Zelensky: Funding Ukraine military with $90B weapons package, security guarantees discussed
Among the topics broached included financial support for Ukraine's military from Europe and obtaining American-made weapons purchased by Europeans for an estimated $90 billion.
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President Donald J Trump meets President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, on Monday, August 18, 2025.
Pool/ABACA/Shutterstock
Also discussed was the US purchasing Ukraine-made drones as a way of assisting Kyiv.
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New York Times
a few seconds ago
- New York Times
Europe's Leaders Succeeded at Summit, but Will That Help End the War?
In the annals of trans-Atlantic diplomacy, Monday's meeting between President Trump and European leaders may go down as one of the stranger summits in memory. Historic, yet uncertain in its outcome; momentous, yet ephemeral in its effect on the war in Ukraine; choreographed, yet hostage to the impulses of a single man, Mr. Trump. As Europe's leaders began returning to their slumbering capitals, diplomats and foreign policy experts struggled to make sense of a midsummer's meeting with Mr. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelensky that often had a dreamlike quality — with made-for-TV moments and unexpected interludes. The seven European leaders put forward a show of support for Mr. Zelensky and unity with each other. They won a potentially vital, if vague, expression of support from Mr. Trump for postwar security guarantees for Ukraine and sidestepped a discussion of territorial concessions, according to Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany. Still, they all but acquiesced to Mr. Trump's abandonment of a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine as a condition for further talks. Analysts said that put Europe's leaders essentially where they were before Mr. Trump's meeting with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Alaska last week: subject to the president's faith that he can conjure a deal with the Russian leader to end the grinding war. 'In Anchorage and in Washington, it was a triumph of empty vagueness and meaningless commitments,' said Gérard Araud, who served as France's ambassador to the United States during Mr. Trump's first term. 'In both cases, no firm decision has been taken. Nothing has changed.' Mr. Araud said Mr. Trump's reassuring words about security guarantees, and the lack of a blowup between him and Mr. Zelensky, were a relief for Europeans. But the absence of a detailed, agreed plan for negotiations with Russia, he said, could store up problems for the future. The worrisome scenario, Mr. Araud said, was 'talks and talks, which lead to nothing but possible misunderstanding.' Diplomats pointed out that the remarkable spectacle of European leaders ditching their summer holiday plans to rush to Washington was prompted less by a rare opportunity to make peace than by the fear that Mr. Trump might attempt to bully Mr. Zelensky, as he did in a turbulent Oval Office meeting in February. This time, the fear was Mr. Trump would try to force the Ukrainian president into a one-sided, land-for-peace deal with Russia. 'Zelensky and seven European leaders rushed to Washington for one reason,' said R. Nicholas Burns, a former American ambassador to NATO and China. 'They don't trust Trump's commitment to a free and independent Ukraine or his mystifying infatuation with Putin and his authoritarian persona.' In one of the day's more dramatic moments, Mr. Trump left his guests to place a call to Mr. Putin. They discussed the possibility of a bilateral meeting between Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelensky, and a trilateral follow-up including Mr. Trump. Mr. Putin suggested Moscow as a venue, an offer he first floated in Anchorage, a senior European diplomat briefed on the call said. European leaders were frightened by that scenario, but Mr. Trump politely declined Mr. Putin, the diplomat said. In another odd interlude, Mr. Trump was overheard on an open microphone telling President Emmanuel Macron of France, 'I think he wants to make a deal for me. Do you understand that? As crazy as it sounds.' Mr. Macron may have more experience than any Western leader with the frustrations of negotiating with Mr. Putin. He spent early 2022 flying back and forth from Moscow to sit across a long table from the Russian president in a marathon, ultimately fruitless, quest to talk him out of invading Ukraine. Yet on Monday, Mr. Macron was scrupulously polite and upbeat about Mr. Trump's prospects for succeeding where he had failed. 'Your president indeed is very confident about the capacity he has to get this deal done, which is good news for all of us,' he said in an interview with NBC News. Mr. Macron also has plenty of experience dealing with Mr. Trump, having come into office four months after his first inauguration. The relationship has had its ups and downs. A military parade on the Champs-Élysées in 2017 dazzled Mr. Trump, but crossed wires over Israel and Gaza at a Group of 7 meeting in Canada in June left him grouchy and complaining that 'Emmanuel' is 'always wrong.' But on Monday, the French president followed a time-tested script in placating his host. 'European leaders have figured out the Trump playbook and are playing it well,' said Mujtaba Rahman, an expert on Europe at the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. 'Europe now clearly has a seat at the table, indeed many seats at the table,' he added, noting that even the European Commission, a longtime bugbear for Mr. Trump, was represented by its president, Ursula von der Leyen. Mr. Rahman said the leaders not only handled Mr. Trump well but also presented a coherent and consistent approach in dealing with him. While Mr. Merz and Mr. Macron both raised the importance of a cease-fire, neither pressed it to the point that it antagonized Mr. Trump or opened fissures in their unified front. 'We were well prepared and well-coordinated,' Mr. Merz told reporters after the meeting. 'We also represented the same viewpoints. I think that really pleased the American president, in the sense that he noticed that we Europeans are speaking with one voice here.' Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain, who has spearheaded Europe's efforts to try to build a multinational peacekeeping force for Ukraine, emphasized Mr. Trump's openness to an American role in that effort. He said it was also clear now that no peace deal would be negotiated over Mr. Zelensky's head. 'That is a recognition of the principle that on some of these issues, whether it's territory or the exchange of prisoners, or the very serious issue of the return of children, that is something where Ukraine must be at the table,' said Mr. Starmer, before he returned to an interrupted family vacation in Scotland. (Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children were abducted and deported into Russia during the war, leading to often frantic searches by their parents.) For Europe's leaders, these facts underline how much has changed since they gathered in London in March after Mr. Trump's explosive first meeting with Mr. Zelensky. There, they contemplated a future in which the United States seemed determined to forsake its post-World War II role as a guarantor of peace in Europe. Since then, NATO's members, prodded by Mr. Trump, have pledged increases in their military budgets. They have put together plans for an ambitious 'coalition of the willing' to help secure a peace in Ukraine. Britain and France have aligned doctrines for the use of their nuclear arsenals; Britain and Germany signed a mutual defense treaty; while the European Union has set up a funding mechanism to allow members to borrow to meet their larger defense commitments. And yet, diplomats and analysts warned, the fate of the trans-Atlantic alliance still hangs in the balance, dependent on an American president who was uncharacteristically polite to Mr. Zelensky and his European guests on Monday but could shift his tone on a dime, particularly after his next encounter with Mr. Putin. 'While President Trump proved effective in convincing NATO allies to commit to a historic increase in defense spending,' Mr. Burns, the former NATO ambassador, said, 'he has failed to lead on the greatest threat to the future of the alliance — a vengeful and violent Vladimir Putin.' Jim Tankersley contributed reporting from Berlin and Roger Cohen from Paris.
USA Today
a few seconds ago
- USA Today
Ukraine's Zelenskyy avoids Trump mauling at White House. Will he get Putin meeting?
President Donald Trump wants Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia's Vladimir Putin to hold direct peace talks. Will it happen? With a little help from his European friends, an outfit that resembled a suit instead of his trademark T-shirt, a hand-delivered letter from his wife for First Lady Melania Trump and a volley of ingratiating "thank yous," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy avoided the public mauling he received during his previous visit to the White House. But will it lead to the next apparent step toward peace with Russia? A meeting with President Vladmir Putin. President Donald Trump seems to think so. "I think he wants to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal for me," Trump was caught on a hot mic saying to French President Emmanual Macron, referring to Putin, as he prepared to sit down on Aug. 18 with Macron and six other European leaders who had traveled to Washington to shore up support for Zelenskyy and Ukraine. Zelenskyy gets warmer reception: Takeaways from high stakes Trump meeting Many Ukrainians, European officials and political scientists questioned Trump's commitment to Ukraine after he rolled out the red carpet for Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15. After their summit concluded, Trump echoed Russia''s position on peace negotiations and appeared to put his threat to impose onerous sanctions on Russia on the shelf. In Washington, Trump told Zelenskyy the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war, though the extent of any promised assistance was not immediately clear. He also appeared to dismiss the need for any ceasefire, a key demand of Ukraine, before peace negotiations can start. It remains wholly unclear if Ukraine would be willing to cede territory stolen by Russia before and during the war to achieve peace. Zelenskyy's been saying since 2022, when Russia's full-scale invasion began, that land-for-peace is a non-starter. Waiting on Putin Still, the Putin factor may be cloudier than all of these unknowns. Following Monday's meeting, Trump said he called Putin. It was around midnight Moscow time, according to Yuri Ushakov, a Russian foreign policy advisor whose remarks were published in state media. They spoke for about 40 minutes. In a post on his Truth Social media platform, Trump said he called Putin to start arranging talks between Russia's leader and Zelenskyy. He said he wanted to see Putin and Zelenskyy hold face-to-face talks, in a location to be determined. After that, Trump would join Putin and Zelenskyy for a discussion aimed at pushingthe two warring sides closer together. Zelenskyy changed his attire: Key moments from White House meeting with Trump Zelenskyy described the talks with Trump as the "best" so far. Trump said they were "very good." German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signaled the meeting might happen within the next two weeks. French President Emmanuel Macron suggested Geneva as a possible location. The plan for direct talks sounds straightforward. It may not be, according to Phillips O'Brien, a historian and professor of strategic war studies at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. O'Brien has closely tracked the war in a daily newsletter. On Aug. 19, O'Brien wrote that the Putin-Zelenskyy "may or may not happen." For a start, for more than three years Moscow has repeatedly nixed the idea of a Putin-Zelenskyy sit-down. The two leaders are bitter enemies. Putin, by all accounts, runs an inscrutable if strongman geopolitical playbook. Trump's own relationship with both Putin and Zelenskyy has been winding, running hot, then cool, then hot. Overnight Russian attack: Ukraine says it shows Putin does not want peace Moscow itself did not shed any immediate clarifying light. "The idea was discussed that it would be worthwhile to explore the possibility of raising the level of representatives from the Ukrainian and Russian sides − that is, those representatives participating in the mentioned direct negotiations," Ushakov, the Kremlin aide, said in reaction to the proposed Putin-Zelenskyy meeting that would subsequently feature Trump, in remarks posted on the Kremlin's Telegram channel.
USA Today
a few seconds ago
- USA Today
Daily Briefing: Trump calls Putin
Good morning!🙋🏼♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert. Welcome to the Daily Briefing, "Shiny Bug Edition." Trump urged Putin to arrange meeting with Zelenskyy President Donald Trump called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday to urge him to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the latest effort to end hostilities between the two warring nations. European leaders to Zelenskyy to Trump to Putin: The call capped a day filled with meetings at the White House among leaders of Ukraine, Great Britian, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, NATO and the European Union. Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials said Russia attacked the central city of Kremenchuk with drones overnight. What does fierce Hurricane Erin mean for the rest of the season? Hurricane Erin briefly attained Category 5 status over the weekend as it intensified in the Atlantic. Category 5 hurricanes are the rarest of storms, with only a small fraction of all tropical cyclones reaching that intense wind speed of 157 mph or more. But experts told USA TODAY that Erin's Cat 5 status doesn't affect the forecast for the rest of the season overall. The most recent Colorado State University forecast, released earlier in August, calls for a total of eight hurricanes in 2025, of which three are predicted to be major. Here's how ocean temperatures can contribute to storm strength. More news to know now What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here. Texas Democrats return home Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives returned to Austin on Monday after leaving the state two weeks ago in protest of a Republican plan to redraw congressional maps to help the party gain seats in 2026. The protest temporarily blocked House Republicans from having a quorum to move the redistricting plan forward and drew national attention to President Trump's effort to avoid losing the Republican majority in Congress next year. But the lawmakers laid out conditions for their return to work: Republicans must adjourn a first special session in the state House and California must move forward with a retaliatory plan to redraw its own maps in favor of Democrats. Is America done with clean energy? New wind and solar power installations, and the cheap, clean energy they provide to America, may not survive the Trump administration. Building on public concerns and his own dislike of "ugly," "disgusting" wind turbines and "ridiculous" solar farms, President Donald Trump has issued a blizzard of directives and executive orders limiting new solar and wind projects across the county. In at least one case, the administration yanked back an already-issued permit. Instead, the administration is promoting energy production from oil, natural gas and coal, which the Biden administration had made more expensive through regulations Trump is now dismantling. Meanwhile, power demands are at an all-time high and rising. Today's talkers She went viral during Bama Rush. Now she's stepping away. Nearly four years and more than a million followers after her own rush experience, Kylan Darnell has become the face of 'Rush Tok,' the nickname for the corner of the internet documenting sorority recruitment. But behind the brand deals, designer outfits and elaborate costumes, the process was taking a toll. Over the years, she's figured out ways to manage the pressure. But this year, some of the online negativity she faced crossed the line. In an Aug. 11 video, Darnell shared with her followers that she was taking a break from the recruitment process to focus on her mental health. The has video sparked a wider conversation about the intensity of the rush experience at some schools. Photo of the day: Could that be ... Monday Night Football?! Yes. This is real. Monday Night Football returned last night with the Washington Commanders defeating the Cincinnati Bengals 31-17. USA TODAY Sports analyzed what the game means (in Week 2 of the NFL preseason). Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@
