NATO defense chiefs hold ‘candid discussion' on security guarantees for Ukraine
Italian Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, the chair of NATO's Military Committee, said that 32 defense chiefs from across the alliance held a video conference amid a U.S.-led diplomatic push to end the fighting.
He said there was a 'great, candid discussion' in the call. 'I thanked everyone for their always proactive participation in these meetings: we are united, and that unity was truly tangible today, as always,' he wrote on social platform X without providing further details.
Assurances that it won't be invaded again in the future are one of the keys for getting Ukraine to sign up for a peace deal with Russia. It wants Western help for its military, including weapons and training, to shore up its defenses, and Western officials are scrambling to figure out what commitments they might offer.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chided efforts to work on security arrangements in Ukraine without Moscow's involvement.
'We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work,' Lavrov said Wednesday, according to state news agency RIA Novosti.
Russia will 'ensure (its) legitimate interests firmly and harshly,' Lavrov added at a news conference in Moscow with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi.
U.S. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, took part in the virtual talks, Dragone said. U.S. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was also due to participate, a U.S. defense official said.
Caine also met with European military chiefs Tuesday evening in Washington to assess the best military options for political leaders, according to the defense official, who wasn't authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
President Trump met last Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and on Monday hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and prominent European leaders at the White House. Neither meeting delivered concrete progress.
Trump is trying to steer Putin and Zelensky toward a settlement more than three years after Russia invaded its neighbor, but there are major obstacles. They include Ukraine's demands for Western-backed military assurances to ensure Russia won't mount another invasion in the coming years.
'We need strong security guarantees to ensure a truly secure and lasting peace,' Zelensky said in a Telegram post Wednesday after Russian missile and drone strikes hit six regions of Ukraine overnight.
Kyiv's European allies are looking to set up a force that could backstop any peace agreement, and a coalition of 30 countries, including European nations, Japan and Australia, has signed up to support the initiative.
Military chiefs are figuring out how that security force might work. The role that the U.S. might play is unclear. Trump on Tuesday ruled out sending U.S. troops to help defend Ukraine against Russia.
Russia has repeatedly said that it would not accept NATO troops in Ukraine.
Attacks on civilian areas in Sumy and Odesa overnight into Wednesday injured 15 people, including a family with three small children, Ukrainian authorities said. Russian strikes also targeted ports and fuel and energy infrastructure, officials said.
Zelensky said the strikes 'only confirm the need for pressure on Moscow, the need to introduce new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy works to its full potential.'
Trump said Monday he has begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Putin and Zelensky, although the Kremlin hasn't publicly confirmed such a possibility and no venue was suggested.
Lavrov, in his Moscow press conference, said Russia is prepared to continue negotiations with Ukraine in any format.
He said Putin proposed to Trump raising the level of representation in delegations that recently took part in largely fruitless direct talks in Istanbul. He added that 'a separate block (of talks) should be devoted to examining the political aspects of the settlement, along with the military and humanitarian ones.'
Ukraine and Western leaders have accused Putin of dragging out peace negotiations in the hope of capturing more land before any settlement.
French President Emmanuel Macron has said the summit could happen in Europe and proposed the Swiss city of Geneva. Switzerland has expressed its willingness to act as host.
Putin's ability to travel abroad is limited because he is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on a warrant dating back to March 2023 for alleged involvement in the abduction of Ukrainian children. More than 100 countries are ICC signatories and have a legal obligation to arrest the Russian leader on their soil.
Switzerland intends to ask the ICC to exempt it from sanctions in order to allow Putin in for a summit, according to a senior official in The Hague with direct knowledge of the request. The official was not authorized to speak about the proceedings and spoke on condition of anonymity.
McNeil and Novikov write for the Associated Press. Novikov reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Molly Quell contributed to this report from The Hague and Mike Pesoli from Washington.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
a minute ago
- USA Today
Obama weighs in on Newsom's California redistricting strategy amid Texas debate
Obama endorses California Gov. Newsom's proposed redistricting strategy Former President Barack Obama is speaking out about Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed redistricting plan for California. And he's all for it. During a National Democratic Redistricting Committee fundraiser in Martha's Vineyard on Aug. 19, Obama said he believes Newsom's strategy is a "responsible approach." California voters will get to decide on redistricting options in November. Citing Newsom, Obama said, "He said this is going to be completely responsible. We're not going to completely maximize it,' according to the Associated Press. "We're only going to do it if and when Texas and/or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Otherwise, this doesn't go into effect." Obama's remarks come as Texas Republicans are expected to vote on a new congressional map intended to flip five Democratic-held U.S. House seats up for grabs in the 2026 elections. The vote comes after dozens of Democratic lawmakers ended a two-week walkout, temporarily delaying the bill's passage in a special session of the state legislature. Live updates: Texas Republicans set to approve Trump-backed new congressional map "I'd love to see the people of Texas reject what's happening, but it doesn't look like, unlike in California... they're being given the option of deciding whether this is a smart thing to do or not," Obama said, CNN reported on Aug. 20. In response, Newsom thanked Obama on social media on Aug. 20, saying the state has to stop President Trump's 'attempts to rig our elections.' "California will redraw our maps and neutralize any attempts Donald Trump makes to steal Congressional seats," Newsom said. "Thank you, President Obama for backing Proposition 50 and standing up for America's democracy." Meanwhile, Trump is continuing to encourage Texas GOP House members to do their part to ensure the state has a new redistricting map. '... which is exactly why Texas Republicans need to help us WIN the 2026 Midterm Elections, and pass their new Bill, AS IS, for the ONE BIG, BEAUTIFUL CONGRESSIONAL MAP!,' Trump said in a Truth Social post on Aug. 19. 'I call on all of my Republican friends in the Legislature to work as fast as they can to get THIS MAP to Governor Greg Abbott's desk, ASAP.'
Los Angeles Times
a minute ago
- Los Angeles Times
Why many voters in deep-red Northern California are fuming about Newsom's maps
COTTONWOOD — When the talk turned to politics at the OK Corral bar in this historic stagecoach town on Tuesday night, retired nurse Ovie Hays, 77, spoke for most of the room when she summed up her view of Gov. Gavin Newsom's redistricting plan. 'I don't want Democrats around,' she said. 'They have gone too far in controlling us. We won't have a say in anything.' Nearby, a man in hard-won cowboy boots agreed with Hays — using much more colorful language. He works as a ranch hand and said he'd just come from fixing a goat pen. 'The morons in charge, and the morons that put [those] morons in charge need to understand where their food comes from,' he said. He declined to see his name printed, like a lot of folks in this part of Shasta County and neighboring counties. In its current form, California's 1st Congressional District, which sweeps south from the Oregon border almost to Sacramento, is larger than Massachusetts or Maryland or eight other states. This is farm and forest country. From the glittering peaks and dense forests of Mt. Shasta and the Sierra Nevada, rivers course down to the valley floor, to vast fields of rice, endless orchards of peaches and golden, rolling grassland full of more cows than people. Voters here are concerned with policies that affect their water supply and forests, given that the timber industry limps along here and fires have ravaged the area in recent years. This is also Republican country. For the last 12 years, this district has been represented by Congressman Doug LaMalfa, a rice farmer from Oroville who is a staunch supporter of Donald Trump. But if voters approve the redistricting plan in November, the deep-red bastion that is LaMalfa's district will be cleaved into three pieces, each of them diluted with enough Democratic votes that they could all turn blue. The northern half of the district would be joined to a coastal district that would stretch all the way down to the Golden Gate Bridge, while the southern half would be jigsawed into two districts that would draw in voters from the Bay Area and wine country. Northern California finds itself in this situation because of power plays unleashed by President Trump, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, Newsom and others. To ensure GOP control of the House of Representatives, Trump pressured Abbott to redraw Texas' congressional maps so Republicans could take more seats. Newsom responded by threatening to redraw California's maps to favor Democrats, while saying he'd holster this pistol if Texas did the same. The California Legislature is expected to approve a plan Thursday that would put new maps on the November ballot, along with a a constitutional amendment that would override the state's voter-approved, independent redistricting commission. If voters approve the new maps, they would go into effect only if another state performs mid-decade redistricting. Under the proposal, Democrats could pick up five seats currently held by Republicans, while also bolstering some vulnerable Democratic incumbents in purple districts. Now, voters in Northern California and other parts of the state find themselves at the center of a showdown. And from Marysville to Redding this week, many — including those who call themselves Democrats — said they were outraged at what they saw as another example of urban California imposing its will on rural California, areas that city people generally ignore and don't understand. 'Their needs and their wants are completely different than what we need here,' said Pamela Davis, 40, who was loading bags of chicken feed into the back of her SUV in Yuba City. Her children scrambled into their car seats, chatting happily about the cows and ducks they have at home on their farm. Davis, who said she voted for LaMalfa, said voters in California's cities have no understanding of water regulations or other policies vitally important to agriculture, even though what happens in farming areas is crucial to the state overall. 'We're out here growing food for everybody,' she said. 'Water is an issue all the time. That kind of stuff needs to be at the top of everybody's mind.' For years, folks in the so-called north state have chafed at life under the rule of California's liberal politicians. This region is whiter, more rural, more conservative and poorer than the rest of the state. They have long bemoaned that their property rights, grazing rights and water rights are under siege. They complain that the state's high taxes and cost of living are crushing people's dreams. The grievances run so deep that in recent years many residents have embraced a decades-old idea of seceding from California and forming a 'State of Jefferson.' Some residents, including LaMalfa, said if redistricting were to go through, it could further fuel those sentiments. And even some voters who said they abhorred Trump and LaMalfa and planned to vote in favor of the redistricting plan said they worried about the precedent of diluting the rural vote. Gail Mandaville, 76, was sitting with her book group in Chico and said she was in favor of the plan. 'I just am really, really afraid of the way the country is going,' the retired teacher said. 'I admire Newsom for standing up and doing something.' Across the table, Kim Heuckel, 58, said she agreed but also wondered whether a member of Congress from a more urban area could properly represent the needs of her district. 'I'm sorry, but they don't know the farmlands,' she said. 'We need our farmers.' We do, chimed in Rebecca Willi, 74, a retired hospice worker, but 'all the things we stand for are going down the drain,' and if the redistricting in Texas goes forward, 'we have to offset it because there is too much at stake.' In an interview, LaMalfa predicted that California's voters would reject the redistricting plan. 'We're not going anywhere without a fight,' he said. But should it pass, he predicted that his constituents would suffer. 'We don't have Sausalito values in this district,' he said, adding that politicians in the newly redrawn districts would be 'playing to Bay Area voters; they won't be playing towards us at all.' One of the biggest issues in his district recently, he noted, has been concern over wolves, who have been roaming ranch lands, killing cattle and enraging ranchers and other property owners. With redistricting, he said, 'if it doesn't go to the dogs, it will go to the wolves.'
The Hill
a minute ago
- The Hill
Most Americans oppose Russia seizing Ukrainian land: Poll
Most Americans are opposed to Russia receiving Ukrainian territory at the end of the war, according to a new poll that comes as President Trump has suggested 'land swaps' should be part of a peace deal. When asked in The Economist/YouGov poll about 'how much of Ukraine's territory' they want Russia to have at the end of the war, 68 percent of respondents said 'none of it.' Twenty-one percent in the poll said they were 'not sure' how much territory Russia should get, five percent said they wanted Russia to have 'some of' Ukraine's territory, 2 percent said they wanted Russia to get 'half of' Ukrainian territory and 1 percent said they wanted Russia to have 'most of it.' President Trump met with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin on U.S. soil within the past week. Putin reportedly wants most of the eastern Donbas region as part of a deal, while Ukraine has rejected ceding territory. Trump is now pushing for Zelensky and Putin to meet face-to-face, as they remain far apart on the terms for peace. Ukraine has demanded a ceasefire before any formal negotiations; a request that Trump previously backed but dropped after meeting Putin in Alaska last week. Russia has sent signals this week that it's in no hurry to have Putin meet with Zelensky. Moscow also said Wednesday that talks between NATO allies and Ukraine about post-war security gaurantees were a 'road to nowhere' unless Moscow takes part in the discussions. 'We cannot agree with the fact that it is now proposed to resolve collective security issues without the Russian Federation. This will not work,' Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference. The Economist/YouGov poll took place from Aug. 15 to 18, with 1,568 respondents and plus or minus 3.5 percentage points as its margin of error.
