Volodymyr Zelensky

Nov. 5 (UPI) — European lawmakers have agreed to a fifth disbursement of $2 billion for Ukraine, supporting its financial stability and government as its defense against a Russian invasion nears its fourth year.

The European Council, the collegiate body of the 27-member bloc, adopted a decision Monday to disburse the funds under its Ukraine Facility, the EU’s main framework for sustaining Ukraine’s economy, governance and reconstruction.

The disbursement comes after Kyiv’s successful completion of nine steps required for the money to be released and one outstanding step from the fourth disbursement of $3.6 billion in August.

“The funding aims primarily to bolster Ukraine’s macro-financial stability and support the continued operation of its public administration,” the council said in a statement.

The Ukraine Facility was adopted in February 2024 and came into force the next month to provide Ukraine with up to $57.4 billion in stable financing in the form of grants and loans through 2027.

Up to $36.7 billion of the funds are earmarked for reforms and investments established in the Ukraine Plan, which will also accelerate Kyiv’s EU accession.

Under the Ukraine Facility, the EU has disbursed about $6.8 billion in bridge financing, $2.1 billion in pre-financing and now five installments of $4.8 billion, $4.1 billion, $4 billion, $3.6 billion and $2 billion on Tuesday.

The disbursement came as the European Commission, the executive branch of the bloc, published a report assessing that Ukraine has made progress in its accession process.

President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in a statement that the report “is the best assessment to date — proof that even as we defend against Russia’s full-scale aggression, Ukraine continues to reform and transform according to European standards.”

“Ukraine’s progress on the path to the EU is achieved by efforts of millions of our people,” he said.

“We are committed to working together to strengthen Europe and our shared values.”

Oct. 17 (UPI) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump began discussing Ukraine‘s defense against Russia Friday afternoon at the White House.

The two presidents are meeting to discuss a possible allocation of long-range Tomahawk missiles and other weapons to help Ukraine in its defense against Russia, according to NBC News.

Trump also is expected to discuss his Thursday phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin while meeting with Zelensky.

The White House visit is Zelensky’s third since Trump became president in January and is the first to discuss the possible deployment of weaponry capable of striking deep inside Russia and targeting that nation’s energy infrastructure, The HIll reported.

Trump and Putin agreed to a tentative summit in Budapest, Hungary, sometime in the near future.

Zelensky said Moscow was “rushing” to resume negotiations after Trump suggested Monday that he was thinking of sending the ball into Russia’s court by threatening to send Ukraine the missiles unless the war was brought to a conclusion.

“We hope that the momentum of curbing terror and war, which worked in the Middle East, will help end the Russian war against Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote in a post on X.

“Putin is definitely not braver than Hamas or any other terrorist. The language of force and justice will definitely work against Russia as well. We already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue, just hearing about ‘Tomahawks,'” he added.

However, Trump appeared to back away from the Tomahawk issue following a call with Putin on Thursday, saying he had concerns about running down U.S. stocks.

“We need them too … so I don’t know what we can do about that,” Trump said.

The lunchtime Oval Office meeting comes a day after Trump hailed “great progress” made during a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Delegations from both sides were due to meet next week to prepare for a summit between the two leaders in Hungary.

The contact, the first direct communication with Putin since August, was initiated by Moscow, two days after Trump said he was considering supplying Kyiv with Tomahawk missiles.

The missiles have a 1,500-mile range, which would enable Ukraine to strike Moscow and St. Petersburg.

On Thursday, Zelensky met with representatives of U.S. defense and energy companies, including Raytheon, which makes the Tomahawks, and Lockheed Martin.

He said they discussed ramping up the supply of air defense systems, the Patriot missile system in particular, Raytheon’s production capacity, cooperation to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense and long-range capabilities, and the prospects for Ukrainian-American joint production.

Ukraine’s energy resilience was the main topic of discussion with the energy firms in the face of an increasing Russian tactical focus on hitting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches.

“Now, as Russia is betting on terror against our energy sector and carrying out daily strikes, we are working to ensure Ukraine’s resilience,” Zelensky said.

Oct. 5 (UPI) — Russia launched some 50 missiles and 500 drones in an overnight attack in Ukraine, leaving five people dead, the President Volodymyr Zelensky, said.

The assault was aimed at the country’s infrastructure, leaving thousands without power, the BBC reported.

The strikes on Liviv left four members of a family dead, and the attack in Zaporizhzhia killed one person.

The head of that region, Maksym Kozytskyi, said the area has not seen such a blitz since the Russian invasion began in 2022.

Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa and Kirovohrad were also targeted.

“Today, the Russians once again targeted our infrastructure — everything that ensures normal life for our people. We need more protection and faster implementation of all defense agreements, especially on air defense, to deprive this aerial terror of any meaning,” Zelensky said in a statement, per the New York Times.

Sept. 29 (UPI) — Denmark will ban all civilian drones beginning Monday over safety concerns as Copenhagen prepares to host an EU summit on European defense.

Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen announced the airspace closure Sunday after a slew of incidents involving unidentified drones in recent weeks. The closure will be in effect from Monday to Friday.

He said the drones have created disruption and uncertainty in the country, particularly among the military and police. He said the closure of airspace to civilian drone use will allow law enforcement to focus on security for EU meetings Thursday and Friday.

The European Council is meeting informally Thursday to address general defense in Europe as well as the body’s support for Ukraine amid its war with Russia. A more formal summit of the European political community is expected to take place Friday.

Last week, Denmark’s defense minister, Troels Lund Poulson, said the recent drone sightings in Danish airspace likely weren’t by Russia though there has been a rise in Russian violations of allied airspace. He instead described them as “hybrid attacks,” meaning they were the result of different types of drones. Authorities believed they were launched from somewhere local.

The drone incidents have caused Denmark to at times shut down airports and the airspace around its largest military base.

During his speech Wednesday before the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned the international community that Russia’s advanced weaponry and defense technology is putting the entirety of Europe under threat. He cited Moscow’s use of drones and artificial intelligence.

“We are living through the most destructive arms race in human history,” Zelensky said.

European leaders, including Poulson, met on the sidelines of the U.N. general debate last week to discuss the establishment of a “drone wall” to prevent drone attacks — from Russia or otherwise. The system to detect and disable drones would create a virtual wall along eastern EU countries, including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

There have been other unidentified drone sightings in Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

VLADIMIR Putin’s prized golden goose – Russia’s oil empire – has become a sitting duck, and it’s Ukraine’s drones that are pulling the trigger.

In the latest episode of Battle Plans Exposed, military intelligence expert Philip Ingram MBE lays bare how Kyiv has opened a devastating new front in the war in the oilfields, refineries and pipelines that bankroll Putin’s invasion.

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“This is the oil war,” Ingram says.

“It’s a highly strategic, calculated campaign to cripple the engine of Putin’s war.”

Watch the latest episode on The Sun’s YouTube channel here…

For decades, Russia’s vast energy reserves paid for everything from tanks and cruise missiles to soldiers’ salaries and propaganda handouts.

Before the invasion, energy exports made up around 40 per cent of the Kremlin’s budget.

Even under sanctions, oil and gas still bring in 30 per cent of Russia’s income.

The episode shows how Ukraine has zeroed in on this “river of oil money” with pinpoint strikes hundreds of miles inside Russian territory.

Long-range drones have torched colossal refineries, exploded pumping stations and set storage tanks ablaze – systematically dismantling Moscow’s refining capacity.

Footage of Rosneft’s Ryazan refinery erupting into flames after a single drone strike captures the scale of the destruction.

“This isn’t a military base on the border,” Ingram warns.

“This is a core piece of Russia’s national infrastructure – hundreds of miles from Ukraine.”

What makes these attacks so devastating is their precision.

Ingram explains that the real targets aren’t the giant tanks but the refinery’s processing units – “the heart of the refinery,” where crude is split into diesel for tanks, jet fuel for fighters and gasoline for the home front.

Knock one of these units out, and the entire facility is useless for months, even years.

The episode shows how Ukraine has already knocked out at least 12 per cent of Russia’s refining capacity – stripping away over 600,000 barrels a day.

That’s billions in lost revenue that can’t be pumped into Putin’s war chest.

The impact is twofold. First, it chokes the Russian military itself: “No diesel, and tanks don’t move.

“No jet fuel, and fighters are grounded,” Ingram says.

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Second, it hits ordinary Russians – with fuel shortages, soaring prices and the chilling sight of their industrial heartland burning.

The Kremlin’s response? Denial, spin and panic.

Moscow has been forced to ban fuel exports for six months, sacrificing vital revenue just to stop unrest at home.

“Putin’s greatest fear,” Ingram says, “is the Russian people rising up.”

This is asymmetric warfare at its most ruthless – cheap Ukrainian drones inflicting billion-dollar wounds on the Kremlin.

The episode shows how the campaign has shattered Russia’s aura of invulnerability, exposed its sprawling oil empire as a fatal weakness, and brought the war crashing into the lives of ordinary Russians.

And as Ingram puts it: “It proves that in modern warfare, the most effective battle plans aren’t always about brute force on the tactical frontline, but about finding your enemy’s single point of failure – and striking it again and again with unrelenting precision.”

It comes as Ukraine claims to have turned the tide on the eastern front in a brutal counter-offensive.

Kyiv’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi said his troops had clawed back around 60 square miles since August, with Putin’s men retreating from a further 70 square miles north of bomb-blitzed Pokrovsk.

He boasted Russian forces had paid a horrifying price — 1,500 killed, another thousand wounded and 12 main battle tanks blown to pieces.

“Control has been restored in seven settlements and nine more have been cleared of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups,” Syrskyi declared, claiming nearly 165 square kilometres were liberated and almost 180 cleared of Russian saboteurs.

The breakthrough follows a shaky summer where Russian “saboteurs” punched six miles through Ukrainian lines overnight, threatening to cut supply roads.

But Ukraine has regrouped and is now pushing them back, Syrskyi insisting: “In the past 24 hours alone the enemy have lost 65 servicemen, 43 of them killed in action, along with 11 pieces of equipment.”

The destroyed kit ranges from tanks to artillery, drones and even a quad bike used by desperate Russian troops.

Russia has tried to claw back the narrative, claiming it captured a hamlet south of Pokrovsk — a claim Ukraine flatly denies.

Instead, Kyiv points to wrecked Russian armour littering the battlefield and insists the Kremlin’s army is being bled dry.

The fighting comes as Volodymyr Zelensky prepares to meet Donald Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Ukraine’s war leader is set to press the US president for tougher sanctions if Putin refuses to come to the table.

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Trump — who once called Putin a “genius” — admitted the dictator had “let him down”.

“I thought this war would be one of the easiest to solve because of my relationship with Putin. But he has really let me down,” he said during his visit to Britain.

But Britain’s spy chief Sir Richard Moore has poured cold water on any idea of a quick peace.

In a message aimed squarely at Trump, he said: “I have seen absolutely no evidence that President Putin has any interest in a negotiated  peace short of Ukrainian capitulation.”

He warned the world not to be duped by the Kremlin tyrant: “We should not believe him or credit him with strength he does not have.”

Moore added Russia was grinding forward “at a snail’s pace and horrendous cost” — and that Putin had “bitten off more than he can chew.”

He lauded Ukraine’s resistance and heaped praise on Zelensky, saying: “My admiration for him is unbounded,” while savaging Putin for plunging Russia into “long term decline” where he invests only in “missiles, munitions and morgues.”

The warning came days after Russia’s indiscriminate blitz killed three civilians in Zaporizhzhia — two women aged 40 and 79 and a man of 77 — even as Ukrainian forces notched up new gains and unleashed fresh revenge strikes on Russian soil.

Last month, Kyiv marked Independence Day with a wave of drone attacks crippling Russian energy sites and claimed to have wiped out three of the “Butchers of Bucha” in precision bombings in occupied Luhansk.

The Russian soldiers had been accused of taking part in the notorious 2022 massacre where hundreds of civilians were executed, tortured and raped as Putin’s troops stormed towards Kyiv.

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UKRAINE claimed its troops have turned the tide in a key part of the eastern front.

Kyiv’s top general Oleksandr Syrskyi said his troops had recaptured some 60 square miles in a major reversal since August.

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He also claimed Putin’s invaders had abandoned positions in a further 70 square miles north of the bomb-blitzed town of Pokrovsk.

The advances are welcome successes for Kyiv after months of Russian assaults wore down Ukraine’s morale.

Gen Syrskyi claimed Russian forces had suffered eye-watering losses including 1500 killed in action, another thousand wounded and at least 12 main battle tanks destroyed.

In a statement on Monday Gen Syrskyi said: “Control has been restored in seven settlements and nine more have been cleared of enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.

“As of 12pm on 22 September 2025, a total of 164.0 km² have been liberated and another 180.3 km² cleared of enemy sabotage groups.”

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy announced the counter-attack success last week.

The fight back followed a shock Russian advance in August.

Small groups of Russian “saboteurs” found weak points in the Ukrainian line and advanced almost six miles overnight, threatening to cut a key supply road between Dobropillia and Kostiantynivka.

Ukraine’s troops scrambled to contain the breakthrough and have now started to push them back.

Gen Syrskyi said his forces had continued to advance yesterday.

He said: “In the past 24 hours alone the enemy have lost 65 servicemen, 43 of them killed in action, along with 11 pieces of equipment.”

The wrecked Russian kit included four artillery guns, six drones and a quad bike which Russian troops used for assaults.

Gen Syrskyi claimed his assault teams “advanced between 200 m and 2.5 km in certain areas.”

The destroyed Russian weapons ranged from 12 main battle tanks to almost 60 motorcycles over the course of the counter offensive.

Russia hit back by claiming its troops had advanced to the south of Pokrovsk and captured the hamlet of Kalynivske.

Ukraine denied the Russian advance.

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It comes as President Zelensky prepared to meet Donald Trump at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Zelenskyy is expected to press Trump for sanctions on Russia if Putin refuses to meet them.

President Trump said Putin had “let him down” over peace in Ukraine.
Speaking during his state visit to Britain Trump said he thought the war in Ukraine would have been the easiest war for him to solve because of their relationship.

He said: “I thought this war would be one of the easiest to solve because of my relationship with Putin. But he has really let me down.”

The head of Britain’s MI6 warned Putin was “stringing us along”.

In a message aimed squarely at Donald Trump, the spy chief Sir Richard Moore said: “I have seen absolutely no evidence that President Putin has any interest in a negotiated  peace short of Ukrainian capitulation.

Sir Richard, who is known as C, used his final chief as head of Britain’s Secret Intelligence  Service to say Putin lies to the world, to his people and “perhaps even to himself.”

He said: “We should not believe him or credit him with strength he does not have.”

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Trump has called Putin a genius, repeatedly mentioned Russia’s size and strength, and he rolled out the red carpet for Putin when they met in Alaska last month.

Sir Richard, who has access to Britain’s most secret reports on Putin’s intentions, insisted the Russian dictator was still determined to bring Kyiv under Russian control.

He said: “Putin seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal.”

But he said Russia was doomed to fail.

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He said: “He cannot succeed. Russia simply does not have the wherewithal to fully subjugate Ukraine by force.

Sir Richard acknowledged Russian troops were “grinding forward on the battlefield”.

But he said it was at “a snail’s pace and horrendous cost”.

He said: “Putin has bitten off more than he can chew.

“History warns us never to underestimate a country fighting for its independence and for its very survival.

“Greater powers than Russia have failed to subjugate weaker powers than Ukraine.

“In the end, if we hold our nerve, Putin will need to come to terms with the fact that he has a choice – to risk an economic and political crisis that threatens his own rule, or make a sensible deal.”

Sir Richard, who has been tipped as a possible British ambassador to Washington, lavished praise on Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy.

He said: “My admiration for him is unbounded.”

By contrast he accused Putin of plunging Russia into “long term decline”.

He said: “He invests not in infrastructure, schools and hospitals but in missiles, munitions and morgues.”

Britain and European leaders have rallied around President Zelenskyy after the war leader had a disastrous meeting with President Trump in the White House in March.

Trump’s relations with Zelenskyy have since improved but Ukrainians fear he could cut US support to Ukraine on a whim.

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Trump threatened Russia with “serious consequences” if he didn’t make steps towards peace.

But Trump’s deadline passed with no penalties for Russia.

And Moscow has since flown a squadron of drones into Poland during a night-time blitz on Ukraine.

Sir Richard goaded the Russian president – who is himself a former KGB intelligence officer –  by encouraging Russians to spy for Britain.

And he boasted that some of Putin’s opponents were already “secretly working with MI6”.

Sir Richard was making his final public speech before stepping down after five years as the chief of MI6.

And he formally launched new “dark web portal” codenamed Silent Courier,  to help potential spies contact MI6 secretly from anywhere in the world.

He is due to be replaced by Blaise Metreweli, the first ever female chief of MI6, who is currently serving as Q, head of the MI6 gadgets.

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Sept. 19 (UPI) — Russia launched nearly 90 drones at Ukraine overnight, most of which were “neutralized,” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said Friday morning, after having claimed an “important success” in its counteroffensive in southeastern Donetsk.

The Kremlin targeted Ukraine’s infrastructure and other targets in the regions of Donetsk, Kyiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, wounding at least two people in Dnipro, while recovery efforts were underway in Kyiv where public transport infrastructure was damaged.

“Once again, the Russians strike civilians at a time when the entire world — and above all the United States — is calling for peace,” he said on X. “We hear President [Donald] Trump’s position on ending the killings, and we have agreed to all the proposals to unblock diplomacy. But it seems his position is not being heard in Russia.”

The attack comes as Trump, who campaigned on ending the Ukraine war within 24 hours of returning to the White House, has been pushing for a cease-fire.

During a press conference in Britain on Thursday, Trump acknowledged to reporters that he thought ending the Ukraine war would be the “easiest” of the ongoing conflicts due to his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He’s let me down. He’s really let me down,” he said, while vowing that he will end the war.

Zelensky has been saying that Putin is not interested in a cease-fire, despite what the Russian leader says, citing the nightly drone attacks on his country.

He said in lieu of Russian seriousness about an end to the war, Ukraine must implement “everything that strengthens us,” including the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List initiative, a mechanism launched this year to support Kyiv’s military needs.

“Decisive action is needed so that Russia ultimately agrees to diplomacy as well,” he said.

On Wednesday night, Zelensky claimed “an important success” in the Donetsk theater, where Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive.

He announced that since the start of the offensive, the date for which isn’t clear, Ukraine has captured 160 square kilometers while clearing 170 square kilometers of Russian troops.

“Any group of occupiers attempting to enter this area is being destroyed by our guys,” he said in his nightly address.

UKRAINIAN children abducted during the war are forced to make military equipment used against their homeland, chilling research reveals.

Thousands of innocent youngsters shipped to more than 200 sinister camps across Russia are being subjected to brainwashing and being used as pawns by deranged Vladimir Putin.

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Sickenlingly, satelitte images shows children being used as slave labour to assemble drones and other supplies fuelling the tyrant’s war machine in Ukraine.

Military training has been observed at around 40 of the sites holding children as young as eight, including ceremonial parades and drills, and combat training.

Officials told The Sun it shows Kremlin stooges are teaching children to fight against their home, blasting their use as a “weapons” against Ukraine and beyond.

Daria Herasymchuck, advisor and commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation, told The Sun: “For those of us who have observed Putin’s actions up close for more than a decade, we are well accustomed to their evasion, distortion and calculated indifference. 

“We are appalled by the large-scale, logistical and operational capacity Russia is operating in – using children, who are always the most vulnerable victims in armed conflicts, in such a way, is deliberately cruel.”

Since megalomaniac Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and sent to at least 210 facilities inside Russia and occupied territory.

These sites range from summer camps and sanatoriums to a military base, and, in one case, a monastery, according to research by the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL).

Russia is known to have engaged in the deportation, re-education, militarisation and forced adopting of Ukrainian children since at least 2014 from the occupied territories of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk.

But since Putin’s ordered his troops in more than three years ago, researchers say these barbaric efforts have siginificantly expanded.

The HRL has used satellite imagery and open source materials to identify and track Ukrainian children snatched during the war.

Its horrifying report, Ukraine’s Stolen Children: Inside Russia’s Network of Re-education and Militarization, reveals the staggering efforts Moscow goes to to brainwash these youngsters.

Children have been rounded up and moved to at least eight different location types.

These are cadet schools, a military base, medical facilities, a religious site, secondary schools and universities, a hotel, family support centers and orphanages, and camps and sanatoriums.

At least two new cadet schools have been constructed, and at least 49 of the 210 locations have been expanded since the start of the war.

Children are forced to develop “fire and naval training skills” at some sites as part of a warped militarisation campaign.

They are required to participate in “shooting competitions and grenade throwing competitions” as well as receive “tactical medicince, drone control and tactics” training.

In one instance, youngsters from Donetsk oblast received “airborne training” at a military base, the HRL’s report – shared with United
Nations Security Council- reveals.

Children have also been used to help produced military equipment for Russia’s armed forces, including drones.

Herasymchuck, of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative, told The Sun: “The report shows Russia is prepared to use Ukraine’s own children as a ‘weapon’ against Ukraine, and Europe more broadly.

“They are being trained to fight against their own homeland.

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“This is all part of Russia’s long-term campaign to erase the Ukrainian identity – central to this is the Russification and militarisation of Ukrainian children as the report outlines.”

Some youngsters have been held temporarily before returning home – while others have been held indefinitely.

As part of Putin’s callous regime to indoctrinate these children, many have been pushed into a network of so-called family centres.

Others have been pushed into Russia’s programme of coerced fostering and adoption – seeing them eventually placed within a Russian family.

For those who return home, Ukraine authorities have been told of the drastic work that has to be done to undo the damage.

Herasymchuck said: “Rehabilitation for children who return from deportation is one of the most sensitive and complex aspects of our work.

“These children have experienced not only physical displacement but also deep psychological trauma.

“When kids return, children often feel confused, disconnected, or afraid.

“These children have been taught not to resist. That is deeply alarming. Some carry guilt or shame. Others return with hostility or denial of their own identity.

“This is why our work does not end with bringing children home.

Children used as ‘weapons’

Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital)

RUSSIA is using abducted and brainwashed children as “weapons”, one of Zelensky’s staff battling to rescue Ukraine’s kidnapped kids warned.

Daria Zarivna told The Sun earlier this year that no peace deal will be brokered until Moscow agrees to return thousands of kidnapped youngsters home.

She warned Vladimir Putin‘s thugs are indoctrinating these youngsters and those living in Ukrainian territory under Russian control.

Bring Kids Back Ukraine operations director Daria said Moscow will push them into joining Russia’s army to use them as a “weapon” against Europe in the future.

Since Putin illegally invaded Ukraine three years ago, tens of thousands of children have been kidnapped and taken into Russia.

Kremlin stooges then disturbingly try to rid the youngsters of their Ukrainian heritage and brainwash them into becoming Russian citizens.

Sinister camps have been set up in Russia where children are sent before having their official documents altered and being placed in Russian families. 

Often the children are told that their loved ones have abandoned them and that they are now part of the Russian Federation. 

Mariana Betsa, Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister, told The Sun how some children have been abused and suffered sexual violence.

She said: “It’s not just a statistic, 20,000. It’s a life behind every person behind every statistic.

“We have so many families who were separated. We have so many children who were abducted.

“We need to return every single child.”

Presidential advisor Daria meanwhile warned Russia will use the children as a “weapon” against not only Ukraine, but the rest of Europe.

She said: “We are working on keeping this matter in the spotlight and we think that it is extremely important that it be a part of these talks because the Ukrainian children which Russia keeps under its control

“It’s a threat to global security, to Ukraine’s security.

“There are 1.6 million Ukrainian children currently staying in the temporarily occupied territories under the control of Russia.

“They’ve been indoctrinated, they’ve been militarised.”

READ MORE HERE

“Under the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, Ukraine has built a reintegration system that provides each child with a tailored protection and recovery plan.

“Based on children’s needs, they receive medical care, psychological support, legal aid, safe housing, and access to education.”

The Sun previously spoke to one teenager who fell victim to Putin’s evil scheme.

Nastya, then 15, was abducted from Kherson Oblast when it was seized by Putin’s fighters at the beginning of the war in March 2022.

The terrified teenager was placed with a woman who also had ten other children in her care.

She told how she was abused and beat her until she was sent back to the police station where she had originally been held.

Nastya was then enrolled in a college, where she said she was routinely humiliated by soldiers who told her: “You are nothing.”

Eventually, Nastya was able to find a phone and make a call to her mother, who tracked down volunteers in Ukraine to help get her home.

In March 2023, arrest warrants for Putin and his twisted children’s commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova were issued by the International Criminal Court.

Russia attempted to denounce the warrants as “outrageous and unacceptable”.

Lvova-Belova has attempted to portray the forced deportation of Ukrainian children as a Russian rescue mission since being appointed Putin’s children’s commissioner in 2021.

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Sept. 14 (UPI) — Romania has summoned the Russian ambassador to Bucharest to lodge a protest over Moscow’s drone incursion into its airspace, making the second European nation whose airspace has been threatened by the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine in a week.

Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned Vladimir Lipaev to its headquarters on Sunday, a day after the incursion occurred.

“The Romanian side conveyed its strong protests against this unacceptable and irresponsible act, which represents a violation of Romania’s sovereignty,” the ministry said in a statement. “Such recurring situations lead to the escalation and amplification of threats to regional security. The Russian side was requested to take, without delay, all necessary measures to prevent future violations of Romanian airspace.

Romania’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement it detected the Russian drone when a pair of F-16 jets were monitoring its border with Ukraine on Saturday at about 6 p.m. local time.

It said the drone was detected about 12 miles southwest of the village of Chilia Veche before it disappeared from radar.

A Sunday military assessment found that the drone flew for about 50 minutes before exiting Romanian airspace.

“The pilots received authorization to shoot down the target, but at the moments when they had direct contact, they assessed the collateral risks and decided not to open fire,” the Defense Ministry said.

Along with the Romanian fighter jets, German allies in Mihail Koglaniceanu scrambled two Eurofighter Typhoon jets to support the Romanian aircraft, which stayed deployed until 9:30 p.m.

The incident comes after Poland shot down at least three of at least 19 Russian drones that had breached its airspace overnight Tuesday to Wednesday morning.

Russia’s latest incursion into a European nation’s airspace has raised concerns throughout the region amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and has drawn condemnation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called it an expansion of Russia’s war.

“The Russian military knows exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air,” Zelensky said in an online statement. “Their routes are always calculated. This cannot be a coincidence or a mistake or the initiative of some lower level commanders.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called it a “blatant violation of EU sovereignty and a serious threat to regional security.”

“We are working closely with Romania and all member states to protect the EU territory,” she said in a statement.

“Suntem solidari cu Romania,” she added, which means, “we stand in solidarity with Romania” in Romanian.

Sept. 14 (UPI) — Romania has claimed a Russian drone entered its airspace Saturday near Ukraine‘s southern border, a move Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called an expansion by Russia in the ongoing war.

“The Russian military knows exactly where their drones are headed and how long they can operate in the air,” a social media statement by Zelensky said. “Their routes are always calculated. This cannot be a coincidence or a mistake or the initiative of some lower level commanders.”

Romania is the second NATO country to report such an incursion. On Wednesday, Poland said it had shot down three drones that had breached its airspace, according to the BBC.

Romania said it detected the Russian drone when a pair of F-16 jets were monitoring its border with Ukraine, according to a statement from the Romanian defense ministry.

It said the drone was detected about 12 miles southwest of the village of Chilia Veche before it disappeared from radar.

“The UAV did not fly over populated areas and did not pose an imminent threat to the security of the population,” the statement said. It said the defense ministry has teams on alert to monitor potentially hazardous fallout from the drone.

“People in Romania were never in danger but such actions by Russia are unacceptable and reckless, a social media post from the Romanian minister of foreign affairs said.

It is the latest incident in an ongoing series of escalations in the war between Russia and Ukraine, the latest chapter of which has been waged since February 2022.

Moscow has not commented on either incident.

Sept. 9 (UPI) — At least two dozen people in Ukraine on Tuesday morning were killed in a Russian airstrike, with nearly as many injured at a postal building.

According to local authorities, at least 24 people are dead and 19 others injured in the village of Yarova in the Donetsk Oblast region after Russian forces struck the area around 11 a.m. local time at Ukrposhta, Ukraine’s national post service, as local workers and residents stood in line to receive a pension payout.

“Such Russian strikes must not be left without an appropriate response from the world,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky posted on social media.

Two injured were hospitalized but the full extent of damage was not immediately clear.

Regional Governor Vadim Filashkin called Russia’s air attack “pure terrorism” and said it was “not a military operation,” he wrote on Telegram.

The Ukrainian postal service facility sat less than 6 miles from Russian-occupied territory. Video footage depicted bodies among damaged postal service cars.

The attack represented a higher fatality count bombing since the end of last month when around 23 Ukrainians were killed in overnight air strikes on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.

On Tuesday, Zelensky added that the world “must not remain idle” as a result of Russia’s morning airstrikes.

“A response is needed from the United States. A response is needed from Europe. A response is needed from the G20,” he stated.

It came after some 550 Russian drones in July surpassed previous records and penetrated Ukraines air defenses.

Sept. 7 (UPI) — A Russian airstrike hit and damaged the upper floors of the Ukraine Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv for the first time since the war began in February 2022.

The building is among the most prominent Ukrainian government buildings and houses the offices of the executive branch’s top officials, including the prime minister and cabinet ministers. The strike is significant because it shows Moscow’s strikes can reach the heart of Kyiv’s government district, hitting a central symbol of executive authority.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a statement Sunday that the strike on the cabinet building was part of a sweeping attack on cities across the country, including Sumy, Kremenchuk, Odesa, Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih and Zaporizhzhia.

Russia used more than 800 drones, as well as four ballistic missiles and nine cruise missiles in the attack, making it the largest such strike since the war began, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in its own statement.

At least four people were killed in the broader airstrike, Zelensky said in an earlier statement. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said that at least one of the people killed was a child.

“In Kyiv, the rubble is still being cleared — there may still be bodies beneath it. The Cabinet of Ministers building has been damaged. As of now, more than forty people have been reported injured across the country, 20 of them in Kyiv,” Zelensky said.

Yulia Svyrydenko, who has served as prime minister of Ukraine since July 17, shared photos of the destruction on Telegram and said that there were no injuries at the cabinet building during the broader airstrike.

“Russian terror will not stop the work of the government,” she said. “We will restore the destruction. But the lives of Ukrainians cannot be brought back. During the night, four people were killed and more than 44 were injured across the country due to Russian shelling.”

Zelensky said that air raid sirens in the capital alone lasted for more than seven and a half hours, suggesting that Russian President Vladimir Putin used the strike to test whether the world would tolerate escalating attacks by Moscow as he praised the response of Western allies who decried the airstrike. He also called for sanctions and tariffs on Russia.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the attack as a “brutal overnight assault on Kyiv and across Ukraine,” stressing that “for the first time, the heart of Ukraine’s civilian government was damaged,” and warning that Putin “believes he can act with impunity” and “is not serious about peace.”

French President Emmanuel Macron similarly denounced the strikes on social media, stating that “Russia, meanwhile, is locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror,” and affirmed that “together with Ukraine and our partners, we stand for peace.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Sunday that it carried out a large-scale strike with precision weapons and drones against facilities used to produce, store and launch unmanned aircraft, as well as military airbases across central, southern and eastern Ukraine.

The ministry said the attack included strikes on an industrial plant on the western outskirts of Kyiv and a logistics center on the city’s southern edge.

It said all intended targets were destroyed and stressed that no other sites inside Kyiv were hit, making no mention of any government structures in Kyiv.

Separately, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine attempted a large-scale overnight drone attack overnight into Sunday, with its air defenses shooting down 69 unmanned aircraft across southern and central Russia.

The ministry said the drones were intercepted over Krasnodar, Voronezh, Belgorod, Astrakhan, Volgograd, Rostov, Bryansk, Kursk and Ryazan regions, as well as over Crimea and the Sea of Azov.

In its daily summary of war accomplishments, Russia claimed that its troops advanced in eastern and southern Ukraine, capturing the village of Khoroshe in the Dnipropetrovsk region and striking Ukrainian units across Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The ministry claimed hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the fighting, along with tanks, armored vehicles, artillery and supply depots destroyed.

It said Russian air and missile forces also hit Ukrainian military-industrial sites, drone bases and transport hubs in nearly 150 locations, while air defenses intercepted three U.S.-made HIMARS rockets, guided bombs and more than 200 drones.

Aug. 27 (UPI) — A summer offensive by Russian forces has succeeded in penetrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s home region of Dnipropetrovsk for the first time, with troops capturing two villages in the southeastern corner of the province.

The Russians occupied Zaporizke and Novohryhorivka, the BBC and The New York Times said, after breaking through from neighboring Donestsk following months of heavy fighting for control of cities in the west of the province and were now battling to establish a foothold in Dnipropetrovsk.

The Russian gains by infantry backed by drones and other fire support were confirmed Tuesday by “DeepState,” a real-time mapping project with links to the Ukrainian military, and the Russian Defense Ministry.

DeepState said that having entered the province, Russian forces were “now entrenching themselves, and accumulating infantry for further advances.”

Officially, Ukraine categorically denied it had lost more territory to Russia, which has been attempting to push westwards from Donetsk all summer.

“This is the first attack of such a large scale in Dnipropetrovsk region,” Viktor Trehubov, of the Dnipro Operational-Strategic Group of Troops, told the BBC, but insisted Ukrainian forces had halted the Russian advance.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in a statement that its military “continues to control” Zaporizke and that “active hostilities are also ongoing in the area of the village of Novohryhorivka.”

The province is not one of the three, in addition to Donetsk, that Russia has partially occupied and claims as its own, including Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, but it has been pushing hard to capture more territory for much of the year, likely as leverage in peace negotiations being brokered by the United States.

However, while neither of the villages in question is strategically significant — the population of each is around 100 or fewer — losing them will be a further shock to the morale of Ukrainian forces already struggling against their more numerous and better-armed Russian adversaries.

Dnipropetrovsk, in Ukraine’s industrial heartland and the second most industrialized region after the Donbas, before most of it fell into Russian hands, holds a strategically key position, but analysts do not believe the Russians aim to take the whole province.

The Russian advance came as a flurry of diplomatic activity to capitalize on the Aug. 15 Alaska peace summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to be fizzling.

Putin was understood to have offered a deal that would involve Ukraine ceding additional parts of Donbas that Russia does not already control in exchange for ending the war, but efforts by Trump to organize a follow-up meeting between Putin and Zelensky have thus far been unsuccessful.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov last week poured cold water on prospects for a Putin-Zelensky summit, saying no meeting was planned and that Moscow would not accept security guarantees for Ukraine provided by the West, saying any such discussion that excluded Russia was a “road to nowhere.”

However, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, who has visited Moscow five times this year in pursuit of a deal, suggested Tuesday that peace efforts were still alive, announcing a meeting with Ukrainian officials in New York later this week and that “we talk to the Russians every day.”

Aug. 24 (UPI) — On the day celebrating Ukraine‘s independence, Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada made a surprise visit to Ukraine where Ottawa and Kyiv entered several agreements centered on defending the besieged European nation from Russia.

Carney made the official visit to Ukraine at President Volodymyr Zelensky‘s invitation, reaffirming their strong and enduring partnership, a joint communique read. The visit occurred on the 34th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence. Canada was the first Western country that recognized its independence and sovereignty in 1991.

During a joint press conference in Kyiv with Zelensky, the Canadian leader said when Ottawa made that decision to recognize an independent Ukraine more than three decades ago, it was choosing between clinging to the past in the name of stability and “to recognize Ukrainian independence in the name of freedom, fairness and democracy.”

“I’d underscore the world faces a similar choice today,” he said.

“At this hinge moment in history, Ukraine is, once again, at the frontline of the struggle for democracy and freedom,” he continued. “This is a critical moment where allies must step up and lead, and Canada is answering that call. Canada is, has and always will be a steadfast ally in Ukraine’s relentless pursuit of freedom.”

He reiterated the widely held belief of Western leaders that an investment in Ukraine’s defense is an investment in their own, reaffirming Canada’s commitment to Ukraine.

Four documents were signed between the two governments on Sunday.

Carney and Zelensky signed a security cooperation action plan, which covers implementing mechanisms for cooperating in military training, defense capabilities development, intelligence sharing and more. It specifically sets out steps for the implementation of an agreement signed between the two in February.

A letter of joint defense production intent was signed by the countries’ defense chiefs to co-produce defense materials in both Canada and Ukraine.

A mutual administrative assistance in customs matters agreement was also signed, along with the joint communique, which states Ottawa and Kyiv agree to initiate annual foreign affairs and defense ministries consultations among other actions.

A statement from Canada’s prime minister’s office states that among funding allocated Sunday includes more than $600 million to buy armored vehicles medical supplies and other “critical equipment” for Ukraine; $500 million to buy military equipment sourced from the United States through NATO, about $160 million for drone, counter-drone and electronic warfare capabilities; $120 million to support Canada’s work in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group and $72 million to source ammunition and explosives through a Czech initiative.

Carney also announced $22.4 million for humanitarian assistance and investments in Ukraine’s democracy.

The amount equals the roughly $1.4 billion in aid that Canada pledge for Ukraine in February.

The visit occurs as the United States under President Donald Trump is pushing to secure a halt in the fighting in the nearly 3 1/2-year war if not a full peace agreement.

Zelensky has been seeking to confirm security guarantees from allies, and said during a press conference that followed a meeting between the two leaders that it is important to Ukraine that Canada participate at the same level as European countries, seeking assurances that Carney will deploy troops on the ground.

“We are counting on the presence of Canadian forces in Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “This is important for us.”

Carney said that the frontlines will be a “robust” Ukrainian military, and that they are working with ally nations through “the modalities of those security guarantees, on land, in the air and the sea, and I would not exclude the presence of troops.”

Ukraine officially declared independence from the former Soviet Union on Aug. 24, 1991.

Aug. 23 (UPI) — Potential security guarantees could end the three-year war between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Saturday.

Security measures after the war are in the works and will be ready soon after negotiating them with Ukraine’s U.S. and European partners, Zelensky said in a social media post.

“There is now a real chance to end this war, and Ukraine is ready for constructive steps that can bring true peace close,” Zelensky said on X.

“Russia is showing no intention of peace on its side and continues shelling our cities,” Zelensky continued.

“We interpret all signals coming from Moscow these days in the same way. Pressure is needed to change their position, as well as meeting at the highest level to discuss all issues.”

Zelensky announced the pending security guarantees after he had a phone conversation with Netherlands Prime Minister Dick Schoof.

U.S., European and Ukrainian representatives ramped up discussions of security guarantees after President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska last week, Politico reported.

The bilateral meeting produced no tangible results, but they did affirm Putin’s reluctance to end the war that began when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Trump on Monday said a meeting between Zelensky and Putin is being planned, but Putin has not agreed to do so.

Trump met with European leaders on Monday and said they are working to arrange a bilateral meeting between the presidents of the two warring nations.

Meanwhile, Russia has continued its aggression against Ukraine, including an overnight aerial attack early Thursday that struck a U.S.-owned plant in the western Ukrainian city of Mukachevo.

The American-owned Flex manufacturing plant produces electronic goods, such as coffee makers, in western Ukraine.

There were no reports of casualties, but the manufacturing plant was destroyed.

That Russian attack involved 574 drones, 33 cruise missiles and six ballistic missiles, Ukrainian defense officials reported.

Air defenses shot down 546 of the attacking drones, 30 cruise missiles and one ballistic missile.

Aug. 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday during a White House meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and said he will arrange a bilateral meeting between the two, within the next two weeks.

The call came during Monday’s negotiations between Zelensky, Trump and European leaders, who had gathered to discuss ending the war in Ukraine.

Trump said the future meeting would be followed by a trilateral meeting, involving the United States. On Monday night, the White House posted an Oval Office photo of Trump on the phone with Putin, as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance looked on.

Trump said Vance, Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff would be involved in coordinating the meeting between Putin and Zelensky.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said he “had a very good meeting with distinguished guests,” which included Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, as well as much of the European delegation and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

“I called President Putin and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelensky,” Trump said. “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.”

Trump met with Zelensky earlier Monday afternoon to signal that the United States would provide Ukraine with “very good protection.”

“The security guarantees would be provided by the various European countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,” Trump said. “Everyone is very happy about the possibility of PEACE for Russia/Ukraine.”

Macron called the U.S. commitment for Ukrainian security guarantees the “first and most important” outcome of Monday’s talks.

“Today, it was agreed that we will work with the United States of America on the content of these security guarantees and the cooperation that each party is prepared to provide,” Macron said, adding that any meeting would have to take place under a cease-fire.

“Call it a truce or a cease-fire, but we cannot hold discussions under bombs,” Macron added.

Trump told Zelensky at the start of the meeting: “I have a feeling you and President Putin are going to work something out. Ultimately, this is a decision that can only be made by President Zelensky and by the people of Ukraine working also together in agreement with President Putin. And I just think that very good things are going to come of it.”

By the end of the day, Zelensky told reporters he is ready for “any format” of a meeting with Putin and said he would also participate in a trilateral meeting if there is progress in the first one.

“I believe unconditionally we should meet and think about the further development of this path of the war,” he said.

Zelensky told reporters that the security guarantees included plans for Ukraine to purchase $90 billion in American weapons through European funding.

Zelensky also said he and Trump had a long discussion about a map in the Oval Office, showing Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine. Rutte said Ukrainian territory was not discussed during the broader Monday meetings.

Zelensky arrived around 1 p.m. EDT on Monday along with several EU leaders. Trump and Zelensky sat in the Oval Office, mirroring their meeting earlier this year.

This time, they avoided the dramatic shouting match from six months ago in the same space.

During the February exchange, Trump and Vance accused Zelensky of being “disrespectful” toward the United States and the Trump administration.

Zelensky was much more complimentary during Monday’s meeting, immediately thanking Trump for his efforts to stop Russia’s war.

Vance, who was in the Oval Office, said nothing this time.

The meeting came after Trump’s summit with Putin on Friday in Alaska.

European Council leaders are scheduled to meet via videoconference Tuesday to discuss the meeting. The council’s president, Antonio Costa, called the conference, he announced on X Monday.

“I have convened a video conference of the members of the European Council for tomorrow at 1 p.m. CEST, for a debriefing of today’s meetings in Washington, D.C., about Ukraine,” Costa wrote. “Together with the U.S., the EU will continue working towards a lasting peace that safeguards Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”

European leaders, including Rutte, Starmer, Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, accompanied Zelensky to Washington for the talks.

Aug. 18 (UPI) — President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Monday in the White House.

Zelensky said he expects to discuss “key issues” at the meeting. It comes after Trump’s Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

European leaders began arriving at noon Monday, and Trump is expected to greet Zelensky at 1 p.m. with a meeting soon after.

European Council leaders are scheduled to meet via videoconference Tuesday to discuss the meeting. EC President Antonio Costa called the conference, he announced on X Monday.

“I have convened a video conference of the members of the European Council for tomorrow at 1 p.m. CEST, for a debriefing of today’s meetings in Washington, D.C., about Ukraine,” Costa wrote. “Together with the U.S., the EU will continue working towards a lasting peace that safeguards Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests.”

European leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are scheduled to accompany Zelensky to Washington Monday for the talk.

In a brief on Truth Social, Trump said Zelensky “can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”

“Remember how it started,” Trump said. “No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE.”

STRICKEN Ukraine will be forced to surrender large swathes of its eastern territory and forget about ever joining Nato under peace terms haggled by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.

The war-torn country’s desire to join the European Union is also in doubt after the two superpower presidents held controversial talks in Alaska on Friday.

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Ukraine would be outlawed from joining the Western defence alliance, but have its redrawn borders underwritten by its US and European allies in the terms suggested by the White House.

Allies have offered “ironclad” security assurances to protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression if a peace deal can be forged.

But it would stop short of Nato Article 5 status, which sees members of the alliance leap to the aid of any member that is attacked.

Ukraine’s desire to join Nato has been blamed as a root cause of President Putin’s invasion.

He has insisted “Nyet” — Russian for “No” — over the proposal.

But the future security of Ukraine is the number one condition of its president, Volodymyr Zelensky.

British and other European troops could be committed to police the peace, with President Trump finally conceding the Americans would play a vital role in the future defence of Ukraine.

Last night, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly stated: “The good news is that America is ready to participate in such security guarantees and is not leaving it to the Europeans alone.”

And PM Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Trump’s “leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing” should be commended.

Calls for an immediate ceasefire were dropped by world leaders yesterday, after Mr Trump announced he was instead pursuing a more stable and lasting “peace deal”.

Plans haggled at Friday’s face-to-face summit are being circulated by the Americans after the US President and the Kremlin tyrant met each other in Anchorage, Alaska, for more than three hours.

The Sun has been told a surrender deal would see Ukraine forced to reject Nato membership and other “multinational deals”.

Negotiations would also begin about ceding control of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Eastern Ukraine which are, in part, heavily occupied by Russian troops.

There was confusion last night over whether the talks would focus on territory currently held by the Kremlin invaders, or whether the wider regions were on the table.

Yesterday, EU leaders insisted: “Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine’s pathway to EU and Nato.”

However, that does not rule out Mr Zelensky deciding to withdraw Ukraine’s stated aim to join both alliances as part of the wider deal.

He will fly to Washington DC on Monday to meet with President Trump at the White House — six months after their disastrous Oval Office bust up, which saw the leader of the free world savage Mr Zelensky live on TV.

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Russia has long claimed Donetsk and Luhansk are more loyal to Moscow than Kyiv, while Mr Zelensky has publicly ruled out giving up the land.

However, he is under massive pressure to concede and end the bloody three-and-a-half year conflict, which has seen more than a million deaths.

European leaders were locked in talks with the White House this weekend, as the world scrambled to catch up with what Mr Trump had offered Mr Putin to end the war.

Last night, UK government sources said the PM was playing a key role in selling the terms of the deal to wider Western allies in a series of calls following the talks between the Americans and Russians.

I welcome the openness of the United States, alongside Europe, to provide robust security guarantees to Ukraine as part of any deal. This is important progress and will be crucial in deterring Putin from coming back for more

Sir Keir Starmer’s statement

President Trump yesterday insisted it is time for Mr Zelensky to choose whether to agree with the terms of the deal — as the pair prepared to meet tomorrow.

The White House has also offered to play host to a trilateral summit between the Russians and Ukrainians if the deal is within reach.

Speaking following Friday’s talks, where he met with his Russian counterpart for the first time in six years, President Trump insisted it was “a great and very successful day in Alaska!”

He wrote on his Truth Social website: “The meeting with President Vladimir Putin of Russia went very well, as did a late night phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine, and various European Leaders, including the highly respected Secretary General of Nato.

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“It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up. President Zelensky will be coming to D.C., the Oval Office, on Monday afternoon. If all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.

“Potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Last night, President Putin also welcomed progress made at the talks, after leaving the summit without taking questions from hundreds of assembled journalists.

In a televised address released by the Kremlin, he said: “The conversation was very frank, substantive, and, in my opinion, brings us closer to the necessary decisions.”

He added: “We have not had direct negotiations of this kind at this level for a long time. We had the opportunity to calmly and in detail reiterate our position.”

We are clear that Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and NATO

European statement

In a long statement, President Zelensky welcomed the offer of security guarantees outlined by Mr Trump, in a tentative sign he may be willing to sign up to the terms.

He wrote: “A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions. Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure.

“All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released, and the children abducted by Russia must be returned.

“Thousands of our people remain in captivity — they all must be brought home. Pressure on Russia must be maintained while the aggression and occupation continue.”

He went on: “In my conversation with President Trump, I said that sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war. Sanctions are an effective tool.

“Security must be guaranteed reliably and in the long term, with involvement of Europe and the US.

“All issues important to Ukraine must be discussed with Ukraine’s participation, and no issue, particularly territorial ones, can be decided without Ukraine. I thank our partners who are helping.”

Yesterday the PM was taking part in a round of behind the scenes diplomacy, speaking to the White House and European capitals.

He heaped praise on Mr Trump, saying his “efforts have brought us closer than ever before to ending Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine”.

He went on: “His leadership in pursuit of an end to the killing should be commended.”

But the PM warned: “While progress has been made, the next step must be further talks involving President Zelensky.

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The path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without him. I spoke to President Zelensky, President Trump and other European partners, and we all stand ready to support this next phase.

“I welcome the openness of the United States, alongside Europe, to provide robust security guarantees to Ukraine as part of any deal.

“This is important progress and will be crucial in deterring Putin from coming back for more.

“In the meantime, until he stops his barbaric assault, we will keep tightening the screws on his war machine with even more sanctions, which have already had a punishing impact on the Russian economy and its people. Our unwavering support for Ukraine will continue as long as it takes.”

In a joint statement, Sir Keir and European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, said: “We are clear Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees to effectively defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries.

Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and Nato.

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Priti: Trump was right to set up meeting

By Sophia Sleigh

DONALD Trump was right to bring Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table on Friday, says Dame Priti Patel.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary gave her support to the US President’s efforts — while adding that Britain must keep up “tightening the screws” on the Russian tyrant’s regime.

The Tory grandee told The Sun on Sunday: “It is right President Trump has brought Putin to the negotiating table.

“And we support his efforts in ending Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“Now is the time for the Euro-Atlantic partnership to be stronger than ever in supporting Ukraine, and forcing Putin to end his barbaric war.

“The British government must lead the charge, as we have done, in keeping pressure on Putin through sanctions — and demonstrate we can lead efforts to support Ukraine, and tighten the screws on Russia.”

But others had concerns that no ceasefire had been reached yesterday — even with Mr Trump having warned Putin of “severe consequences” if fighting did not stop.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: “Trump has to tell him to agree to a ceasefire or he will up the ante on sanctions, secondary sanctions and weapons to Ukraine. Putin has to fear what Trump can do — more than his own generals and politicians who would come after him.”

He added that Trump “must understand who Putin is, a KGB man who has one purpose in life — to recreate the Soviet Union”.

Former PM Boris Johnson also said that Trump was right to make a move as Putin was weaker than he seemed owing to the war’s damage to Russia’s economy.

Most Labour MPs remained quiet on the talks. Crossbench peer and intelligence expert Lord Peter Ricketts said they were a “clear win” for Putin.

ANCHORAGE — President Trump is on his way to Alaska for a high-stakes summit with Vladimir Putin, indicating he will take a tougher line with the Russian leader over a ceasefire in Ukraine after three brutal years of war.

Speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said Putin would face “economically severe” consequences if negotiations in Anchorage today fail to yield progress toward peace. He said that only Ukraine could decide whether to cede territory to Moscow. And he expressed support for U.S. security guarantees for Ukraine in any future peace agreement, so long as they fall short of NATO membership for the beleaguered nation.

“Yes, it would be very severe,” Trump said. “Very severe.”

Traveling from Moscow, Putin is bringing along several Russian business leaders, according to the Kremlin, a sign he hopes to begin discussions on normalizing relations with Washington. But Trump said he would not discuss business opportunities until the war is settled.

It’s a position that will relieve allies in Europe that have been hoping Trump would approach Putin with a firm hand, after months of applying pressure on Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to prepare to make concessions to Moscow.

Zelensky was not invited to the Alaska negotiations. But Trump said he hoped his meeting on Friday would lead to direct talks “very shortly.”

Trump had said in recent days that a peace deal would include the “swapping” of land, a prospect roundly rejected in Kyiv. The Ukrainian constitution prohibits territorial concessions without the support of a public referendum.

“They’ll be discussed, but I’ve got to let Ukraine make that decision,” the president said of land swaps. “I’m not here to negotiate for Ukraine. I’m here to get them to the table.”

Trump will host Putin at the Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage later on Friday, the first meeting between a U.S. and Russian president since 2021.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday that Putin’s war aims remain “unchanged.” And an aggressive Russian advance along the front lines this week provided evidence to military analysts that Moscow has no plans to implement a ceasefire.

The two leaders are expected to greet one another on the tarmac before meeting privately. Afterward, they will take an expanded lunch meeting with their aides, followed by a news conference, according to the White House.

Aug. 14 (UPI) — U.S. President Donald Trump said his goal is to save Ukrainian and Russian lives during Friday’s peace summit that will be held at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska.

The high-level meeting was announced last week, and it is hoped that it will lead to an end to the war in Ukraine.

“We’re going to see what happens with our meeting,” Trump said when a reporter asked if the United States might offer Russia access to rare-earth minerals as an incentive to end the war in Ukraine.

The meeting “is going to be very important for Russia and very important for us only in that we are going to save a lot of lives,” Trump said during a Thursday afternoon press conference at the White House.

He said the United States is being paid in full for military equipment obtained by Ukraine through NATO.

“We’re not spending any money anymore,” the president said. “[President Joe] Biden gave them $350 billion, [and] we got nothing for it.”

He said a rare-earth minerals deal with Ukraine will help the United States recoup its costs for helping Ukraine in its defense against Russia, which invaded the nation in February 2022.

“What I’m really doing this for is to save thousands of soldiers a week,” Trump said. “Last week they lost 7,251 people, mostly Russian and Ukrainian soldiers.”

Friday’s summit won’t be the most important meeting to end the Ukraine war, he added.

A second meeting that would include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will be the most important, Trump said.

Putin on Thursday announced his intentions for Friday’s Alaska summit.

The Trump administration “has been making what I consider to be fairly vigorous and sincere efforts to halt hostilities, resolve the crisis and reach agreements that serve the interests of all parties involved in this conflict,” Putin said in an address to “colleagues.”

“The aim is to establish long-term conditions for peace not only between our countries but also in Europe and indeed globally,” Putin added,” especially if we proceed to subsequent stages involving agreements on strategic offensive arms control.”

The summit will be held at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage and starts at 11:30 a.m. ADT, according to Putin aide Yury Ushakov.

Near the military base, “a memorial cemetery holds the remains of nine Soviet pilots, two military personnel and two civilians who perished between 1942 and 1945 while ferrying aircraft from the United States to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease program,” Ushakov said.

“Thus, the meeting will unfold near a site of profound historical importance — one that underscores the wartime camaraderie between our nations,” he said.

The summit will start with a one-on-one meeting between Trump and Putin with interpreters present, followed by a delegation format that extends into a working lunch.

Each delegation will have five members, in addition to Trump and Putin, and the two presidents will hold a joint press conference afterward.

Ahead of Friday’s summit, Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the Prime Minister’s Office at 10 Downing Street in London.

The meeting was to show the United Kingdom’s support of Ukraine after Zelensky was not invited to Friday’s Alaska summit.