Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,261
Fighting
The Ukrainian military said its drone units hit the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region. It was not immediately clear what the extent of the damage was at the refinery, which, together with the Krasnodar refinery, processed 7.2 million metric tonnes of crude oil in 2024.
Local Russian emergency services said they had extinguished a fire at the Afipsky refinery, saying it was caused by fallen drone debris. The Russian Ministry of Defence said air defence systems had shot down nine Ukrainian drones in the region overnight.
Russia's Defence Ministry said air defence systems also shot down eight British-made Storm Shadow missiles launched by the Ukrainian army over the past 24 hours.
Russia also hit a Ukrainian railway hub used for transferring weapons and military equipment to Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, the ministry added.
Gas supplies continued on Thursday through the Orlovka interconnector in southern Ukraine, which was attacked by Russian drones on Wednesday, the Ukrainian gas transmission operator said.
Ceasefire
Russia's Deputy United Nations Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may meet with United States President Donald Trump next week, but said he was not aware of any planned meeting between Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Trump said Putin does not have to agree to meet with Zelenskyy in order to have a meeting with him.
Putin said that the United Arab Emirates is one of the suitable locations to hold a meeting with Trump.
Putin added that he was not 'on the whole' against meeting Zelenskyy, adding that 'certain conditions should be created' for such a meeting. He stressed that the current situation was 'far' from being ready for it.
French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed France's full support for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the launch of talks aimed at reaching a lasting and solid peace, following a 'long discussion' with Zelenskyy and other European leaders.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she had spoken with Zelenskyy about the developments of the last days and next steps.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discussed the conflict in Ukraine during a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Sanctions and tariffs
Russia and India stressed their commitment to a 'strategic partnership' in bilateral security talks in Moscow, a day after Trump announced higher tariffs on imports from India because of its purchases of Russian oil.
Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval as saying that New Delhi was looking forward to a visit from Putin by the end of the year.
Russia's central bank has tweaked its rules for non-residents, allowing foreigners' funds from special type-C accounts to pass to Russian investors when involved in the exchange of assets, a move that could free up blocked capital in Russia and abroad.
As Russia sought to ratchet up military production for the war in Ukraine, a state-owned explosives manufacturer circumvented Western sanctions by purchasing equipment made by Germany's Siemens from a middleman that imports technology from China, the Reuters news agency reported.
Regional developments
Zelenskyy said he discussed a new financial assistance programme that will 'strengthen Ukrainians now and in the post-war period' on a call with International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva.
Russia said it had protested to Italy this week over what it called 'odious' anti-Russian statements, in an ongoing row over the cancellation of a concert by Russian conductor Valery Gergiev in Italy.
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Al Jazeera
17 minutes ago
- Al Jazeera
Europe promises to ‘stand firmly' with Ukraine as Trump, Putin plan summit
European leaders have welcomed plans by United States President Donald Trump to hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on ending the war in Ukraine, but called for continued support for Kyiv and pressure on Moscow to achieve a just and lasting peace. The statement by France, Italy, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the European Commission late on Saturday came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy insisted that Kyiv will not surrender land to Russia to buy peace. Trump, who has promised to end the three-year war, plans to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, saying the parties were close to a deal that could resolve the conflict. Details of a potential agreement have not been announced, but Trump said it would involve 'some swapping of territories to the betterment of both'. It could require Ukraine to surrender significant parts of its territory, an outcome Zelenskyy and his European allies say would only encourage Russian aggression. The European leaders, in their joint statement, stressed their belief that the only approach to end the war successfully required active diplomacy, support for Ukraine, as well as pressure on Russia. They also said any diplomatic solution to the war must protect Ukraine's and Europe's security interests. 'We agree that these vital interests include the need for robust and credible security guarantees that enable Ukraine to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,' they said, adding that 'the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine.' The leaders said they were ready to help diplomatically and promised to maintain their 'substantial military and financial support for Ukraine'. 'We underline our unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,' they said, adding: 'We continue to stand firmly alongside Ukraine.' Chevening talks The statement came after US Vice President JD Vance met British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and representatives of Ukraine and European allies on Saturday at Chevening House, a country mansion southeast of London, to discuss Trump's push for peace. Zelenskyy's chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, who took part in the talks with European leaders and US officials, said Ukraine was grateful for their constructive approach. 'A ceasefire is necessary – but the front line is not a border,' Yermak said on X, reiterating Kyiv's position that it will reject any territorial concessions to Russia. Yermak also thanked Vance for 'respecting all points of view' and his efforts towards a 'reliable peace'. The Reuters news agency, quoting a European official, said European representatives had put forward a counterproposal, while the Wall Street Journal said the document included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken. According to the Journal, the document also stated that any territorial exchange must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees. 'You can't start a process by ceding territory in the middle of fighting,' the newspaper quoted a European negotiator as saying. There was no immediate comment from the White House on the European counterproposal. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke earlier in the day and promised to find a 'just and lasting peace' in Ukraine, pledging 'unwavering support' for Zelenskyy while welcoming Trump's efforts to end the fighting, according to a spokesperson for Downing Street. Macron separately stressed the need for Ukraine to play a role in any negotiations. 'Ukraine's future cannot be decided without the Ukrainians, who have been fighting for their freedom and security for over three years now,' he wrote on X after what he said were calls with Zelenskyy, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Starmer. 'Europeans will also necessarily be part of the solution, as their own security is at stake,' he added. Trilateral meeting? Meanwhile, Reuters and the NBC News broadcaster, quoting US officials, reported that Trump is open to a trilateral summit with Putin and Zelenskyy. But, for now, the White House is planning a bilateral meeting as requested by the Russian leader, they said. The summit in Alaska, the far-north territory which Russia sold to the US in 1867, would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. Nine months after that meeting, Moscow sent troops into Ukraine. Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan, during Trump's first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January, but the US president has failed to broker peace in Ukraine as he promised he could. Ukraine and the EU have meanwhile pushed back on peace proposals that they view as ceding too much to Putin, whose troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Russia justifies the war on the grounds of what it calls threats to its security from a Ukrainian pivot towards the West. Kyiv and its Western allies say the invasion is an imperial-style land grab. Moscow has claimed four Ukrainian regions – Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – as well as the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014. Russian forces do not fully control all the territory in the four regions, and Russia has demanded that Ukraine pull out its troops from the parts that it still controls. Ukraine says its troops still have a small foothold in Russia's Kursk region, a year after they crossed the border to try to gain leverage in any negotiations. Russia said it had expelled Ukrainian troops from Kursk in April. Fierce fighting meanwhile continues to rage along the more than 1,000-km (620-mile) front line in eastern and southern Ukraine, where Russian forces hold about a fifth of the country's territory. Russian troops are slowly advancing in Ukraine's east, but their summer offensive has so far failed to achieve a major breakthrough, Ukrainian military analysts say. Ukrainians remain defiant. 'Not a single serviceman will agree to cede territory, to pull out troops from Ukrainian territories,' Olesia Petritska, 51, told Reuters as she gestured to hundreds of small Ukrainian flags in the Kyiv central square commemorating fallen soldiers.
Al Jazeera
4 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,263
Here is how things stand on Sunday, August 10: Fighting Russian forces launched a drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's Kherson region, killing at least two people and wounding 16 others, according to Ukrainian officials. Another drone hit the bus as the police were responding to the attack, injuring three officers, the police added. Russian forces also launched 36 other attacks on settlements across the Kherson region through Friday and Saturday, killing at least one more person and injuring three, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Russian attacks on Ukraine's Zaporizhia region killed two people travelling in a car in the Bilenkivska community on Saturday morning, and a 61-year-old woman who was in her home in the Vasylivka district, a local official reported. In Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian attack killed a 56-year-old woman and wounded a 62-year-old man in the city of Nikopol, while in the Donetsk region, other Russian attacks killed four people and wounded nine, according to officials. A Ukrainian drone attack on a house in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine killed one person, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported, while another assault on a car in the Borisovsky district of Russia's Belgorod region killed a husband and wife. Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that its forces had taken control of another Ukrainian village in the Donetsk region. The TASS news agency identified the village as Yablunivka. Russia's Defence Ministry also said that Moscow's forces shot down 224 Ukrainian drones on Friday night into Saturday. Russian forces launched a drone attack on a bus in Ukraine's Kherson region, killing at least two people and wounding 16 others, according to Ukrainian officials. Another drone hit the bus as the police were responding to the attack, injuring three officers, the police added. Russian forces also launched 36 other attacks on settlements across the Kherson region through Friday and Saturday, killing at least one more person and injuring three, according to Governor Oleksandr Prokudin. Russian attacks on Ukraine's Zaporizhia region killed two people travelling in a car in the Bilenkivska community on Saturday morning, and a 61-year-old woman who was in her home in the Vasylivka district, a local official reported. In Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk region, a Russian attack killed a 56-year-old woman and wounded a 62-year-old man in the city of Nikopol, while in the Donetsk region, other Russian attacks killed four people and wounded nine, according to officials. A Ukrainian drone attack on a house in Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine killed one person, Russia's state-run TASS news agency reported, while another assault on a car in the Borisovsky district of Russia's Belgorod region killed a husband and wife. Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that its forces had taken control of another Ukrainian village in the Donetsk region. The TASS news agency identified the village as Yablunivka. Russia's Defence Ministry also said that Moscow's forces shot down 224 Ukrainian drones on Friday night into Saturday. Politics and Diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rejected concessions of land in any peace deal with Russia as United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to meet in Alaska on August 15. Trump has said that his meeting with Putin could see 'some swapping of territories' between Russia and Ukraine, 'to the betterment of both'. Zelenskyy said that 'Ukrainians will not gift their land to the occupier', and that 'decisions without Ukraine' would not bring peace. The leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Finland, together with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, issued a joint statement welcoming Trump's efforts, while stressing the need to maintain support for Ukraine and pressure on Russia. The leaders said 'they remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force'. The US's NBC News broadcaster cited an unnamed US official as saying that the Trump administration was considering inviting Zelenskyy to join the US and Russian presidents at their Alaska meeting. The Wall Street Journal also reported that European officials who met US Vice President JD Vance in the UK on Saturday had presented a counterproposal for peace, which included demands that a ceasefire must take place before any other steps are taken. The proposal also said that any territory exchanges must be reciprocal, with firm security guarantees. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron also spoke on Saturday and pledged to find a 'just and lasting peace' in Ukraine, while welcoming Trump's efforts to end the fighting, a Downing Street spokesperson said. The two leaders also pledged 'their unwavering support to President Zelenskyy', the spokesperson said.
Qatar Tribune
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Trump nominates financial policy aide Stephen Miran for vacant Federal seat
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