Russia would suffer ‘two million more casualties' if it tries to take Ukraine's four eastern regions by force
Vladimir Putin has demanded Ukraine withdraws from Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson.
The Russian tyrant has reportedly told US President Donald Trump that he could still capture the territories anyway if the peace deal negotiations collapse.
But an intelligence briefing from the British Ministry of Defence suggested it would take Russia another 4½ years to achieve it based on its current advances.
It said that 'would lead to approximately 1,930,000 further Russian casualties' — either killed or wounded.
The memo continues: 'This is in addition to the approximately 1,060,000 casualties Russia has already likely sustained since launching the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including around 250,000 killed or missing presumed dead.'
Yesterday fighting continued, with Russian missiles raining down in Bilozerske in the Donetsk region.
Yet Ukraine claimed to have made major gains in the oblast, retaking the settlements of Hruzke, Rubizhne, Novovodiane, Petrivka, Vesele and Zolotyi Kolodiaz in a 12-day push.
It came after Putin's forces made a sudden offensive to break six miles towards Ukraine's main defensive line in Donetsk.
President Zelensky has warned the Moscow madman will try to attack in bursts in the coming days to strengthen his hand in ceasefire talks.
Putin general, 57, 'has arm and leg amputated' as he fights for life after Ukrainian strike on Russian column in Kursk
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Powys County Times
4 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Starmer says allies must ‘get this right' ahead of crunch Ukraine talks
Sir Keir Starmer has said allies must 'make sure' there is 'fair' and 'just' peace in Ukraine as he arrived in Washington to support Volodymyr Zelensky in crunch talks with Donald Trump. The Prime Minister has arrived at the White House where he and other European leaders will seek to persuade the US president not to push for a settlement which rewards Vladimir Putin's aggression. They will also try to secure US security guarantees for any military peacekeeping force from the so-called 'coalition of the willing'. The meeting will come after Donald Trump suggested the Ukrainian president would have to accept there was 'no getting back' Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and that Ukraine would not be allowed to join the Nato alliance. I'm on my way to Washington D.C. to meet @POTUS, @ZelenskyyUa and other leaders. Here's why: — Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) August 18, 2025 In a video posted on X, Sir Keir said of the conflict: 'Everybody wants it to end, not least the Ukrainians. 'But we've got to get this right. We've got to make sure there is peace, that it is is lasting peace and that it is fair and that it is just. 'That's why I'm travelling to Washington with other European leaders to discuss this face to face with President Trump and President Zelensky, because it's in everyone's interests, it's in the UK's interests that we get this right.' The Prime Minister will be joined by French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italy's leader Giorgia Meloni and Alexander Stubb, the president of Finland. Nato chief Mark Rutte and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are also attending. In a message on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said President Zelensky 'can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight'. He said there would be 'no going into Nato by Ukraine' – keeping its neighbour out of the alliance and its mutual defence pact has been one of Russia's key aims. But Sir Keir, along with other Nato leaders, has said Ukraine is on an 'irreversible path' to membership of the security alliance. 'Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to the EU or Nato,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said on Monday. Asked if Mr Trump could have a veto, the spokesman repeated that 'our position on Ukraine and Nato hasn't changed' and that Ukraine is on 'irreversible path' to membership. He said No 10 is working 'hand in glove' with Mr Trump on Ukraine, when asked if Sir Keir was confident the US leader would not try to veto membership. The security guarantees the US has signalled it is willing to provide will be an 'important aspect of the discussions' at the White House today, he said. Mr Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff has suggested that measures similar to Nato's Article 5 mutual defence provision could be offered by the US without Kyiv joining the alliance. This was a demonstrative and cynical Russian strike. They are aware that a meeting is taking place today in Washington that will address the end of the war. We will have a discussion with President Trump about key issues. Along with Ukraine, the leaders of the United Kingdom,… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 18, 2025 Mr Witkoff, who took part in the talks between Mr Trump and Russian president Mr Putin last week, said it 'was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that' and called it 'game-changing'. 'We were able to win the following concession: That the United States could offer Article 5-like protection, which is one of the real reasons why Ukraine wants to be in Nato,' Mr Witkoff told CNN. Mr Zelensky said any peace deal must be lasting 'not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East – part of Donbas – and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack'. He said: 'Russia must end this war, which it itself started. And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.' Mr Trump has appeared to drop his calls for a ceasefire after a summit in Alaska with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin has long refused to agree to a ceasefire as a precondition for talks to end the war, prompting fears that Russia could continue gaining ground in Ukraine as negotiations take place. No 10 appeared to suggest that Sir Keir could back a peace deal without a ceasefire. 'We want to see an end to the killing. If you can bring about an end to the killing and bring about a sustained peace in one go, then all the better,' his spokesman said. But Ukraine must determine whether it wants to cede land to secure a deal, he said, stressing that 'international borders must not be changed by force'. At the White House, Mr Zelensky is expecting to face calls from the US president to concede to full Russian control of Donetsk and Luhansk, two mineral-rich regions of Ukraine that are mostly occupied by Vladimir Putin's forces. Our main goal is a reliable and lasting peace for Ukraine and for the whole of Europe. And it is important that the momentum of all our meetings lead to precisely this result. We understand that we shouldn't expect Putin to voluntarily abandon aggression and new attempts at… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 18, 2025 In exchange for these demands, the Russian president would reportedly withdraw his forces from other areas of Ukraine and accept the Nato-like guarantee designed to prevent him launching further incursions. Ahead of their Washington encounter, the allies are likely to be mindful of the previous occasion Mr Zelensky visited Mr Trump in the White House. February's public spat, which saw US vice-president JD Vance accuse Mr Zelensky of not being thankful enough to the US, resulted in American aid to Ukraine being temporarily halted. Mr Trump will again host Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office before a separate meeting with the European leaders in the White House's East Room. Russia continued to carry out 'demonstrative and cynical' strikes ahead of the meeting, the Ukrainian leader said. Mr Zelensky posted a video on X showing him embracing Sir Keir and several other European leaders, and wrote that he had spent time with them on Monday in the US, where they 'coordinated' their positions. 'We understand that we shouldn't expect Putin to voluntarily abandon aggression and new attempts at conquest,' Mr Zelensky said. 'That is why pressure must work, and it must be joint pressure – from the United States and Europe, and from everyone in the world who respects the right to life and the international order. 'We must stop the killings, and I thank our partners who are working toward this and ultimately toward a reliable and dignified peace.'
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Zelensky says he's ready to talk to Trump and Putin to end war in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky said he was prepared to meet Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at a joint summit to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian president made the pledge during talks with the US president at the White House, hastily convened after Trump's encounter with Putin last Friday. When Trump suggested that all three leaders could gather if Monday night's talks went well, Zelensky added: 'We are ready for trilateral.' The cordial meeting between Zelensky and Trump was a world away from the unseemly shouting match which took place in February and preceded talks between the two men and European leaders from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the EU and Nato who had all flown to Washington DC in a show of solidarity for Ukraine. Trump said he was 'honoured' to have so many senior European leaders in one place at the same time. There were broad smiles between him and Zelensky as the US president mostly resisted the temptation to lecture Ukraine's president and further reiterated his support for an unspecified role in 'security guarantees' for Ukraine as part of a peace deal. However, his words came moments after the Russian foreign ministry said it would 'oppose any scenarios' which allowed Nato troops on Ukraine's soil to protect the country. The statement from Moscow undermined what Trump may believe he had extracted from Putin at their meeting in Anchorage last Friday when his staff suggested Putin might accept Nato security guarantees for Kyiv. The Russian retort was timed for release just as the foreign leaders were crossing the threshold of the White House. But as he met Zelensky in the Oval Office not long after, Trump told reporters that both Europe and the United States would be involved in securing a post-war peace for Ukraine, even if American troops would not be put on the ground to maintain that peace. 'We're going to work with Ukraine. We're going to work with everybody, and we're going to make sure that if there's peace, the peace is going to stay long term. This is very long term,' he said. 'We're not talking about a two year peace, and then we end up in this mess again. We're going to make sure that everything's good. We'll work with Russia. We're going to work with Ukraine. We're going to make sure it works. And I think if we can get to peace, it's going to work. I have no doubt about it.' Pressed further on any guarantees for Kyiv by reporters, Trump said there would be 'a lot of help when it comes to security' in any post-war settlement, but stressed that Europe would 'be the first line of defence', albeit with some American assistance. At the same time, the American leader seemed to rule out a future Nato membership bid for Kyiv, echoing a social media post he'd made earlier in the day, while hedging and telling the press that there hadn't been any such discussions yet. 'We're going to be discussing it today, but we will give them very good protection, very good security,' he said. Trump added that the European leaders who were waiting to meet with him and Zelensky were 'very like minded' on the matter. He also said he'd be speaking with Putin after his meetings with Zelensky and the assembled European leaders. For his part, Zelensky laid out the parameters for Europe and Ukraine in a social media post just before he arrived at the White House after meeting foreign leaders in the Ukrainian embassy in Washington DC. 'We must stop the killings, and I thank our partners who are working toward this and ultimately toward a reliable and dignified peace,' he said. 'Together with the leaders of Finland, the United Kingdom, Italy, the European Commission, and the Nato Secretary General, we coordinated our positions ahead of the meeting with President Trump. Ukraine is ready for a real truce and for establishing a new security architecture. We need peace.'
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump could send US troops to Ukraine to enforce potential peace deal
President Donald Trump refused to rule out the deployment of American soldiers to enforce a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump stated he would discuss the US commitment to a future settlement with European leaders at the White House. Trump indicated that Europe would be the 'first line of defence' for Ukraine's security, albeit with some American assistance. He seemed to dismiss the prospect of Ukraine's future NATO membership, despite acknowledging no formal discussions had taken place. The meeting occurred after Trump's recent summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, where a 'peace deal' potentially involving Ukrainian territorial concessions was reportedly discussed.
