Pope Leo calls for day of fasting, prayers for peace in Ukraine on Friday
"As our Earth continues to be wounded by wars in the Holy Land, in Ukraine, and in many other regions ... I invite all the faithful to live the day of August 22 in fasting and prayer," the pontiff said during his weekly audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.
Leo suggested the faithful could ask God to "grant us peace and justice and to wipe away the tears of those who suffer because of the ongoing armed conflicts."
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The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Ukraine-Russia war latest: Moscow ignores Trump calls for Zelensky-Putin summit and hits out at security talks
Russia has yet again ignored Donald Trump 's bid to hold a summit between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky and said attempts to resolve security issues for Kyiv without Moscow 's participation was a 'road to nowhere'. "We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work," Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov told a joint press conference after meeting Jordan 's foreign minister. The US is reportedly eyeing Budapest as a location for a possible meeting between Zelensky and Putin. "I am sure that in the West and above all in the United States they understand perfectly well that seriously discussing security issues without the Russian Federation is a utopia, it's a road to nowhere,' he said. This comes as European countries are reportedly pressing Trump to send fighter jets to Romania as part of security guarantees for Ukraine. Military chiefs from several countries are discussing the use of American F-35s in Romania, where Nato is building its largest European airbase, to deter Russia from reinvading, according to The Times. What security guarantees may look like International 'reassurance' forces could be deployed in Ukraine after a ceasefire or peace deal: What could US and European security guarantees look like for Ukraine? British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has met with 30 international leaders to discuss the next steps for ensuring Ukraine's security Jane Dalton21 August 2025 03:55 Key territories Putin wants handed over Russia occupies nearly 20 per cent of Ukraine already. See our map of occupied territories that it wants: Mapped: The key territories Putin wants handed over to bring about peace in Ukraine The Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the Donbas region form the industrial heartland of Ukraine Jane Dalton21 August 2025 02:00 Is the UK ready to put boots on the ground in Ukraine? See how Britain's military equipment and defence spending have changed over time: UK defence in numbers: Are we ready to put boots on the ground in Ukraine? Keir Starmer's commitment to deploy British peacekeepers to Ukraine has raised questions over whether the UK is ready for conflict, Alicja Hagopian writes Jane Dalton21 August 2025 00:30 Russian allies Belarus and Iran agree to boost defence ties The Belarus leader said he backed Iran's 'legitimate right to develop peaceful nuclear energy': Russian allies Belarus and Iran agree to boost bilateral defense ties Belarus and Iran signed have new agreements to boost bilateral ties in areas including defense Jane Dalton20 August 2025 22:58 Allies working on new plan, says Zelensky aide Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's chief of staff says Ukraine is working on a plan with its allies if Russia prolongs the war or disrupts agreements on leaders' meetings. Andrii Yermak said the allies had already begun active work on a military component of security guarantees for his country. Jane Dalton UK military chief meets Nato counterparts for Ukraine talks The head of Britain's armed forces has met with his Nato counterparts as Europe continues to push for security guarantees for Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. Admiral Sir Tony Radakin met senior US defence officials alongside other European military chiefs in Washington DC on Wednesday to discuss military options to secure peace in Ukraine. He later attended a virtual meeting of Nato's military committee, described by its chairman Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone as "candid". On Tuesday evening, Admiral Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, had dined with his US counterpart General Dan Caine. Daniel Keane20 August 2025 21:00 Watch: Firefighters battle Ukrainian energy facility blaze after Russian drone strike Russian drone strike sees firefighters battle huge blaze at Ukrainian energy facility An overnight Russian drone strike caused a huge fire at an energy facility in Odesa, Ukraine on Wednesday (20 August), Volodymyr Zelensky said. Footage shared by the Ukrainian president shows firefighters tackling the massive blaze, whilst emergency service workers appear to help individuals climb down from the wreckage. The State Emergency Service of Ukraine confirmed that one person was injured in the attack. Posting the footage, Mr Zelensky said: 'All of these are demonstrative strikes that only confirm the need to put pressure on Moscow, the need to impose new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy is fully effective.' Jane Dalton20 August 2025 20:35 Military chiefs in US talks on security guarantees A small group of military leaders is talking to Washington about options for security guarantees for Ukraine, a Western official has said, shortly after a bigger virtual meeting ended. The source said US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was holding the talks that also involved around half a dozen other Nato chiefs of defence. The official said they expected further meetings of the chiefs of defence in a broader format to be called, to discuss any options worked out in the smaller group. No time frame has been set as the final decision will lie with political leaders, the official said. Reuters | Jane Dalton20 August 2025 19:35 Watch: Lavrov warns West over excluding Moscow Russian foreign minister warns West over excluding Moscow from security discussions Russia's foreign minister has sent the West a warning over excluding Moscow from security discussions on Ukraine. Speaking on Wednesday (20 August), two days after Donald Trump hosted Volodymyr Zelensky and other western leaders in the White House, Sergei Lavrov said alienating the Kremlin is a 'road to nowhere'. 'We cannot agree with the fact that now it is proposed to resolve questions of security, collective security, without the Russian Federation. This will not work,' he said. Lavrov said that Russia will continue to express its "legitimate interests fairly and harshly', and that the US must understand that excluding Moscow is futile. Jane Dalton20 August 2025 18:59 Lithuania would contribute troops to a Ukraine peacekeeping mission, says president Lithuania's President Gitanas Nausėda has said that the country would contribute troops and equipment to a future peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. His comments come after the US said it would only provide limited air support to Kyiv as a security guarantee. European countries have pledged to provide military assistance to Ukraine in the event of a peace agreement. 20 August 2025 18:06
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
JD Vance's threat for Zelensky to 'behave' revealed as VP urges Elon Musk to join future of MAGA
JD Vance said he jokingly warned Volodymyr Zelensky to 'behave' before his pivotal summit with Donald Trump this week as the vice president revealed the future for MAGA and the Republican party. Vance addressed the summit with the Ukrainian leader during an interview with Fox News on Wednesday while also talking about a recent Wall Street Journal report that Tesla billionaire Elon Musk is preparing to back him for president in 2028. 'Zelensky walked into the Oval Office. I was chatting with him and I said: "Mr. President, so long as you behave, I won't say anything,"' Vance joked. 'It was a good little icebreaker.' Vance joined the summit with Zelensky and a group of European leaders on Monday as they discussed a path forward to end the years long conflict in Ukraine with Russia. The VP tried to lighten the mood after a previous White House meeting spiraled into chaos after Vance chided the Ukrainian president not saying 'thank you.' Vance has been tasked with coordinating a meeting between Zelensky and Vladimir Putin. Ingraham asked him his opinion on dealing with the Russian leader. He said that the stereotype of the Russian president many have as a cold, ruthless man are misguided. 'He's more soft spoken than you'd necessarily expect. The American media has a particular image of him,' Vance said. 'He's soft spoken in a certain way. He's very deliberate, he's very careful. Fundamentally, he's a person who looks out for the interests as he sees it of Russia.' Vance also responded to 2028 speculation as he prepares to stump for the crucial midterms and implored Musk to abandon his quest for a third party. 'If he doesn't like things the Republican Party's doing, my advice to Elon would be try to fix the Republican Party,' Vance declared. 'Try to push it in your own way. Disagree with me all you want, disagree with the president of the United States but don't pretend that you can make a big difference with a third party.' Vance also claimed that Musk should get on board with Donald Trump's GOP agenda because third parties are difficult to start and liberals don't like him anyway. 'My argument to him is whether you like it or not, you are perceived by the far left as part of the American right,' Vance said. 'The idea that Elon is ever going to go back to being in the middle where Democrats and Republicans both like him, that's just not going to happen, he is perceived as being on the American right.' Vance also previewed his Thursday to trip to Georgia, where he'll tout the One Big Beautiful Bill and take on Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, who is up for re-election and voted against Trump's signature legislation. 'We will have fun and talk about the successes of the big beautiful bill,' he said, joking that what would happen would depend on who shows up. Ossoff's race could be the difference between Republicans increasing their 6-seat majority in the Senate or even keeping it depending on which party takes momentum into the midterms. The Republican nominee has not yet been decided. The speech is the first of a series of talks Vance will give selling the One, Big Beautiful Bill to voters and potentially begins the rumored push to make him the GOP standard bearer once Trump is term-limited in 2028, CNN reported. Perhaps leaning into that role, Vance sounded off on California Governor Gavin Newsom's new act of pretending to tweet like President Trump on social media. 'This idea that Gavin Newsom is somehow gonna mimic Donald Trump's style - I think that ignores the fundamental genius of President Trump's political success, which is that he's authentic,' he said. 'You've gotta be yourself, you've actually gotta' talk to people honestly about the issues. Don't be a crazy person, be authentic,' he added, noting that he doesn't believe Newsom to have moved away from any of the Democrats 'crazy' positions on immigration and transgender people in sports. Speculation started heating up in June, Vance made a secret trip to Rupert Murdoch 's Montana ranch, but it wasn't to ride horses or about tasting wine. The vice president spoke with the 94-year-old media mogul, his son Lachlan Murdoch and a group of other Fox News executives at the $280 million estate on June 11, to the talk up Trump agenda. The specifics of the meeting and Vance's conversation with the group was not disclosed - but it appeared to be brief. Murdoch and other top executives are known for hosting powerful politicians across the summer at their sprawling estates. After the Murdoch meeting, the vice president and his wife, Usha, then took a hike, Montana State Auditor James Brown, who helped plan the trip, told Montana Talks. Now, Musk has reportedly decided to join other tech titans and rally behind the person they believe is the likely successor to Trump: Vice President JD Vance, who has made recent moves that suggest he will run in 2028. The former DOGE head spent nearly $300million helping to elect Trump in 2024, but the duo has a spectacular fallout earlier this year with Musk eventually writing on X that 'Trump is in the Epstein files.' With Trump term-limited as president, Musk is considering using his financial largesse to help Vance win the next presidential election. He would join other tech honchos who have doled out money to Vance such as Palantir CEO Peter Thiel, former PayPal COO David Sacks, Roku CEO Anthony Wood and entrepreneur Palmer Luckey. Recent polls show Vance as a clear front runner for the 2028 Republican nomination. Musk has been speaking to Vance in recent weeks, the Journal said, and believes launching the so-called 'America Party' for the 2026 midterms might jeopardize their relationship. The vice president has been in the news all week after his role in the Trump-Zelensky showdown. Vance's advice to Zelensky to 'behave,' combined with his demand that Zelensky ' say thank you' to the president, may have had an effect on his blockbuster Monday love-fest with Trump. In fact, The Washington Post noted that Zelensky thanked Trump approximately 11 times in a nearly five-minute public address Monday. He thanked Trump another seven times in 50 seconds as they addressed the press in the Oval Office, the site of their infamous showdown in March. 'Thanks so much, Mr President. If I can, 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,' Zelensky said. Beyond pleasantries, Zelensky had come prepared to speak in the language that Trump made famous: the art of the deal. He announced that Ukraine plans to buy $100billion in American weapons in exchange for the 'major step forward' toward peace Zelensky believes Trump has offered. The European allies will be helping Ukraine finance the deal, as well as a $50billion deal between Washington and Kyiv to help Ukrainian companies produce drones, The Financial Times reported. Trump told Zelensky on Monday that the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there, though the extent of any assistance was not immediately clear. 'When it comes to security, there's going to be a lot of help,' Trump told reporters, adding that European countries would be involved. 'They are a first line of defense because they're there, but we'll help them out.' Trump refused three times to rule out putting American boots on the ground though any assistance is more likely to come in the form of air support. Zelensky hailed the promise as 'a major step forward,' adding that the guarantees would be 'formalized on paper within the next week to 10 days.' However, Zelensky clearly saw charming the president as key to getting any deals done. The president said on social media Monday that he and Putin discussed plans for a summit between the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, at a location to be determined. Following that diplomatic showdown, Trump said he will then sit down with both leaders in an attempt to make peace in the war torn country. 'This was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years,' he said. Zelensky responded by saying 'we are ready' for any leader-level meetings while speaking to reporters after the White House. He said it's the only way to solve these 'complicated and painful issues.' The Ukrainian leader was reluctant to set conditions for the meeting, regarding a potential ceasefire or other matters, to prevent Russia from making their own demands, potentially jeopardizing those talks. 'That's why I believe that we must meet without any conditions,' he told reporters. The president specifically thanked Vance, who will be coordinating between Russia and Ukraine alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: ‘Coalition of the willing' talks held as Russia stalls
Work is under way on the military component of security guarantees for Ukraine that European leaders and Donald Trump have committed to if there is a peace deal. A small group of military leaders held discussions in Washington to work out options, a western official told Reuters on Wednesday, shortly after a bigger virtual meeting wrapped up. Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, held the talks which also involved around half a dozen other Nato defence chiefs. The chair of the Nato military committee, Adm Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, called it a 'great, candid discussion … Priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace.' As the 'coalition of the willing' began to take on a preliminary shape, Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Ukraine was also working on a plan with its allies on how to proceed 'in case the Russian side continues to prolong the war and disrupt agreements on bilateral and trilateral formats of leaders' meetings.' Yermak also said that 'our teams, above all the military, have already begun active work on the military component of security guarantees'. Russia meanwhile continued to display its apparent intention to delay a possible meeting between Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy, writes Pjotr Sauer. Sergei Lavrov, Putin's foreign minister, complained on Wednesday that Moscow should be included in any talks on Ukraine's security guarantees: 'To discuss security guarantees seriously without Russia is a road to nowhere.' Russia gave Ukraine a supposed 'security guarantee' under the Budapest memorandum of 1994, which Putin has long since comprehensively violated by attacking Ukraine. Lavrov avoided any direct reference to a possible Putin-Zelenskyy summit and said China, Russia's ally in the war, should be among Ukraine's security guarantors. Kyiv is likely to view that with deep scepticism given that Russia uses equipment and materials from China to attack Ukraine, and that the two countries have vowed to pursue a 'no-limits' partnership. Analysts suggested Putin would probably only meet Zelenskyy to accept a complete Ukrainian capitulation. Tatiana Stanovaya, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, said: 'He has repeatedly stated that such a meeting would only be possible if there were well-prepared grounds, which in practice means Zelenskyy's acceptance of Russia's terms for ending the war.' Drones attacked Kyiv over Wednesday night into Thursday morning as the Ukrainian air force issued a national alert for missile attacks after Russian warplanes took off. Earlier, on Wednesday, at least three people were killed in a Russian artillery attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka, local officials said. Another four were wounded. The governor, Vadym Filashkin, said it involved eight strikes from a multiple rocket launch system and targeted a local market. At least 14 people, including a family with three children, were wounded in a Russian attack on Ukraine's northern region of Sumy. A 'massive drone strike' on the southern Ukrainian region of Odesa injured one person and caused a large fire at a fuel and energy facility, Ukraine's state emergency service said on Wednesday. Ukrainian drone forces meanwhile scored a major hit on the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov region where fires and explosions were captured on video. A Russian military drone exploded in Polish farmland on Wednesday, blowing the windows out of houses and igniting a furious response from authorities. 'Once again, we are facing a provocation from the Russian Federation, with a Russian drone,' said Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Polish defence minister. The explosion was in a cornfield near the village of Osiny about 100km (60 miles) from Warsaw and near the borders with Ukraine and Russian-allied Belarus. Poland's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, condemned 'a new violation of our airspace from the east … The foreign ministry will protest to the perpetrator of this violation.' It was believed to be a Russian drone type called Gerbera, which is often used as a decoy in attacks against Ukraine. Poland's Gen Dariusz Malinowski said the aircraft 'was a decoy drone, which was not armed but carried a self-destruct warhead'. Russian drones and missiles have crossed into the airspace of Nato members Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania several times in the three and a half years since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. The latest incident comes less than a month after a Russian military drone flew into Lithuania from Belarus.
