Trump-Putin meeting ‘maybe more about PR' than peace
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Scottish Sun
2 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Ukrainian troops cut Putin's two-pronged frontline breach in HALF in wake of Trump summit in major blow to Vlad
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) UKRAINE has managed to cut Russia's two-pronged frontline incursion in half in the latest major blow to Vladimir Putin. Moscow suddenly breached an area in the Donetsk region as a reported 110,000 troops advanced on the eastern front being swiftly contained and pushed back. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 Ukraine's armed forces prepare a Howitzer in Donetsk as they fight back against Russia's two-pronged frontline incursion Credit: Getty 7 Dozens of Russian military assets have been left up in flames as Ukraine continues to push back any advancing troops Credit: X/@NAFORaccoon 7 Soldiers of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, known as 'Kholodnyi Yar' fire an anti-aircraft gun equipped with a thermal imaging camera in Donetsk region Credit: Getty 7 Putin's bloodthirsty forces reportedly advanced by at least 10km north in two prongs as part of his attempt to capture the entire Donetsk region. The terrifying development came just days before the Alaska summit with Donald Trump and was seen as a warmongering Putin trying to gain the upper hand ahead of the talks. Moscow currently controls over 70 per cent of the highly-contested Donetsk region. Capturing it entirely would allow Putin's forces to cause major disruption to supply lines on the eastern front and force Ukraine into submission. read more in Ukraine war PEACE PLOT Trump & Putin 'plan West Bank-style occupation of Ukraine' to secure truce Despite the Russians making an initial burst into Ukrainian territory these advances soon petered out. Ukrainian troops have since been able to drive the enemy away from positions near Rubizhne, Zolotyi Kolodiaz, Vesele, Vilne Shakhove, Nikanorivka, and Sukhotske, according to data from DeepState. Fierce battles erupted near the coal mining town Dobropillia with the 1st Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard announcing several hundred casualties for the Russians. The valiant corps also destroyed a Russian tank, took out two IFVs and managed to damage 37 light vehicles and three artillery pieces. President Volodymyr Zelensky also publicly praised the 1st Corps as well as several other units working in the Donetsk region in recent days. Speaking on X today, he said: "We are defending our positions along the entire front line. Donald Trump vows full peace deal not 'mere ceasefire' after Alaska summit as Zelensky to head to White House "For the second day in a row, we have achieved successes in some extremely difficult areas in the Donetsk region – in the direction of Dobropillia and Pokrovsk. "The destruction of the occupiers who tried to infiltrate deeper into our positions continues." Zelensky, who is now planning to meet Trump at the White House on Monday to discuss a peace deal to end the war, added: "I am grateful to all our warriors for their resilience." He also made a special shout out to the units of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade 'Kholodnyi Yar' squad. Footage of the resilient forces battling on the ground and in the air in the village of Vesele shows them eliminating dozens of Putin's men. A clip shows a kamikaze drone smashing straight into two bumbling troops as they venture across a road. Another shows a missile being dropped from the sky and exploding upon impact as it hits its Russia target below. The Kholodnyi Yar unit were even responsible for capturing several soldiers and making them prisoners of war. Has the Alaska summit helped broker a peace deal? AS Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin both flew out of Alaska on Friday it appeared as though the summit was an utter failure in the eyes of Ukraine. There had been no agreements on a peace deal as Trump appeared to be hesitant to truly reveal what demands Putin was making. But a few hours after the meeting ended Trump took to social media to reveal the meeting was a success in his eyes. Trump said Russia and Ukraine both believe a full peace deal is "the best way" to end the war - rather than a short term ceasefire. Now diplomatic sources have revealed some of the initial details of the potential agreement, according to news agency AFP. The US has reportedly proposed an agreement that would see Ukraine not join Nato - but instead be offered Nato-esque protections similar to Article 5. Article 5 on Nato's founding treaty agrees collective defense - meaning allies see an attack on one as an attack on all of them. Trump reportedly floated the plan with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders during a call after his meeting with Putin. The US President is set to discuss the terms of an agreement with Zelensky on Monday when he travels to the White House. Zelensky did not directly address any potential plan but he did say on X: "We discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing security for Ukraine." 7 A Ukrainian walks through his decimated restaurant on the frontline near Dobropillia after a Russian strike at the start of the week Credit: Getty 7 A clip shows a kamikaze drone smashing straight into two bumbling Russian troops in Vesele Credit: X/@NAFORaccoon
Daily Mirror
4 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
ALASTAIR CAMPBELL: Putin ran rings around Trump - here's my advice for Zelensky
Writing for the Sunday Mirror, Alistair Campbell remembers his first encounter with Putin - and has some suggestions for avoiding another Oval Office nightmare It is more than a quarter of a century since the first of many official meetings I witnessed between Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin. St Petersburg, March 11, 2000. 'Putin clearly bright and very focused,' I told my diary, 'physically very fit, sharp-eyed but had a nice smile. He was definitely not going to be a pushover.' Back then the big issue was his war in Chechnya. 'It was clear he was definitely a believer in attack is the best form of defence,' I wrote. So it was then, so it is now, seven UK Prime Ministers and four US Presidents later. Volodymyr Zelensky was 22, an up-and-coming entertainer, who cannot have imagined he would become globally famous as a politician, leader and symbol of his country's fight for survival against Russia. Donald Trump was meanwhile putting together a failed bid to become US President as candidate for the centrist Reform Party. READ MORE: So of these three men who have become the central characters in the story of war and peace in Ukraine, Putin is the one with unmatched political and diplomatic experience. At the Alaska summit on Friday, it showed. He ran rings round Trump. Gave nothing. An indicted war criminal, he received re-admittance to the global community, after years as a pariah, courtesy of the leader of the most powerful democracy on earth. It cannot have been easy for Zelensky, in common with the rest of us, to have to find out what Trump and Putin discussed by staying tuned to 24-hour news. The bad news is that Trump failed totally in his efforts to get Putin to accept a ceasefire. The good news for Zelensky is that things could have been worse … many feared Trump would have signed up to the idea of Putin keeping the land he has grabbed, and more, so desperate was he just to land 'a deal.' Zelensky is still in the game, and has the chance to put his case to Trump again in the White House tomorrow. By then, even Trump and the sycophants who surround him will be aware of the near universal global judgement that Putin was the winner of their encounter. Trump will not be happy about that. Respecting a rival leader is one thing. Being completely played by him is another. Zelensky should insist on no media engagement until their meeting is done. He should speak Ukrainian so he has time to think things through, and slow things down via the interpretation, if Trump repeats the bullying exercise of their last encounter in the Oval Office. Above all, with European leaders echoing his view publicly and privately, he should explain yet again why Putin is not to be trusted and why Trump, if he is to regain any of the considerable reserves of credibility he lost on Friday, needs to get real about it.
South Wales Guardian
6 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
Starmer speaks with Trump after president's Ukraine ceasefire talks with Putin
The Prime Minister joined a call with Mr Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as other European leaders, after the US-Russia ceasefire talks, Downing Street said. Mr Trump did not secure a deal to end the conflict in Ukraine after nearly three hours of talks with his Russian counterpart at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska. After the negotiations, which took place alongside senior officials, the two presidents refused to answer questions from reporters. However, both made statements, with Mr Trump saying 'some great progress' was made with 'many points' agreed and 'very few' remaining. After the summit, Mr Trump suggested there were only a few major stumbling blocks holding up the prospect of a peace deal. Speaking to Fox News, he said it was now up to Mr Zelensky to 'make a deal' to end the war. In a call after the summit, Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky spoke with the US president alongside leaders from Italy, France, Finland, Germany and Poland, as well as Nato's Mark Rutte, and Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission. Sir Keir is due to speak again with European leaders this morning. Mr Zelensky said the call began as a one-on-one between him and the US president, before European Nato leaders joined them. The Ukrainian leader also suggested he would travel to Washington DC at the start of next week to continue talks. Writing on social media, the Ukrainian president said: 'We support President Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the USA, and Russia. Ukraine emphasises that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this. 'On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington DC, to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation.' European allies must be 'involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America', he added. Writing on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump later described his meeting with the Russian leader as 'very successful'. He claimed that during the call between allies it was 'determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a peace agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere ceasefire agreement, which often times do not hold up'. After Mr Zelensky's visit to the US on Monday, Mr Trump said he hoped the Ukrainian leader could meet Mr Putin, adding: 'Potentially, millions of people's lives will be saved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!' British personnel are ready to arrive in Ukraine 'days' after Moscow and Kyiv agree to put fighting on hold, the Ministry of Defence earlier said as Mr Trump met Mr Putin. Planning has continued on an 'enduring basis' to deploy the so-called Multinational Force Ukraine to keep peace once the war is concluded, the MoD said. The force, which resulted from months of talks between 30-plus countries known as the 'coalition of the willing', is aimed at warding off future Russian aggression.
