US ready to be part of security guarantees for Ukraine, Germany's Merz says
"And the good news is that America is ready to participate in such security guarantees and is not leaving it to the Europeans alone," Merz told German public broadcaster ZDF after being briefed together with other European leaders by Trump on his talks with Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet Trump on Monday in Washington, after which a three-way meeting between Putin, Trump and Zelenskiy should be held as soon as possible with the aim of reaching a peace agreement, Merz said.
"If that works out, it's worth more than a ceasefire," he said.
Merz said Trump had indicated that Russia seemed ready to negotiate based on the front lines of the conflict, rather than the borders of Ukrainian regions it claims.
"This is a huge difference because Russia is claiming territories that it hasn't occupied yet," he said.
Speaking separately to German broadcaster n-tv, Merz said he did not think Zelenskiy would face as difficult a time in Washington with Trump as he had in February, when the two leaders clashed in an extraordinary exchange before the world's media at the White House.
Merz said Zelenskiy would on Sunday talk to European leaders who would help him prepare for the meeting.
"We'll give a few good pieces of advice," he said.
Merz told ZDF that while it was important that Europe stand united, the U.S. would for the time being continue to play the decisive role in the war, which has raged since 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.
"The American president has the power both militarily and via appropriate sanctions and tariffs to ensure that Russia moves more than it currently does," he said.
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Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
In maps: Why the entire peace deal hangs on this small strip of Ukraine
Although the Kazenyi Torets river runs through four major towns and is flanked by a railway and a road, you could drive the length of its valley without setting eyes on it. Hidden for most of its length by a thick band of marshy woodland on either bank, its waters are mostly left to kingfishers and frogs. Crucially, though, this placid river runs through the centre of the last quarter of Donetsk region held by Ukraine, and the string of towns on its banks have been forged into a fortress – a near-impregnable stronghold that has resisted Russian attacks for more than a decade. Eleven years ago, I watched the war in Ukraine begin on its banks. Three years ago, I sat again by the river and wondered as Russian shelling grew closer if it was the last time I would see it. Now, it is at the very heart of contentious negotiations to end the war. Vladimir Putin has written all of Donetsk region into the Russian constitution and has made clear he wants the entire region – especially this last, defiant valley – as a price for peace. Donald Trump appears to be ready to push Volodymyr Zelensky to make such a trade. Steve Witkoff, Mr Trump's special envoy to Russia, said on Sunday there would be an 'important' and 'particularly detailed' discussion about the fate of Donetsk region when Mr Zelensky arrives in Washington on Monday. Mr Zelensky is reluctant: 'Russia is still unsuccessful in Donetsk region and Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years,' he said on Sunday, saying discussions about land swaps there are so important they should only be discussed bilaterally between Ukraine and Russia. To understand why Russia covets it so much, and Ukraine refuses to give it up, it is worth looking at a map. Here's why the 'Donetsk fortress' matters: Terrain Upstream, at the southern mouth of the valley, lies the city of Kostiantynivka. It is followed by Druzhkivka; Kramatorsk; and lastly Sloviansk, where it arcs to the east before meandering through a flood plain of reedbeds and reservoirs until meeting the Siversky Donets – the principal river of the Donbas. In fact, the very word, Donbas – used to describe the coal rich east of Ukraine now largely occupied by Russia – is a contraction of 'Donets Basin'. The irony is that the area's geological past means that this part of the basin is in fact a highland. And as a highland in a vast area of plain, it has huge strategic, military significance. True, these are not the Himalayas; the highest point is a little over 300m above sea level, and the incline is so gradual that if you were not paying attention you might not notice it. But nonetheless, it is a highland – a network of ridges and valleys that stands above the great Pontic Steppe that dominates the southern half of Ukraine and Russia. The Torets cuts a valley through the northern western extremity of this upland. On its right bank in particular, the land rises steeply to a ridge on which sits the town of Chasiv Yar and the current frontline. Today, those slopes and ridges are riddled with Ukrainian defensive lines built up over more than a decade. Inclines have been measured, deadground paced out, the rise and fall of the land integrated into kill zones and artillery ranges. This, in other words, is a valley that guards the entrance to the central heart of Ukraine, protecting it. Not just that, but it is a bastion protecting the whole of the current front line. Should it fall – or be handed over – not only will the Ukrainian steppe behind it be open, but Russian troops would have a platform to encircle Ukrainian forces both to Kharkiv in the north and Zaporizhzhia in the south. If Ukraine is forced to give it away, then, holding the frontline, or even defending the rest of the country at all, would be immeasurably harder should Russia decide to attack again and seize the territory which Putin still calls 'Novorossiya' – New Russia. Infrastructure Armies are, at the end of the day, very large groups of people. And like any large group of people, they need places to sleep. And places to eat. They need to get around, they need fuel, they need hospitals and coffee shops, and all the other things that most of us take for granted. In other words, they need a city. When Ukraine lost control of Donetsk, the regional capital, in 2014, it was left at a major disadvantage: the enemy possessed the most comfortable and advanced cluster of infrastructure between the Russian border and the central Ukraine city of Dnipro. The Ukrainians were left with the villages outside that had relied on the big city for much of their economic well being. The country towns of Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka were the next best thing. It was a landscape of post-Soviet neglect: a derelict glass factory that had once made the stars to adorn the top of the Kremlin; the distant slag heaps of the mining towns; towns mostly made up of small houses where many people scraped a living from their allotments; a road linking them that even before the war was badly in need of resurfacing. But served by a major railway and a highway that connect all four towns to both Kharkiv and Kyiv, the valley was convenient for logistics, for resupply and medical treatment. And there was just enough of a domestic economy to serve the rest of the army's needs: from supermarkets to pizza joints and petrol stations. Over time the conurbation – the towns sometimes seem to run into each other as you tumble down the H20 highway – was turned into both a fortress and an economic and logistical centre. Kramatorsk's military airbase, which lies on the ridge on the eastern side of town, became the command centre for the eight-year, low-level war fought between 2014 and 2022. It was not without friction. The influx of soldiers caused tensions. A portion of the local population was always sympathetic to Russia. Even after the full-scale invasion it was possible to meet locals who would admit – nudge nudge, wink wink – that their views had not changed. Since the invasion began, the towns have taken on even greater significance. Kostiantynivka was the logistics hub to support both Bakhmut, Chasiv Yar, and Toretsk during the Russian assaults on them. Further north, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk have acted as the rear areas for battles around Lyman, Izyum and the ongoing struggle in the Siversk Salient. If the valley falls, the Ukrainians lose not only fortifications and favourable topography: they lose the urban logistics and infrastructure that make it possible to sustain an army and a defence. And don't forget the several hundred-thousand civilians who call the valley home. Many have even moved back after fleeing at the start of the full-scale invasion, reasoning that Kramatorsk is at least as safe – or safer – than other parts of the country. The next possible defensive towns – Izyum and Bavinkove in the Kharkiv Region, Petropavlivka in Dnipropetrovsk Region – either lie dozens of miles away or will be left vulnerable, their flanks open, if the Torets valley fortress falls. History Putin's interest in this corner of Donbas is partly political: he has told the Russian public that his goal is to liberate the whole of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, so he needs to capture it to be able to claim a victory true to his word. Not since French general Robert Nivelle declared the Germans 'shall not pass' at Verdun has a fortress town taken on such political and emotional, as well as strategic, significance. This, in fact, is where the Russo-Ukrainian war began – in April 2014 when a handful of heavily armed desperadoes led by a Russian intelligence officer called Igor Girkin stormed into the town hall, police station and security service office in Sloviansk. They quickly moved on to other towns down the valley and over the hills, storming police stations and abducting, torturing and murdering opponents as they went. Two of their victims – the local councillor Volodymyr Rybak and a teenage activist called Yuri Poporavka – were tortured to death and dumped in the Torets. The Ukrainian recapture of Sloviansk and the rest of the Torets valley in June that year was their first big success of the war – in fact, the first time the Ukrainian military proved it could take on and defeat Russian-led forces. Ever since, Sloviansk in particular has become totemic to both sides. To the Russians, it is the birthplace of their astro-turfed, FSB-led 'rebellion' that provided the excuse for invasion. To the Ukrainians, it is the ground zero of their battle for national survival. The legend has been magnified 1,000-fold since the full scale invasion. In the summer of 2022, the Ukrainians stubbornly defied a Russian attempt to storm the fortress valley from two sides. The enemy came within earshot of Sloviansk from the north, the rumble of Russian artillery creeping closer by the day. But they were never able to get into the valley before they were thrown back in a Ukrainian counter offensive. Ever since, Russia's operations – from the nine-month battle for Bakhmut to the current assault on Pokrovsk and Toretsk – have been directed ultimately at Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. So many Ukrainians have now died trying to defend and hold the fortress belt towns; so many men and women from all over Ukraine know the valley and its potholed highway; so many have stopped for their last coffee before the front at its petrol stations that surrender is almost unthinkable.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war live: ‘Russia must end this war,' Zelenskyy says as he arrives in Washington for Trump talks
Update: Date: 2025-08-18T05:13:29.000Z Title: Opening summary Content: Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has declared 'Russia must end this war' as he arrived in Washington DC ahead of a crucial talks with Donald Trump over the Russia-Ukraine conflict. A host of European leaders will join Zelenskyy on Monday for the summit as they seek to provide a counterpoint to Vladimir Putin's arguments following his talks with the US president on Friday. The leaders – British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and Finnish president Alexander Stubb – cleared their diaries to fly to the US at short notice, which is seen as a measure of how alarmed they were by Friday's Trump-Putin summit in Anchorage. After the Alaska talks Trump reportedly endorsed the Kremlin's plan to end the war in Ukraine, including Kyiv giving up territory that Russia has been unable to seize and no ceasefire until a final deal has been agreed. Zelenskyy said in a post on X as he arrived in Washington late on Sunday that he was grateful to Trump for the invitation and 'we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably'. He also said that 'peace must be lasting'. 'Russia must end this war, which it itself started,' Zelenskyy said. 'And I hope that our joint strength with America, with our European friends, will force Russia into a real peace.' Here are some of the latest developments: Zelenskyy met European leaders in Brussels earlier on Sunday and reiterated Ukraine's stance on land swaps, saying on X: 'Ukraine's constitution makes it impossible to give up or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral – Ukraine, the US, Russia. So far, Russia gives no sign this will happen, and if Russia refuses, new sanctions must follow.' Ahead of Monday's peace talks in the US, Emmanuel Macron said that in order to have a 'lasting peace deal for Ukraine, Ukraine needs a strong army'. He added that European allies want 'Ukraine's territorial integrity to be respected' and that 'Ukraine must be represented in any talks on Ukraine's future'. The French president also said that 'our goal for tomorrow's talks is to present a united front between Ukraine and its European allies'. The Washington talks will also be attended by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and Nato's secretary general, Mark Rutte. Zelenskyy has hailed the decision to offer security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a peace deal as he prepared to meet Trump. 'Security guarantees, as a result of our joint work, must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air and at sea, and must be developed with Europe's participation,' the Ukrainian president said. In announcing his visit to Washington, Keir Starmer praised Trump for his 'efforts to end Russia's illegal war in Ukraine'. At the same time, the British PM reasserted Europe's red lines, saying the 'path to peace' could not be decided without Zelenskyy and that Russia should be 'squeezed' with further sanctions. Starmer has deliberately sought to position himself as a leader who can get along with Trump while consistently stressing the red lines over any peace plan. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said Russia and Ukraine were both 'going to have to make concessions' for there to be a peaceful resolution to the war. In interviews on Sunday Rubio said the talks in Alaska had 'made progress in the sense that we identified potential areas of agreement – but there remains some big areas of disagreement'. 'We're still a long ways off,' Rubio added. 'We're not at the precipice of a peace agreement. We're not at the edge of one. But I do think progress was made and towards one.' He declined to go into specific areas of agreement or disagreement. Trump's Ukraine envoy, Steve Witkoff, said Putin had agreed that the US and European allies could offer Ukraine a Nato-style, 'Article 5-like' security guarantee as part of an eventual deal to end the war. Witkoff added that Russia had agreed to unspecified concessions on five Ukrainian regions central to the war, particularly the eastern Donetsk province. 'We agreed to robust security guarantees that I would describe as gamechanging,' he said. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's envoy to international organisations in Vienna, said early on Monday that Russia agreed that any future peace agreement must provide security guarantees to Kyiv, but added that Russia 'has equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees'. European Union council president Antonio Costa said he 'welcomed the United States' willingness to participate in providing security guarantees to Ukraine'. He said: 'Transatlantic unity is paramount at this moment to achieve a sustainable peace in Ukraine.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Trump's trade war puts US love for Scottish goods to the test
"Shortbread is America's second favourite cookie, after chocolate chip," says Anne Robinson, owner of Scottish Gourmet USA, a small business in North Carolina. She imports Scottish produce and sells it at her store in Greensboro and online. "But how much will consumers pay for their little pleasures?"Along with Andrew Hamilton, her Scottish husband, she's about to find out. They are putting up prices, partly due to the 10% tariff on imports into the US from are other reasons, including the weakened US dollar against the British pound, higher healthcare costs for her employees and higher employer costs for her suppliers of "bangers, bacon, pies, tablet, kippers, bannocks, cheese, shortbread, fudge, mugs and more"."We sell the luxury brands of shortbread, along with Walker's, the world's biggest maker of shortbread," Anne says. "All the prices are higher today than a year ago because butter costs have skyrocketed. Now add the tariff and every box of cookies has gone up by at least $1."At some point, consumers will not buy a box of Scottish shortbread at $10 when American-made Lorna Doone shortbread sells for $5-6." That may make Donald Trump's point for him. He wants to use tariffs to discourage Americans from importing, replacing those choices with American could put jobs at risk in Aberlour on Speyside, for instance, where Walker's makes shortbread in vast quantities, much of it for export, employing up to 1,700 people in peak pre-Christmas could boost jobs in the US bakeries where Lorna Doone Shortbread cookies are made by snacks goliath are the more straightforward effects of tariffs - the taxes paid by importers as goods arrive in the country imposing the charge, usually as a percentage of its with such uncertainty around tariffs because of Donald Trump's capricious policy-making, we've only recently begun to get an idea of the companies are beginning to put a price on US tariffs, led by car makers. Toyota says it looks like a full-year hit of £7.1bn. Honda, also facing 15% tariffs on Japanese-made cars being sold into the US, says the cost will be more than £ auto-makers are hard hit too, because they are international businesses and many of their vehicles have parts manufactured across national boundaries, including those with Canada and Motors expects the rise in tariffs to cost it between £3bn and £4bn annually. Ford forecasts tariffs will cost it £1.5bn this year. Caterpillar, maker of construction machinery, has an estimate of £ Americans are beginning to assess the impact on the goods they buy. Importers have absorbed most of the costs until have been surprised that they have not been passing costs on in prices, and pushing up inflation, but they continue to expect that will early sign is that wholesale prices took a big jump last month – up by 0.9% when the expectation was of only 0.2%. The next signs could come from the big retail chains led by Walmart, reporting to the markets this from Brazil will carry a 50% tariff. Cars from Germany, as with other EU exports of food and machinery, face a 15% charge at the point of import. Watches, cheese and gold from Switzerland will carry a 39% US smartphones are made in India, which is seeing a 25% tariff imposed on exports to the USA, and that could be doubled within three months as punishment for India buying Russian high rates could be negotiated down, if Brazil's or India's leaders are willing to plead. Neither sounds like they are. Along with South Africa, there could be a new alliance of large economies which are unwilling to accept US tariffs without Trump is yet to meet with China's leadership to discuss summit with Russia's President Putin in Alaska on Friday left yet more gone into the meeting threatening tougher measures against Russia, to punish it for aggression in Ukraine, as well as further tariffs on those, such as India, who buy goods from Russia, the US president has not commented on UK came off relatively lightly from the trade deals struck so far, with the 10% baseline tariff applied across the board, but uncertainty about steel and pharmaceuticals remains.A bottle of Scotch whisky will carry that 10% tariff. Diageo, owner of Johnnie Walker and several well-known single malts while also a distiller of spirits within the US, estimates the annual cost at £150m. 'We should be thriving, instead we're struggling' The risk for Americans is, first, that imported goods will go up in price and, second, that components for US manufacturers will become more expensive, pushing up prices of goods completed in the third effect is expected to be that such trade barriers act as an invitation to US producers to put up prices simply because they can. They are protected from overseas competition.A fourth impact could be that when Americans travel overseas, as both president and vice-president have been in doing in Scotland, the weakened dollar makes that so-called "invisible export" more expensive for them - by around 10% in the case of the UK than it was last Americans are employed in selling imported goods, their businesses and jobs are on the Robinson at Scottish Gourmet USA says: "Tariffs are a tax that benefits no-one. There is no service, no government program, nothing except this added cost."These are taxes on US companies that import anything - hurting small business and large, making planning and pricing nearly impossible as the possible tariffs change frequently."She lists the various opportunities being lost because of the Trump policy: "We are holding off hiring, raising wages for deserving employees, possible expansion of our warehouse space and many other possible purchases that could help our business grow because of the tariffs and resulting fall in the value of the dollar. "When we should be thriving, instead we are struggling." One response for US trading partners is to look elsewhere. The UK has reason to get closer again to the European Union. After years of delays and obstacles in talks between the EU and India, the Trump effect seemed to spark momentum into its talks with post-Brexit faces the biggest hit from tariffs, as its economy has become so integrated, so it is looking to a future with a lot less US in there's another economic effect from countries which have lost markets in the world's biggest economy, leaving them with surplus product and secondary effect will be felt as goods are re-directed into alternative markets. With steel already established as the Chinese export that was top of the list of US targets for tariffs, other countries, including the UK, have taken steps to stop China dumping its excess steel in other markets at prices that undercut domestic steel already established as the Chinese export that was top of the list of US targets for tariffs, other countries including the UK have taken steps to stop China dumping its excess steel in other markets at prices that undercut domestic many of us buy steel directly, so we will not feel the impact directly. We do buy salmon, however, and that is already seeing the effects of markets being distorted and trade has a premium product that sells into the US market. The trade figures for the first half of 2025, released on Thursday, showed exports to the US more than doubled since last £190m exports in six months, that puts US imports close to those of France, the biggest importer of Scottish salmon. However, that may be a temporary distortion of trade patterns, front-loading imports for freezing ahead of tariffs being a much longer shelf-life, Scotch whisky exporters have shifted stock into the US since Donald Trump's election victory last November. The trade figures released on Thursday showed a big surge across categories of goods in the first quarter of the year, and then a big slump since salmon exporters face that 10% US tariff, while Norway faces one at 15%. So Scottish salmon gets an advantage over Norwegian, a differential that will also distort other US produces its own salmon, but not much of the Atlantic species. Half of its consumption of that has come from a 10% tariff on this, the trade body for the Chilean aquaculture industry forecasts a trade loss of more than £1bn. What does this mean for Scotland? According to a well-placed source in the Scottish salmon industry, Chile, Canada and Norway are looking to "redirect more product into lower-tariff export markets like the EU to maintain sales"."This shift is already having an impact," they say. "Market studies have highlighted how other producing countries are treating Europe and parts of Asia as a 'safe haven' for diverted supply, which is adding to volumes in the European market."An industry analyst at Norwegian seafood data firm Kontali, Philip Scrase, recently published a note about salmon prospects, with production set to the US, he observed the effect of tariffs could be said: "The move may hurt US seafood processors and consumers more than it helps domestic producers, particularly in the retail sector, where price sensitivity is high, and substitutes are limited."Salmon producers' loss of US markets could be the European consumers' gain, Mr Scrase says, as an increased supply from Chile pushes down reporting from the seafood trade media pointed to sharply reduced prices for salmon from the dominant producer, Norway, at the same time as the sector expected a big 2025 harvest due to improved fish survival consequence is a rush to freeze as much salmon as possible. Another is that some are reported as having to sell at less than it cost to is explicitly why Salmon Scotland, the trade body, is stepping up its efforts to promote the third of Scottish salmon exports to France that qualify for the prestigious Label Rouge, a French marketing kitemark to signify food Scottish government is matching Salmon Scotland's £50,000 budget for the the consequences of this tariff war are being felt far from trade with the US, and will take time to feed through to new price levels in North Carolina and Scottish Gourmet USA, Anne Robinson remains hopeful."My fingers are crossed in the hopes that our loyal customers will continue to buy their favourite cookies, candy, jam or haggis," she says.
