Nordic-Baltic leaders say they remain steadfast in support of Ukraine
The leaders of eight Nordic-Baltic nations said on Saturday that they remain steadfast in their support for Ukraine and to the efforts by US President Donald Trump to end the Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The leaders of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden said in a statement that achieving peace between Ukraine and Russia requires a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine.
"We welcome President Trump's statement that the US is prepared to participate in security guarantees. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its cooperation with other countries," the statement said.
Trump has said that he had agreed with Putin that a peace deal should be sought without the prior ceasefire that Ukraine and its European allies, until now with US support, have demanded. REUTERS

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Straits Times
12 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Outline emerges of Putin's offer to end his war in Ukraine
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: A serviceman of 152nd Separate Jaeger Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces checks the sky to look out for Russian combat drones, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the town of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region, Ukraine August 5, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo LONDON - Russia would relinquish tiny pockets of occupied Ukraine and Kyiv would cede swathes of its eastern land which Moscow has been unable to capture, under peace proposals discussed by Russia's Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at their Alaska summit, sources briefed on Moscow's thinking said. The account emerged the day after Trump and Putin met at an airforce base in Alaska, the first encounter between a U.S. president and the Kremlin chief since before the start of the Ukraine conflict. 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Trump said on Friday he did not immediately need to consider retaliatory tariffs on countries such as China for buying Russian oil - which is subject to a range of Western sanctions - but might have to "in two or three weeks." Ukraine would also be barred from joining the NATO military alliance, though Putin seemed to be open to Ukraine receiving some kind of security guarantees, the sources said. However, they added that it was unclear what this meant in practice. European leaders said Trump had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine during their conversation on Saturday and also broached an idea for an "Article 5"-style guarantee outside the NATO military alliance. NATO regards any attack launched on one of its 32 members as an attack on all under its Article 5 clause. Joining the Atlantic alliance is a strategic objective for Kyiv that is enshrined in the country's constitution. Russia would also demand official status for the Russian language inside parts of, or across, Ukraine, as well as the right of the Russian Orthodox Church to operate freely, the sources said. Ukraine's security agency accuses the Moscow-linked church of abetting Russia's war on Ukraine by spreading pro-Russian propaganda and housing spies, something denied by the church which says it has cut canonical ties with Moscow. Ukraine has passed a law banning Russia-linked religious organisations, of which it considers the church to be one. However, it has not yet started enforcing the ban. REUTERS

Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Trump backing Putin's Ukraine land plan: Source, reports
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Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Ukraine presses Russian troops back on part of Sumy front
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