U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would meet with Vladimir Putin even if the Russian leader will not meet with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in comments that suggested Washington and Moscow could soon hold a summit.
Trump’s comments followed a statement from Putin earlier in the day that he hoped to meet with Trump next week, possibly in the United Arab Emirates. But the White House was still working through the details of any potential meetings, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.
When asked by a reporter if Putin would need to meet with Zelenskyy in order to secure a meeting with the U.S., Trump said: “No, he doesn’t. No….
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Europe must participate in the peace processbetween his country and Russia after a call with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, on Thursday. The Ukrainian president embarked on a lightning round of calls with European leaders ahead of a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin expected soon. As the Kremlin refused a three-way meeting with Zelenskyy and Trump, Zelenskyy said: “Ukraine is not afraid of meetings and expects the same brave approach from the Russian side.”
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The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said she had spoken with Zelenskyy about the developments of the past days and “next steps on the way towards a negotiated peace agreement and Ukraine’s future membership in the European Union as well as its reconstruction”.
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The French president, Emmanuel Macron, reaffirmed France’s full support for a ceasefire in Ukraine and the launch of talks aimed at reaching a lasting and solid peace, after a “long discussion” with Zelenskyy and other European leaders. “I reiterated to the Ukrainian president France’s full support for establishing a ceasefire and launching discussions toward a solid and lasting solution that preserves Ukraine’s legitimate rights and guarantees its security and that of Europeans.”
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Zelenskyy said he had discussed a new International Monetary Fund financial assistance programme for Ukraine with the IMF’s managing director, Kristalina Georgieva. “We are prepared to carry out the necessary steps quickly. The government is already working on this.” Ukraine’s current $15.5bn programme with the IMF expires in 2027.
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Russian drone strikes injured three women in the Bucha district of Kyiv oblast and houses caught on fire, officials said early on Friday. Kharkiv was hit by Shahed drones, causing fires; while on Thursday eight injuries were reported from Russian shelling in Donetsk oblast.
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The director of Russia’s notorious Taganrog prison, where officials are accused of overseeing the systematic torture and starvation of hundreds of Ukrainian detainees, has been notified by authorities in Kyiv that he is suspected of having committed a war crime, write Shaun Walker and Andrew Roth. Aleksandr Shtoda, head of the Sizo 2 pre-trial detention centre in Taganrog, has been formally placed under investigation.
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A Russian state-owned explosives manufacturer got around sanctions by buying equipment made by Germany’s Siemens through a middleman who imports technology from China, Reuters has reported based on customs data and state procurement records. The equipment was for the recently expanded Biysk Oleum Factory (BOZ) in southern Siberia, which makes the explosives TNT and HMX and is listed as a supplier to the Russian defence ministry.
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Reuters said it found no evidence Siemens knowingly supplied BOZ. A Siemens spokesperson said it strictly complied with international sanctions and demanded the same from its customers, but some goods could reach Russia without it knowing. It would report any sanctions contraventions to the authorities. Questions sent to BOZ and its parent company went unanswered, said Reuters.
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Russia does not produce much of its own automated machine tooling – and Konrad Muzyka, director of the Rochan military consultancy in Poland, said continued delivery of western-made machines was helping Russia prolong the war. “Without them, Russia’s capacity to sustain or scale its war effort would be more time consuming, expensive and place a bigger burden on the labour market.”….
ISW…Russian Occupation Update, August 7, 2025
- Russian occupation authorities are using a military-patriotic program that valorizes the Soviet military to indoctrinate Ukrainian youth.
- Russian regional officials continue to implicate themselves in Russia’s wider campaign of using summer camp programs for the deportation and indoctrination of Ukrainian children.
- A Russian company associated with a prominent Kremlin-linked oligarch recently bought and privatized the occupied Port of Yalta in Crimea, supporting Kremlin efforts to award loyalists with a stake in Russia’s occupation project. Russian occupation administrations are also focusing on developing the tourist potential of occupied Ukraine using assets such as the Port of Yalta.
Daily Kos grunt Report for Today…..
Reportedly this is the Russian terms for a cease fire…..
Lifting of Sanctions….
Russian Oil and Gas import limits lifted….
No Ukraine NATO entry….
No military assistance to Ukraine….
Also….
Putin is going to visit India….
So Trump’s threats against India ain’t working……
Russia’s Economy is suffering from the War ….
Of course SO is the Ukraine which IS getting aid from Europe…..
Trump and Putin are meeting in Alaska next Friday.
Maybe they will take in a Coldplay concert together.