to Russia in return for peace wasn't discussed in Monday's talks. That is an issue for Zelenskyy and Putin to consider together, he said to Fox News. A Putin-Zelenskyy meeting Zelenskyy has repeatedly suggested sitting down with Putin, even challenging the Russian leader to meet him as part of direct peace talks between the two sides in Turkey in May. Putin snubbed that offer, saying that significant progress on an agreement would have to be made before the pair met in person. On Monday, Trump appeared to back Zelenskyy's plan. 'I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy,' Trump said in a social media post. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He said he would join the two leaders afterward. But when discussing a phone call held after the meeting between Trump and the Russian leader, Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov gave no indication that either a bilateral or a trilateral meeting with Ukraine had been agreed. European leaders know that Putin doesn't want to meet Zelenskyy and that he won't allow Western troops in Ukraine — but they're expressing optimism that these things could happen in the hopes of forcing Putin to be the one to say no to Trump, according to Janis Kluge of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. 'Europeans hype up expectations to create a reality in which Putin disappoints,' he wrote on X. — Associated Press writers Sam McNeil in Brussels and Emma Burrows in London contributed. Read More Toronto Blue Jays Canada Sunshine Girls World Columnists
Toronto Sun
27 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
Thank you, Mr. President. Zelenskyy deploys gratitude diplomacy for second visit to Oval Office
Published Aug 19, 2025 • 2 minute read President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office at the White House, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington. Photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson / AP Photo LONDON — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wasn't going to risk being accused of being ungrateful this time. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account With peace talks on the table and a chance to rebound from his disastrous White House scolding six months ago, Zelenskyy made sure to show his gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump during Monday's meeting in the Oval Office. In fact, he thanked Trump nine times in the first minute of their brief public meeting that preceded a short news conference. 'Thanks so much, Mr. President,' he said. 'First of all, thank you for the invitation and thank you very much for your efforts, personal efforts to stop killings and stop this war. Thank you.' In February, Zelenskyy's meeting with Trump quickly spiraled into a public relations disaster when Vice President JD Vance berated him for not being sufficiently thankful. 'You should be thanking the President for trying to bring an end to this conflict,' Vance said in a moment that caught Zelenskyy off guard. 'Have you said thank you once? In this entire meeting? No, in this entire meeting, have you said thank you?' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Zelenskyy tried to defend himself, saying he had always expressed his appreciation to the U.S. for the military and financial support it provided after Russia invaded it in 2022. But the damage was done. World leaders took their cue and learned that flattery is the way to winning over the unpredictable Trump. With a chance to make a second impression in the same setting, gratitude diplomacy was front and centre for Zelenskyy and his peers. He went on to extend his thanks to Melania Trump for personally writing to Russian President Vladimir Putin to think about the Ukrainian children and urge peace. And he thanked his European allies who had arrived as reinforcements in Washington to present a unified front to push for a ceasefire and security guarantees if there is a peace deal with Russia. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In a second meeting with top leaders from Europe, Zelenskyy expressed his thanks at least seven times, including two mentions of a map Trump had presented him. 'Thank you for the map, by the way,' he said. He was not alone. Trump himself used the T-word about a dozen times in the later meeting and heaped praise on his fellow leaders from Europe. He called Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni a great leader with a long career ahead, said he liked French President Emmanuel Macron even more since he's gotten to know him — something he noted was unusual for him — and he complimented German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's tan. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer thanked the president four times, noting that after three years of fighting, nobody else had been able to bring the conflict as close to a possible end. 'So I thank you for that,' Starmer said. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, who addressed Trump as 'dear Donald' during the meeting, later called the president 'amazing.' Read More Toronto Blue Jays Canada Sunshine Girls World Columnists
