Barrack: Lebanese government took the first step, now "Israel" must take steps in return.
Reuters: Trump's meeting with European leaders is complete.
France's Macron says we all support idea of truce
Merz urges ceasefire before three-way Ukraine-Russia-US summit
Trump says Putin accepts Western security guarantees for Ukraine
Zelensky says had 'best' conversation yet with Trump
Trump meets European leaders at White House after Zelensky talks
Trump says to call Putin after talks with Zelensky, Europeans
Ukrainian delegation has reportedly brought a map to the White House: US media
Zelensky at meeting in White House did not answer whether he is ready for territorial gains
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Nahar Net
25 minutes ago
- Nahar Net
Ukraine allies meet with hopes of peace talks breakthrough
by Naharnet Newsdesk 19 August 2025, 12:56 Ukraine's allies were meeting on Tuesday to discuss the outcome of fast-moving talks to end the war with Russia, after indications that Volodymyr Zelensky could sit down with Vladimir Putin for a peace summit. Hopes of a breakthrough rose when the Ukrainian president and European leaders met US President Donald Trump in Washington on Monday, who said he had also spoken by phone with his Russian counterpart. The Ukraine war, which has killed tens of thousands of people, has ground to a virtual stalemate despite a few recent Russian advances, defying Trump's push to end it. A face-to-face meeting between Zelensky and Putin would be their first since Russia's brutal invasion nearly three-and-a-half years ago. French President Emmanuel Macron, who was in Washington for the talks on the key issue of long-term security guarantees for Ukraine, said France and Britain would hold a meeting on Tuesday with around 30 of Kyiv's allies. The virtual meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing" would "keep them up to date on what was decided", Macron told French news channel LCI. "Right after that, we'll start concrete work with the Americans." Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are co-hosting the meeting, which will "discuss next steps" for Ukraine, a UK government spokesperson told AFP, as Kyiv seeks backing from allies to enforce any peace deal. Macron suggested Geneva could host peace talks, but said it was "up to Ukraine" to decide whether to make concessions on territory, including parts of the eastern Donbas region still under its control. "Putin has rarely honored his commitments," he added, calling the Russian leader a "predator, an ogre at our gates" -- comments that underscored wider European wariness. Putin "has constantly been a force for destabilization. He has sought to redraw borders to increase his power," Macron said. - Open to talks - Trump, who last week held talks with Putin in Alaska, wrote on his Truth Social network after Monday's meetings that "everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine". "At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky," he added. Trump said he would then hold a three-way summit with the Ukrainian and Russian leaders. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who was part of the European delegation, said Putin had agreed to the bilateral meeting within the next two weeks. Zelensky said he was "ready" to meet his bitter foe Putin, while in Moscow, a Kremlin aide said that Putin was open to the "idea" of direct talks with Ukraine. Trump's summit with Putin last Friday failed to produce any ceasefire, with no let-up since in daily Russian drone attacks on Ukraine. Zelensky then rushed to the White House to meet with Trump after the US president increasingly pushed the Ukrainian leader to make concessions to Russia. The leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO then announced that they would also be attending, in a pointed show of support. Zelensky also met one-on-one in the Oval Office with Trump in their first encounter there since their acrimonious blow-up in February. The Ukrainian president said the meeting was their "best" yet, with little of the tension that erupted when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated him in front of TV cameras for not being "grateful" for U.S. support. - Security guarantees - Trump meanwhile said he had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine, adding that Putin had agreed to them despite ruling out Kyiv's long-held dream of joining the NATO alliance. The guarantees "would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America", he said. The Financial Times, citing a document seen by the newspaper, said Ukraine had undertaken to buy $100 billion of U.S. weapons financed by Europe in return for U.S. guarantees for its security. Zelensky later spoke to reporters about a $90-billion package, and said Ukraine and its allies would formalize the terms of the security guarantees within 10 days. The presence of the European leaders however also underscored continuing nervousness about whether Trump will pivot towards Putin as he has on a number of occasions. Trump had pushed Ukraine ahead of the meeting to give up Crimea and abandon its goal of joining NATO -- both key demands made by Putin.
Nahar Net
an hour ago
- Nahar Net
Trump begins arranging Putin-Zelensky summit
President Donald Trump said Monday he's begun arrangements for a face-to-face meeting between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a pathway to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, while affirming that the U.S. would back European security guarantees aimed at preventing Moscow from reinvading its neighbor once the current conflict ends. Details of the security guarantees and Trump's efforts to arrange peace talks were still evolving as an extended meeting among Trump, Zelenskyy and other European leaders wrapped up at the White House. But as they emerged from their talks, the leaders expressed guarded optimism that Trump could be finding momentum in his quest to fulfill his campaign promise of ending the grinding war. The "most important" outcome of the meeting was the "U.S. commitment to work with us on providing security guarantees," French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters. Trump said he would forge ahead with arrangements for a meeting between Zelenskyy and Putin. He spoke by phone with Putin during Monday's talks with Zelenskyy and the leaders of Britain, Finland, France, Germany and Italy as well as the president of the European Commission and head of NATO. The developments come amid a significant measure of trepidation on the continent that Trump is pressing Ukraine to make concessions that will only further embolden Putin after the U.S. leader hosted the Russian president for an Alaska summit last week. "I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy," Trump said in a social media post. "After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years." It was not clear if Putin has fully signed on to such talks. Russia state news agency Tass cited Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov saying Putin and Trump "spoke in favor" of continuing direct talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations. Ushakov said they also discussed "the idea of raising the level of the direct Russian-Ukrainian negotiations." Zelenskyy told reporters following the White House meeting that if Russia does "not demonstrate a will to meet, then we will ask the United States to act accordingly." NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said in an appearance on Fox News that "if Russia is not playing ball" on direct talks with Ukraine, "the United States plus Europe will do more when it comes to tariffs and sanctions" on Moscow. Zelenskyy previously had said he wanted Russia to agree to a ceasefire before any meeting between himself and Putin, but he said Monday that if the Ukrainians started setting conditions, the Russians would do the same. "That's why I believe that we must meet without any conditions, and think about what development there can be of this path to the end of war," Zelenskyy said. Earlier, Trump said during talks with Zelenskyy and the European leaders that a potential ceasefire and who gets Ukrainian territory seized by Russia should be hashed out during a face-to-face meeting between the warring countries' two leaders. "We're going to let the president go over and talk to the president and we'll see how that works out," Trump said. That was a shift from comments Trump made soon after meeting Putin last week in which he appeared to tilt toward Putin's demands that Ukraine make concessions over land seized by Russia, which now controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory. Questions about US and NATO involvement Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine's security. He said instead that there would be a "NATO-like" security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders. Zelenskyy said deep U.S. involvement in the emerging security guarantees is crucial. "It is important that the United States make a clear signal, namely that they will be among the countries that will help to coordinate and also will participate in security guarantees for Ukraine," Zelenskyy said. Speaking Monday before the White House meetings took place, Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova rejected the idea of a possible NATO peacekeeping force in Ukraine. She said such a scenario could lead to further escalation and "unpredictable consequences." Trump's engagement with Zelenskyy had a strikingly different feel to their last Oval Office meeting in February. It was a disastrous moment that led to Trump abruptly ending talks with the Ukrainian delegation, and temporarily pausing some aid for Kyiv, after he and Vice President JD Vance complained that Zelenskyy had shown insufficient gratitude for U.S. military assistance. At the start of Monday's meeting, Zelenskyy presented a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, for Trump's wife, Melania. Zelenskyy faced criticism during his February meeting from a conservative journalist for appearing in the Oval Office in a long-sleeve T-shirt. This time he appeared in a dark jacket and buttoned shirt. Zelenskyy has said his typically less formal attire since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 is to show solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers. European leaders arrived in Washington looking to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Ahead of Monday's meeting, Trump suggested that Ukraine could not regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed conflict that led to its broader 2022 invasion. Zelenskyy in his own post late Sunday, responded, "We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably." He said "peace must be lasting," not as it was after Russia seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago and "Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack." European heavyweights in Washington European leaders suggested forging a temporary ceasefire is not off the table. Following his meeting with Putin on Friday, Trump dropped his demand for an immediate ceasefire and said he would look to secure a final peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine — a sudden shift to a position favored by Putin. German and French leaders on Monday praised Trump for opening a path to peace, but they urged the U.S. president to push Russia for an immediate ceasefire. "I would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting," said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump, for his part, reiterated that a broader, war-ending peace agreement between the two countries is "very attainable," but "all of us would obviously prefer the immediate ceasefire while we work on a lasting peace." ___ Kullab reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Chris Megerian and Darlene Superville in Washington, Farnoush Amiri in New York, Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia, and Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed to this report.
Al Mayadeen
10 hours ago
- Al Mayadeen
Barrack: There was no US suggestion directed as "Israel", what we are doing is executing an agreement that had been violated.
White House: Meeting between President Trump, European leaders and the Ukrainian president ends. Reuters: Trump's meeting with European leaders is complete. France's Macron says we all support idea of truce Merz urges ceasefire before three-way Ukraine-Russia-US summit Trump says Putin accepts Western security guarantees for Ukraine Zelensky says had 'best' conversation yet with Trump Trump meets European leaders at White House after Zelensky talks Trump says to call Putin after talks with Zelensky, Europeans Ukrainian delegation has reportedly brought a map to the White House: US media Zelensky at meeting in White House did not answer whether he is ready for territorial gains
