Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reiterated that there should be no peace talks to end the Russia-Ukraine war now in its fourth year without representation from his country, and also said Russia should face sanctions if it does not agree to an immediate ceasefire, following a virtual meeting between him, United States President Donald Trump and European leaders.

Zelenskyy delivered the message after the call on Wednesday, two days ahead of a summit between Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which comes as part of Washington’s so far failed attempts to end the war in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Trump promised to hold trilateral talks with both Ukraine and Russia, if Friday’s summit “goes OK”.

“I would like to do it immediately,” he said. “We’ll have a quick second meeting between President Putin and President Zelenskyy and myself if they’d like to have me there.”

The US president also vowed that Moscow would face “severe consequences” if Putin did not agree to end its war.

In a joint statement, leaders of the UK, France and Germany said that Russia should face tougher sanctions if it fails to agree to a ceasefire on Friday.

Kyiv must also be given “robust and credible security guarantees” and have no limitations placed on its armed forces or on its cooperation with other countries, they added.

“The Coalition of the Willing is ready to play an active role, including through plans by those willing to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased.”

The rapid developments came after Trump met virtually with Zelenskyy and other European leaders including France’s Emmanuel Macron and the United Kingdom’s Keir Starmer on Wednesday.

Arranged in a bid for Europe to try and influence Trump’s meeting with Putin on Friday, this second call took place after talks earlier in the day between Zelenskyy, European leaders and the heads of NATO and the European Union.

Thanking German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for hosting the meetings, Zelenskyy said on X that Ukraine and Europe were “cooperating constructively with the United States”.

“I hope that today we have come closer to ending the war and building a guaranteed peaceful future,” he concluded.

Trump and European leaders called their joint meeting a success, with the US president describing it as a “very good call”.

“I would rate it a 10. Very friendly,” he said, speaking during a press conference at the Kennedy Center.

Trump noted that he would be calling Zelenskyy and European leaders immediately following his meeting with Putin.

At a press conference with Merz, Zelenskyy expressed his hope that the Trump-Putin summit would focus on an “immediate ceasefire”.

“Sanctions must be in place and must be strengthened if Russia does not agree to a ceasefire,” he added.

As the Russian army continues to make sizable territorial gains in the east Ukrainian province of Donetsk, Zelenskyy told the US president and his European colleagues that Putin was “bluffing” about pursuing peace.

His choice of words, a term commonly used in reference to poker, evoked Trump telling Zelenskyy, “you don’t have the cards” in the infamously hostile news conference at the White House on February 28th.

“He is trying to apply pressure before the meeting in Alaska along all parts of the Ukrainian front,” Zelenskyy suggested. “Russia is trying to show that it can occupy all of Ukraine.”

After the Trump call, Merz, who described the meeting as “exceptionally constructive”, stressed that Ukraine is willing to negotiate, but noted that “legal recognition of Russian occupation is not up for debate”.

“The principle that borders cannot be changed by force must continue to apply,” Merz said.

“Negotiations must include robust security guarantees for Kyiv,” he added. “The Ukrainian armed forces must be able and remain able to effectively defend the sovereignty of their country. They must also be able to count on Western aid in the long term.”

After the online meeting, France’s Macron said Trump would be seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine during his meeting with Putin on Friday.

The US president would also seek a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelenskyy in the future, the French president noted.

The Trump-Putin summit in Alaska has been a cause for anxiety in Kyiv and Europe more widely, after Trump declared that both Ukraine and Russia would have to swap land if a truce is to be reached.

Speaking from the UK on Wednesday, JD Vance, the US vice-president, seemed to try to allay fears in Europe.

“I just talked to him [Trump] right before I came on the stage, and he said very simply that we are going to make it our mission as an administration to bring peace to Europe once again,” Vance said.

Reporting from Berlin, Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen said there was “some optimism” in Europe that Trump had agreed to Wednesday’s meeting.

However, Vaessen noted that European leaders were still “concerned that everything changes as soon as President Trump is in that room with President Putin, who they know is a very keen, a very sharp negotiator”.

Elsewhere, the Russian Foreign Ministry sought to downplay the relevance of Europe’s last-minute diplomatic efforts with Trump, branding them “practically insignificant”.

On the battlefield, Russia has claimed to have captured the villages of Suvorovo and Nikanorovka as its gains in Donetsk continue, with the Ukrainian authorities issuing evacuation orders for around a dozen settlements.

The Kremlin’s forces achieved their largest 24-hour advance in more than a year on Tuesday, according to data from the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

German chancellor has arranged a series of meetings, beginning with European leaders and followed by a call with the US president.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will travel to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European leaders and top United States officials ahead of a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week.

Both the German and Ukrainian governments confirmed the visit on Wednesday, which comes as Kyiv and its European allies push to ensure their voices are heard in discussions about ending the war.

Merz has arranged a series of virtual meetings, beginning with European leaders and followed by a call with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance about an hour later.

The day will conclude with a separate discussion among leaders of the so-called “coalition of the willing” – an assemblage of Western countries allied with Ukraine.

At a news briefing on Wednesday, Merz also pledged to help Ukraine develop long-range missile systems without Western-imposed restrictions on their use or targets.

Trump to meet Putin

Trump has described Friday’s summit with the Russian leader in Alaska as “a feel-out meeting” to gauge whether Putin is serious about ending the conflict.

But he has unsettled European allies by suggesting Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory and by floating the idea of land swaps, without specifying what Moscow might surrender.

European governments have insisted Ukraine must be part of any peace negotiations, warning that excluding Kyiv could benefit Moscow.

On Monday, Trump declined to commit to pushing for Zelenskyy’s participation in his talks with Putin, saying a meeting between himself, Putin and Zelenskyy could be arranged afterwards.

Zelenskyy claimed he rejected an offer on Tuesday that Putin had proposed, where Ukraine would withdraw from the 30 percent of the Donetsk region it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal.

Kyiv and European officials fear that any US–Russia agreement reached without them could legitimise Moscow’s seizure of Ukrainian territory – including Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – four regions which are partly occupied by Russia.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said Trump and Putin would discuss “all the accumulated issues” at the meeting.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev also said that consultations requested by European countries were “insignificant”.

Russia’s position on ending its war on Ukraine was set out by President Vladimir Putin in June 2024 and has not changed, he added. Putin at that time demanded a full Ukrainian withdrawal from the four regions of the country that Russia has claimed as its own territory but does not fully control.

Fighting continues in eastern Ukraine

Meanwhile, fighting continues along the front line, with the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reporting 165 clashes with Russian forces over the past day, with the heaviest fighting in the Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka and Lyman sectors.

In the Kherson region, Russian forces used a drone to strike a civilian car on the Novoraisk–Kostyrka highway, killing a man and a woman, according to regional governor Oleksandr Prokudin on Telegram.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defences destroyed 46 Ukrainian drones overnight across Russian territory and the Sea of Azov.

Debris from intercepted drones fell on the roof of an apartment block in the southern city of Volgograd and in the yards of four residential buildings in Slavyansk-on-Kuban.

The AFP news agency has also reported that Ukraine is continuing to lose more ground, with evacuations in Bilozerske, while Ukrainian battlefield monitoring group DeepState reported that Russian forces had advanced in Nikanorivka, Shcherbynivka and near Petrivka in the Donetsk region.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian General Staff said its forces were engaged in “difficult” fighting near Pokrovsk in Donetsk, a key logistical hub for Kyiv’s forces, whose capture would deal a significant blow to its front-line defences and prospects at securing a favourable peace deal with Russia.

European leaders are scrambling to convince United States President Donald Trump to use his upcoming summit with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to amplify pressure on Moscow to end the war in Ukraine on terms acceptable to Kyiv.

Trump, who has promised to end the three-year war, plans to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday, saying the parties are close to a deal that could resolve the conflict.

Trump recently told reporters that, “I’m going in to speak to Vladimir Putin, and I’m going to be telling him, ‘You’ve got to end this war. You’ve got to end it.’”

The US president said Kyiv and Moscow would both have to cede land in a compromise. “There’ll be some land swapping going on,” he said. Trump has, in the past, discussed the possibility of land swaps. However, neither Russia nor Ukraine have been interested in ceding land to each other as part of a peace agreement.

European leaders worry that major concessions to Russia could create security problems for the region in the future. On Wednesday, August 13, major European leaders are first convening among themselves and with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and are then scheduled to speak to Trump and US Vice President JD Vance.

Here’s what Europe and Ukraine request of Trump, as he prepares for the meeting with Putin;

Keep Ukraine in the room

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said he would not be at the summit in Alaska, the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin with both in office since 2018.

But he said he hoped it would be followed by “a trilateral meeting” with Trump and Putin, though the Russian leader has so far said he is not willing to meet Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president added that, “I believe that Trump represents the United States of America. He is acting as a mediator – he is in the middle, not on Russia’s side. Let him not be on our side but in the middle.”

On August 9, heads of state from France, Italy, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the European Commission issued a statement in support of Ukraine. “We underline our unwavering commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” they said, adding: “We continue to stand firmly alongside Ukraine.”

The statement also insisted that “the path to peace in Ukraine cannot be decided without Ukraine”.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who is convening a video call on Wednesday involving Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Zelenskyy and several European leaders to discuss Ukraine, has since doubled down on that message.

“We cannot accept that territorial issues between Russia and America are discussed or even decided over the heads of Europeans, over the heads of Ukrainians,” Merz said in a television interview on Sunday.

“I assume that the American government sees it the same way. That is why there is this close coordination,” he added.

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said on August 10 that “the US has the power to force Russia to negotiate seriously”, but “any deal between the US and Russia must have Ukraine and the EU included, for it is a matter of Ukraine’s and the whole of Europe’s security.”

Ceasefire first

Last week, Putin presented the Trump administration with a ceasefire proposal, demanding major territorial concessions from Kyiv in eastern Ukraine in exchange for an end to the fighting, according to European officials.

The offer, which Putin shared with US special envoy Steve Witkoff on August 6, set off a scramble to obtain further information. According to Zelenskyy, Putin has asked that Russia be handed over all of Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, a third of which Kyiv still holds.

But European leaders and Ukraine have responded with a counterproposal of their own, forwarded in a meeting with top US officials in Britain on Saturday. The European plan rejected Russia’s proposal to trade Donetsk for a ceasefire.

It also included demands that a ceasefire take place before any other steps are taken and insisted that territory can only be exchanged in a reciprocal manner.

Finally, the proposal stipulates that any territorial concessions made by Kyiv must be safeguarded by security guarantees, including potential NATO membership for Ukraine.

Ukraine, too, has long argued that a halt in fighting must precede any longer-term peace agreement. Russia on the other hand, has insisted on a larger peace settlement as a condition for a ceasefire.

What else has Zelenskyy said?

Last weekend, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv “will not give Russia any awards for what it has done,” and that “Ukrainians will not give their land to the occupier”.

Zelenskyy also pointed out that he doesn’t have the authority to sign off on land swaps. He said that changing Ukraine’s 1991 borders runs counter to the country’s constitution.

Elsewhere, Zelenskyy said in a video message posted to his social media account on Monday night that “he [Putin] is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war”.

“There is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation,” he said.

“On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations. If someone is preparing for peace, this is not what he does,” he added.

What else has Trump said?

On Monday, Trump criticised Zelenskyy over the Ukrainian leader’s resistance to ceding territory to Russia, saying he disagrees “very, very severely” with Zelenskyy.

“I get along with Zelenskyy, but, you know, I disagree with what he’s done. Very, very severely disagree. This is a war that should have never happened,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

Trump went on to say that “I was a little bothered by the fact that Zelenskyy was saying, ‘Well, I have to get constitutional approval.’ I mean, he’s got approval to go into war and kill everybody, but he needs approval to do a land swap – because there’ll be some land swapping going on,” Trump said.

He added that the land swap will be “for the good of Ukraine,” before adding that a possible deal will also involve “some bad stuff for both” Kyiv and Moscow.

“So, it’s good and there’s bad, but it’s very complex, because you have lines that are very uneven, and there’ll be some swapping. There’ll be some changes in land,” Trump said.

“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin, and at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made,” he said.

“Ultimately, I’m going to put the two of them in a room. I’ll be there, or I won’t be there, and I think it’ll get solved,” Trump added.

Russian President Putin ‘is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire’, says Zelenskyy, as US, and Russian leaders scheduled to meet in Alaska.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Vladimir Putin is not preparing for a ceasefire but is readying his troops for “new offensive operations” in Ukraine, even as the Russian leader is set to meet US President Donald Trump for peace talks in Alaska.

Zelenskyy said reports from Ukrainian intelligence and military commanders indicate that Putin intends to present his meeting on Friday with Trump as “a personal victory and then continue acting exactly as before” in the war on Ukraine.

“He is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war,” Zelenskyy said in a video message posted to his social media account on Monday night.

“There is no indication whatsoever that the Russians have received signals to prepare for a post-war situation,” he said.

“On the contrary, they are redeploying their troops and forces in ways that suggest preparations for new offensive operations. If someone is preparing for peace, this is not what he does,” he added.

Today, there was a report from the intelligence and military command on what Putin is counting on and what he is actually preparing for, including military preparations. He is definitely not preparing for a ceasefire or an end to the war. Putin is determined only to present a… pic.twitter.com/T3sqQg0ltT

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) August 11, 2025

Ukraine’s military spokesperson for the southern front-line sector, Vladyslav Voloshyn, told the Reuters news agency on Monday that Russia was moving some military units in the Zaporizhia region for further assaults.

Earlier on Monday, Zelenskyy warned that any concessions to Russia would not persuade it to stop fighting in Ukraine.

“Russia refuses to stop the killings, and therefore, must not receive any rewards or benefits,” Zelenskyy wrote on X.

“Concessions do not persuade a killer,” he said.

The Ukrainian leader’s warnings come in advance of Trump’s scheduled meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, and after the US president said that Kyiv would have to cede land to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, a proposition that Ukraine has firmly rejected.

“There’ll be some land swapping going on. I know that through Russia and through conversations with everybody; to the good, for the good of Ukraine. Good stuff, not bad stuff. Also, some bad stuff for both,” Trump told a news conference in Washington, DC, on Monday.

Trump also said he would know “probably in the first two minutes” of meeting with Putin, whether progress was possible.

“I’m going to be telling him, ‘You’ve got to end this war,’” Trump said, adding that a future meeting with Putin could include Zelenskyy.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney also said on Monday that a peace deal for Ukraine must involve Kyiv and not be imposed upon it.

“Both leaders underscored that Ukraine’s future must be one of freedom, sovereignty, and self-determination,” a spokesperson for Starmer said.

Zelenskyy also said he had spoken to Canada’s Carney and told him that the “Russians simply want to buy time, not end the war”.

“The situation on the battlefield and Russia’s wicked strikes on civilian infrastructure and ordinary people prove this clearly,” Zelenskyy said in a post on social media.

US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which monitors the conflict in Ukraine on a daily basis, said in a recent report that Moscow does not appear to be preparing the Russian public for accepting “a settlement short of a full victory in Ukraine”.

That assessment, the ISW said, was based on “the lack of change in public Kremlin messaging, in combination with ongoing speculation that Putin is looking to ‘outplay’ the West”.

European leaders and Zelenskyy plan to speak with Trump in advance of his meeting with Putin as fears mount that Washington may dictate unfavourable peace terms to Ukraine after the Alaska summit.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has staunchly rejected a suggestion by Donald Trump that ‘swapping territory’ could be a way to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. European leaders have reiterated their support for Kyiv ahead of planned talks between the US President and Russia’s Putin.

Administration says Russia expressed ‘desire to meet with President Trump’ and that the US wants war in Ukraine to end.

The White House has said that United States President Donald Trump is “open” to the idea of a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In remarks on Wednesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Russian officials had expressed interest in meeting with Trump. Leavitt did not say when or where such a meeting could take place, but AP quoted an anonymous White House official saying the meeting could happen within a week.

“The Russians expressed their desire to meet with President Trump, and the president is open to meeting with both President Putin and President Zelenskyy,” Leavitt told members of the press following reports in the New York Times that Trump could meet with Putin in Russia as soon as next week.

The US president has said that he is committed to helping bring the war in Ukraine to an end. He initially promised to stop the conflict on “day one” of his presidency, but has struggled to make progress. The statement comes after US envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow to speak with Russian officials earlier today.

In a social media post, Trump said Witkoff held a “highly productive” meeting with Putin and that “great progress was made!”

“Afterwards, I updated some of our European Allies. Everyone agrees this War must come to a close, and we will work towards that in the days and weeks to come,” he added.

The New York Times reported that Trump intends to meet first with Putin before later setting up a meeting that would also include Zelenskyy.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a TV interview that the US now has a better understanding of what conditions would be required for Russia to end the war.

“For the first time perhaps since this administration began, we have some concrete examples of the kinds of things that Russia would ask for in order to end the war,” Rubio said in an interview with Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” adding that questions of territory would be a key part of any deal.

The news agency AFP reported that Trump also discussed the possibility of such a meeting during a phone call with Zelenskyy, citing an anonymous Ukrainian source. That call is also said to have included NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the leaders of Britain, Germany and Finland.

Trump has recently mulled steps to further increase pressure on Russia, which he has accused of not being sincerely interested in ending the war. Such steps could include heightened US sanctions.

Ukraine’s Parliament has voted to restore the independence of two key anti-corruption agencies, reversing a controversial law signed by President Zelenskyy. The move follows mass protests and EU pressure over concerns it could block investigations into political allies.

Kyiv, Ukraine – Last week, hundreds of Ukrainians rallied in several cities to protest the government’s attempt to curb the independence of anticorruption watchdogs.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on July 22 signed a bill into law, which would revoke the autonomy of key agencies – the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO).

The rare protest in the war-torn country forced the Ukrainian president to introduce a new draft bill to restore the independence of NABU and SAPO, which have been established to investigate high-level corruption and are widely seen as a symbol of democratic reforms.

So, why did Zelenskyy try to curb powers of the anticorruption agencies, and will his action dent public trust in the government crucial at a time of war against Russia?

Why are Ukrainians protesting?

The nationwide protests erupted in the wake of the July 22 vote in the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s lower house of parliament, to approve the bill that allows the prosecutor general to oversee the two anticorruption agencies.

The prosecutor general is appointed by the president and approved by the Verkhovna Rada, where Zelenskyy’s Public Servant party holds a majority.

It was seen as an attempt by the government to control the two agencies, which were created in the wake of the 2013-14 pro-democracy Euromaidan protests. Many believe it’s a setback from the years of reforms following the removal of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014.

The protesters held banners with slogans reading “Sham!” “Don’t make a step back, there’s an abyss there,” and “Corruption applauds” the new bill.

The rallies took place in Kyiv as well as in large cities such as the Black Sea port of Odesa and Lviv, known as Ukraine’s cultural capital.

NABU has been probing a string of senior officials and lawmakers, including those within Zelenskyy’s Public Servant party.

Oleksiy, who enlisted to join the army in 2022, wonders why he should keep fighting on the front lines of eastern Ukraine while officials engage in corruption.

“What’s the point if I go back home and my family is surrounded by corruption everywhere,” the 42-year-old construction manager told Al Jazeera.

“Judges, officials, even school teachers all say, ‘Give, give, give,’” he said, asking to withhold his last name and details of his military service, in accordance with the wartime protocol.

Oleksiy, who is on a break from his service to visit his two children and ailing mother, took part in the largest antigovernment rallies in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

Why Zelenskyy backed the bill?

The new law envisaged executive control over NABU and SAPO as the prosecutor general’s office could access their information, give them binding directives, transfer cases and close down investigations.

The bill “could finally destroy the independence of the anticorruption system in Ukraine”, NABU said.

Rachel Denber, deputy Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said the new law “risks weakening Ukraine’s democratic foundations and its future integration with Europe”. She called for the repeal of the law.

Zelenskyy, a former comedian and political rookie who came to power in 2019 on an anticorruption ticket, defended the law, claiming that the NABU and SAPO have to “get rid of Russian influence”.

His allegation followed the arrest of two NABU staffers suspected of working for Russian intelligence, and charges against outspoken anticorruption campaigner Vitaly Shabunin.

Shabunin was accused of “evading military service”, but his supporters called the charges trumped-up, and almost 60 anticorruption and nongovernmental groups signed a joint appeal in his defence.

A Kyiv-based political analyst says there are two popular theories about why Zelenskyy initiated the bill.

“One is that NABU allegedly closed in on Zelenskyy’s inner circle,” Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Penta think tank, told Al Jazeera.

NABU accused Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Chernyshov, Zelenskyy’s closest ally and lifelong friend, of taking kickbacks worth $346,000 from a real estate developer in a deal that cost the government $24m.

Zelenskyy’s press office didn’t reply to Al Jazeera’s phone calls and text messages.

“Or this is an attempt to control NABU’s actions in order not to overtly politicise them, not to provoke domestic political wars during the war with Russia,” Fesenko said.

“But I think it has to do with the activisation of the NABU on political issues that may have caused suspicion in Zelenskyy’s inner circle. That it wasn’t a fight against corruption but more of a political attack on Zelenskyy,” he said.

The protests, an anticorruption expert told Al Jazeera, have weakened Zelenskyy’s support within domestic political circles. “There was a belief in his high and stable rating,” Tetiana Shevchuk from the Anti-Corruption Action Center, a Kyiv-based group, said.

But “he no longer can demand anything from the parliament,” she said.

Zelenskyy is afraid of NABU as the only law enforcement agency that won’t open or close an investigation following a phone call from his administration, she said, referring to the centralisation of power under him.

“NABU is the only body that doesn’t do that,” Shevchuk said.

Fesenko from the Penta think tank says the politicians “underestimated” the bill’s “negative consequences”. They “didn’t think the public response would be that harsh”.

Zelenskyy has promised to submit the new bill – a move applauded by the country’s top anti-corruption investigator.

Semen Kryvonos, director of NABU, however, said that corrupt actors will step up a “dirty information campaign” against the anti-graft agencies.

Meanwhile, protest leaders say they would stop rallies only after the bill has been passed – tentatively, later this week.

Since the 2014 pro-democracy revolution or Revolution of Dignity, attempts have been made to root out endemic corruption.

Many bureaucratic procedures have been simplified and consume less time, money and nerves.

But corruption remains pervasive in the halls of justice. Ukraine ranks 105 out of 180 in Transparency International’s corruption index.

A criminal investigator who spent months putting together a string of lawsuits against a fraudster who duped dozens of people, including several lawmakers, told Al Jazeera that a corrupt judge could annul his work and the fraudster may walk free.

“We can’t guarantee any judge’s honesty,” the investigator said on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Europe’s worst armed conflict since World War II has bred new forms of corruption.

Some officers extort bribes for letting a serviceman take leave or go to a hospital, pilfer foreign aid such as canned foods, clothes or shoes that end up on store shelves instead of the front line.

“If someone reports such an officer, they may end up in a suicide squad on zero position,” serviceman Oleksiy who took part in the protests claimed, referring to the front line positions most likely to be attacked by enemy drones.

Officers tasked with the conscription campaign have been accused of receiving bribes to smuggle people out of the country. Dozens of conscription officers have been arrested – and some had cash stashes of millions of dollars or euros or even in gold bullion.

Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov was fired in 2023 after scandals involving inflated prices for military procurement, including ammunition, foodstuffs, medical equipment and winter clothing.

His successor Rustem Umerov was investigated for alleged abuse of power, NABU said in January.

Will the curbs on anticorruption bodies affect foreign aid?

The European Union said on Sunday it would freeze $1.7bn, a third of its latest aid package for Ukraine, because of the new law.

But military aid from the EU and the United States is not likely to be interrupted, said Lt Gen Ihor Romanenko, former deputy head of Ukraine’s general staff of armed forces.

However, the protests reveal a shocking contrast between hundreds of thousands of servicemen on the front lines and the corrupt officials who dodge the draft and keep thriving on corruption.

“On one side, there are people spilling blood, and corruption remains high and even gets higher in certain areas, and people find it inadmissible,” Romanenko told Al Jazeera.

Ukrainian leader faces domestic international pressure after signing law critics say curbs the powers of the country’s anitcorruption agencies.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has submitted a new draft bill to the country’s legislature, in an effort to calm outrage over a previously passed law that critics say paves the way for corruption.

The country’s anticorruption agencies quickly hailed the bill’s introduction on Thursday, saying it would restore their “procedural powers and guarantees of independence”.

The Ukrainian leader has contended with protests and condemnation from both within Ukraine and from its closest European allies after a separate controversial law was passed on Tuesday.

That law placed the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the direct authority of the country’s prosecutor general – a position appointed by the president.

Zelenskyy initially maintained that the law was needed to respond to suspected “Russian influence” within the agencies amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Critics, however, said the law would strip the bodies of their independence and could allow political interference, while failing to address any potential Kremlin-linked operatives.

On Tuesday, thousands of Ukrainians defied martial law – which has been in place since the beginning of Russia’s war – to take to the streets of Kyiv and other major cities to protest against the law.

European officials also questioned the law, noting that addressing corruption remains a core requirement both for Ukraine’s future European Union membership and in assuring aid flows to combat Russia.

Amid the pressure, Zelenskyy backed away from the new law, promising to submit new legislation that would assure “all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place” and that there would be no Russian “influence or interference”.

Opposition lawmakers have also separately prepared their own legislation to revoke the law passed on Tuesday.

“They heroically solved the problems that they created just as heroically. Grand imitators,” Yaroslav Zhelezniak, from the opposition Holos party, said on Telegram, criticising Zelenskyy and his allies about-turn.

Before the new draft bill’s introduction, Zelenskyy spoke with the leaders of Germany and the United Kingdom on Thursday.

In a statement, Zelenskyy’s office said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had “offered to involve experts who could contribute to long-term cooperation” on the issue.

In a post on X, Zelenskyy said he invited Friedrich Merz to “join the expert review of the bill”.

“Friedrich assured me of readiness to assist,” he said.

It was not immediately clear when Ukraine’s legislature, the Verkhovna Rada, would vote on the new bill.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised to introduce new legislation amid continuing protests and international criticism over a law passed earlier this week that critics say undermines Ukraine’s fight against corruption.

The controversial law, passed on Tuesday, places the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) under the direct authority of the country’s prosecutor general – an official appointed by the president. Critics say the law strips the agencies of their independence and could allow political interference.

While Zelenskyy has defended the law as a necessary response to suspected “Russian influence” within the agencies, European Union officials and rights groups say that it contains no specific provisions to target Kremlin-linked operatives and warn it could derail any Ukrainian accession bid to the European Union.

“I have analysed all concerns,” Zelenskyy wrote on X following a meeting with top government and law enforcement officials.

Writing about the proposal of the new bill, he said: “We will prepare and submit a bill to the Verkhovna Rada [parliament] that ensures the strength of the rule-of-law system. There will be no Russian influence or interference … and all the norms for the independence of anti-corruption institutions will be in place.”

Public anger and European backlash

On Tuesday night, thousands of Ukrainians rallied in Kyiv and other major cities in rare wartime protests. More than 1,000 demonstrators defied martial law, which bans large public gatherings, to express their anger at the government, while on Wednesday, more protests took place in the capital.

“This is complete nonsense from the president’s office,” 20-year-old student Solomiia Telishevska told the news agency Reuters, referring to the law signed by Zelenskyy on Tuesday. “This contradicts what we are fighting for and what we are striving for, namely to [join] the European Union.”

Cleaning up systemic corruption has long been a core requirement for Ukraine’s EU membership and for unlocking billions in foreign aid. The law’s passage risks alienating Kyiv’s Western allies as the war grinds on.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has demanded “explanations” from Zelenskyy, with a spokesperson confirming on Wednesday that she conveyed “strong concerns about the consequences of the amendments”. Germany’s Johann Wadephul, deputy leader of the Christian Democratic Union, warned on X that the restrictions were “hampering Ukraine’s path to the EU”.

Anticorruption bodies targeted

The storm erupted days after law enforcement raided NABU offices and arrested an employee on suspicion of spying for Russia. Another employee was accused of illegal business ties to Moscow. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) agency also carried out searches and arrests related to other alleged infractions, including a traffic incident.

Zelenskyy suggested these incidents justified the law passed on Tuesday, but Ukrainian analysts have warned the changes could erode public trust in Zelenskyy’s leadership during a critical phase of the war.

NABU was created in 2015 after Ukraine’s 2014 pro-European revolution to tackle deep-rooted government corruption. The agency has investigated multiple high-profile cases, including figures close to Zelenskyy’s administration.

Transparency International Ukraine denounced the raids as “an attempt by the authorities to undermine the independence of Ukraine’s post-Revolution of Dignity anti-corruption institutions”.

Some Ukrainians believe the government is protecting loyal insiders at the expense of transparency. “Those who swore to protect the laws and the constitution have instead chosen to shield their inner circle, even at the expense of Ukrainian democracy,” said veteran Oleh Symoroz, who lost both legs in 2022 fighting Russian forces.

The political firestorm risks creating deeper rifts within Ukraine at a time when unity is vital in Kyiv’s war against Russia. Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Center for Civil Liberties, warned the law could play directly into the Kremlin’s hands. “This is a gift to Putin,” she said.

Russian officials have already seized on the controversy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov remarked there was “a lot of corruption” when asked about the protests in Kyiv.

Ukraine has proposed to hold a new round of peace talks with Russia next week after negotiations stalled last month.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Saturday that Defence Council secretary Rustem Umerov made the offer of a meeting with Russian negotiators for next week.

“Everything should be done to achieve a ceasefire,” Zelenskyy said in his evening address to the nation. “The Russian side should stop hiding from decisions.”

Ukraine’s leader also reiterated his readiness to have a face-to-face sit-down with Putin. “A meeting at the leadership level is needed to truly ensure peace – lasting peace,” he said.

There was no immediate response from Russia.

Secretary of the NSDC proposed a new meeting with Russia next week. They must stop hiding from decisions. Ceasefire. Prisoner exchanges. Return of children. End to the killings. And a meeting at the level of leaders is needed to truly ensure a lasting peace. Ukraine is ready. pic.twitter.com/ksH7FzxnAE

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) July 19, 2025

Umerov, a former defence minister, was appointed last week as the head of the National Security and Defence Council and tasked with adding more momentum to the negotiations.

He headed his country’s delegation in two previous rounds of talks in Turkiye earlier this year, which yielded little more than an agreement to exchange prisoners and soldiers’ remains.

In previous rounds, Russia outlined a list of hardline demands that were not acceptable to Ukraine, calling on it to cede four Ukrainian regions it claims as its own and reject Western military support.

However, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Friday indicated that Moscow agreed with a statement by Zelenskyy that peace efforts needed “more momentum”.

The shift came after United States President Donald Trump, who initially appeared to adopt a conciliatory approach towards Russia after entering office, upped the pressure on Moscow.

This week, Trump set a 50-day deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire in Ukraine or face “100 percent tariffs” and the prospect of secondary sanctions being imposed on countries that buy Russian oil.

He also promised to ramp up arms shipments to the war-battered country.

Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for the ministry, said on Thursday that Russia would not accept the “blackmail” of Washington’s sanctions ultimatum, and the decision to resume weapons deliveries was a signal to Ukraine to “abandon the peace process”.

Ongoing exchange of fire

Kyiv extended its invitation for more talks with Moscow after Russian forces staged a massive drone attack on the Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa early on Saturday, killing at least one resident and injuring six others, according to Zelenskyy.

Posting on X on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said Russia launched more than 30 missiles and 300 drones during its overnight assault that affected 10 regions of the country.

Russia, meanwhile, had to suspend trains for about four hours overnight in the southern Rostov region when it came under a Ukrainian drone attack, which injured one railway worker.

On Saturday, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram that Russian air defence systems shot down three drones en route to the city.

Two Moscow airports – Vnukovo and Domodedovo – suspended arrivals and departures for safety reasons, but later resumed operations, Russian aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed 27 Ukrainian drones in total from 3pm to 7pm Moscow time (12:00-16:00 GMT).

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II, with estimates suggesting 1.2 million people have been wounded or killed.

President Zelenskyy taps economy minister to lead government in most significant reshuffle since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has recommended Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko to become prime minister in a significant political shake-up for the war-scarred country.

The announcement on Monday could herald a wider reshuffle in the government, three and a half years into the Russian invasion.

“I have proposed that Yuliia Svyrydenko lead the government of Ukraine and significantly renew its work,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media. “I look forward to the presentation of the new government’s action plan in the near future.”

The recommendation is part of what he called “a transformation of the executive branch” of government in Ukraine.

The two discussed “concrete measures to boost Ukraine’s economic potential, expand support programs for Ukrainians and scale up our domestic weapons production”, Zelenskyy said.

Svyrydenko, 39, gained prominence this year during fraught negotiations around a rare minerals deal with the United States that nearly derailed ties between Kyiv and its most important military ally.

If the change is approved, she would replace Denys Shmyhal, who became prime minister in 2020.

“The government needs a change because people are exhausted,” said Tymofiy Mylovanov, a former economy minister who worked with Svyrydenko.

Mylovanov, who now heads the Kyiv School of Economics, said the changes would likely bring “a sort of freshness” after more than three years of war.

Zelenskyy is also considering naming Defence Minister Rustem Umerov as Ukraine’s ambassador to Washington, he said at a news conference last week.

Zelenskyy met Umerov over the weekend, after which he said, “Ukraine needs more positive dynamics in relations with the United States and at the same time new steps in managing the defence sector of our state.”

Svyrydenko, who is also a deputy prime minister, was appointed to manage Ukraine’s struggling economy months before the Kremlin launched its full-scale assault in February 2022.

Her appointment will require approval by parliament, which has largely united around Zelenskyy since the invasion and is unlikely to vote against the president.

US and Ukrainian leaders discuss defence capabilities on call after Trump ‘disappointed’ by conversation with Russia’s Putin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he agreed with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries.

The two leaders had a “very important and fruitful conversation” by phone on Friday, Zelenskyy said.

“We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies,” he added in a post on the social media platform X.

The president added that he discussed joint defence production, as well as joint purchases and investments, with the US leader.

Meanwhile, US publication Axios, citing an unidentified Ukrainian official and a source with knowledge of the call, said Trump told Zelenskyy he wants to help Ukraine with air defence after escalating attacks from Russia.

This comes a day after the US president spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in a conversation he said was disappointing.

“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said after the call on Thursday. “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”

Trump said the call with Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war, and the Kremlin reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes”.

Massive drone attack

Hours after the Trump-Putin call on Thursday, Russia pummelled Kyiv with the largest drone attack of the war, killing one person, injuring at least 23 and damaging buildings across the capital.

Air raid sirens, the whine of kamikaze drones and booming detonations reverberated from early evening until dawn as Russia launched what Ukraine’s Air Force said was a total of 539 drones and 11 missiles.

Zelenskyy called the attack “deliberately massive and cynical”.

Ukraine has been asking Washington to sell it more Patriot missiles and systems that it sees as key to defending its cities from intensifying Russian air strikes.

A decision by Washington to halt some shipments of weapons to Ukraine prompted warnings by Kyiv that the move would weaken its ability to defend against Russia’s air strikes and battlefield advances. Germany said it is in talks on buying Patriot air defence systems to bridge the gap.

Trump spoke with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Thursday, according to Spiegel magazine, citing government sources. The two leaders discussed the situation in Ukraine, including strengthening its air defence, as well as trade issues, Spiegel reported on Friday.

In Zelenskyy’s post on X on Friday after his call with Trump, he said the two had “a detailed conversation about defense industry capabilities and joint production. We are ready for direct projects with the United States and believe this is critically important for security, especially when it comes to drones and related technologies.”

Zelenskyy also said Ukrainians are “grateful for all the support provided”, as it helps protect lives and safeguard their independence.

“We support all efforts to stop the killings and restore just, lasting, and dignified peace. A noble agreement for peace is needed,” he said.

Ukrainian leader signs an accord with the Council of Europe to set up a special tribunal to one day put top Russian officials on trial.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the prosecution of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he accused of being a “war criminal” for launching Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Zelenskyy issued the call late on Wednesday after he signed an accord with the Council of Europe to set up a special tribunal to prosecute Russian officials, including Putin, for the invasion of Ukraine.

“We need to show clearly, aggression leads to punishment, and we must make it happen together, all of Europe,” said Zelenskyy after signing the accord with Council of Europe Secretary-General Alain Berset.

“It will take strong political and legal courage to make sure every Russian war criminal faces justice, including Putin,” Zelenskyy said.

Putin is already facing an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for the alleged war crime of illegally transporting children out of Ukraine.

The ICC has the jurisdiction to investigate war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, but it does not have the jurisdiction to investigate “crimes of aggression” or the use of armed force against another state.

The special tribunal is being established to one day prosecute Russia’s “crime of aggression” for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The tribunal could, in theory, put on trial senior Russian figures, including Putin.

It has not yet been decided where the tribunal would be based, but Zelenskyy said The Hague, the home of the ICC, would be “perfect”.

This is the first time such a tribunal has been set up under the aegis of the Council of Europe, the continent’s top rights body.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, previously said the special tribunal would “give Ukraine a path to justice for the top-level decision to invade its territory – a wrong that no other international court or tribunal can currently address”.

The European Council said the proposed tribunal could potentially be used to prosecute North Korean and Belarusian individuals who assisted Russia in the invasion.

The 46-member Council of Europe is not part of the European Union and members include key non-EU European states such as Turkiye, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. Russia was expelled from the body in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.

Alongside its arrest warrant for Putin, the ICC is also seeking to arrest four of Russia’s top commanders for targeting civilians.

Ukrainian leader steps up diplomatic push, while his Russian counterpart will skip a summit due to ICC arrest warrant.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and United States President Donald Trump have held talks on the sidelines of the NATO summit in The Hague, with sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, now in its fourth year, and arms procurement for Kyiv on the agenda.

Zelenskyy said he discussed how to achieve a “real peace” and “protect our people” with Trump on Wednesday.

The meeting, which reportedly lasted 50 minutes, was a second attempt after Zelenskyy failed to meet Trump earlier this month in Canada when the US president abruptly left a G7 summit as the Israel-Iran conflict raged, just days before the US militarily intervened with strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites.

Speaking at news conference ending his participation at the NATO summit, Trump said it is possible that Russian President Vladimir Putin has territorial ambitions beyond Ukraine, adding that he plans to speak to Putin soon about ending the war.

Zelenskyy noted earlier that Moscow and Kyiv have not moved any closer to a ceasefire, saying, “The Russians once again openly and absolutely cynically declared they are ‘not in the mood’ for a ceasefire. Russia wants to wage war. This means the pressure the world is applying isn’t hurting them enough yet, or they are trying very hard to keep up appearances.”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said the security bloc’s “military edge is being aggressively challenged by a rapidly rearming Russia, backed by Chinese technology and armed with Iranian and North Korean weapons” before the summit.

On Putin, Rutte was blunt, “I don’t trust the guy,” he said, adding that the Russian leader wouldn’t be happy with the outcome of the NATO summit.

NATO endorsed a higher defence spending goal of five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2035 – a response to a demand by  Trump and to Europeans’ fears that Russia poses a growing threat to their security.

Putin to stay at home

In the meantime, Putin will not travel to next week’s BRICS summit in Brazil as an arrest warrant issued against him by the International Criminal Court (ICC) still hangs over him, Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday.

The ICC issued the warrant in 2023, just over a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion and war against Ukraine. Putin is accused of deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine to Russia, a war crime.

Moscow vehemently denies allegations of war crimes, and the Kremlin, which did not sign the ICC’s founding treaty, has dismissed the warrant as null and void. But weighing the risk that he might be arrested if he travels to another country that is a signatory to the ICC treaty, Putin has always erred on the side of caution, only travelling where he is safe from being apprehended.

Putin concluded an official visit to Mongolia last September undisturbed as his hosts ignored the arrest warrant, despite Mongolia being an  ICC member.

The Kremlin on Wednesday also said the US was not yet ready to dismantle obstacles to the work of their respective embassies, as efforts to normalise relations between the two have stalled after initial signs that Trump’s second term as US president would lead to a major thaw after tensions during the administration of former US President Joe Biden.

The war grinds on

In the latest developments on the ground in the war, Russian missile strikes on southeastern Ukraine killed 17 people in the city of Dnipro and injured more than 200, damaging dozens of buildings and infrastructure facilities on Tuesday.

Two people were killed in a Russian attack on the city of Samara.

Russia says it intercepted dozens of drones overnight across its territory, including the Voronezh region on the border of eastern Ukraine.

Russian forces say they captured the village of Dyliivka in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region,  a key battleground dating back to the first eruption of conflict in 2014.

Ukraine’s leader was denied a meeting with his most powerful ally, after Donald Trump left the summit a day early.

The Group of Seven summit in Canada has ended without leaders issuing a joint statement in support of Ukraine, as Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that “diplomacy is now in a state of crisis”.

The summit of major industrial democracies, which wrapped up in the Canadian Rocky Mountain resort of Kananaskis late on Tuesday, had been intended to showcase unity on major global issues.

But unlike in previous years, when the group had jointly denounced Russian “aggression” against Ukraine, this time it was unable to issue a statement in support of the embattled Western ally, in a sign of growing differences within the group amid escalating global crises.

Zelenskyy met the leaders of Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, along with NATO chief Mark Rutte, on the final day of the conference. However, a meeting with the leader of the group’s most powerful member, the United States – President Donald Trump – did not take place after he left the summit a day early to address the escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran from Washington.

Zelenskyy said after the meeting that he had told the remaining G7 leaders that “diplomacy is now in a state of crisis”, and asked them to continue calling on Trump “to use his real influence” to press for an end to the war, according to a post on his official Telegram account.

Statement on US resistance retracted

A Canadian official initially told reporters on the sidelines of the summit that plans for a joint statement on Ukraine had been dropped after meeting resistance from the US, which wanted to water down the content, news agencies reported.

But Emily Williams, a spokesperson for Canada’s prime minister, later retracted the briefing statement and said “no proposed statement regarding Ukraine was distributed to other leaders”, agencies reported.

A Canadian official said there had never been an attempt to issue a joint statement on Ukraine because of Trump’s wishes to continue negotiating with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the AFP news agency reported.

“It was clear that it would not have been feasible to find detailed language that all G7 partners could agree to in that context,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

Trump had underlined the differences in views towards Russia within the group on Monday, when he said it had been a mistake to expel Moscow from what was formerly the G8 in response to its invasion and annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014.

Canada pledges military support

Zelenskyy had arrived at the summit calling for support from Ukraine’s allies, and declaring he was ready for peace negotiations.

“We are ready for the peace negotiations, unconditional ceasefire,” he said. “But for this, we need pressure.”

He left with a pledge from Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to provide 2 billion Canadian dollars ($1.47bn) in new military assistance for Kyiv, as well as to impose new financial sanctions on Russia.

Trump did agree to a group statement before his departure, calling for a resolution of the Israel-Iran conflict. The statement, issued on Monday, backed Israel, calling Iran the principal source of regional instability and terror, and asserting that Israel has the right to defend itself.

The statement called for a “de-escalation of hostilities”, despite some bellicose social media posts from Trump hinting at greater US military involvement in the conflict.