Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska, August 15, 2025 (Jae C. Hong/AP)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Why Trump’s Retreat on Ukraine Is Not Putin’s Victory

EA-Times Radio Special: Facing Trump from Ukraine to “No Kings” Marches

Tuesday’s Coverage: Zelensky — “Working With US” To Ensure Patriot Systems For Air Defense

UPDATE 1118 GMT:

As Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky visits, Norway has announced another $150 million in energy support for Kyiv.

Zelensky and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre also discussed defense cooperation, including the production of drones and missiles and the expansion of the initiative to purchase arms from the US.

UPDATE 1115 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has updated the toll from Russia’s strike on a kindergraten in Kharkiv in the northeast of the country.

One person was slain and seven injured. All children were evacuated.

There is no justification for a drone strike on a kindergarten, nor can there ever be. Clearly, Russia is growing more brazen. These strikes are Russia’s spit in the face to everyone who insists on a peaceful resolution.

Thugs and terrorists can only be put in their place by force.

UPDATE 1028 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has posted that the victims of this morning’s Russian attacks on Kyiv include a mother and her two daughters.

UPDATE 1000 GMT:

Ukraine Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko has posted a video of this morning’s Russian attacks:

UPDATE 0940 GMT:

“Several informed sources” have said Vladimir Putin intends to string out discussions to seize more territory in Ukraine.

“An official close to the Kremlin” said of Donald Trump’s statement about ceasing hostilities on the frontline: “Moscow’s demands have not been met; stopping now would soon mean facing the same risks and returning to where we started, only the troops will also have to recuperate.”

He noted that Vladimir Putin still has no intention of meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to sign any agreement. The Kremlin intends to “wear down the West”, which it believes is growing tired of supporting Kyiv.

A media specialist working with the Kremlin said, “The General Staff and military commanders have already promised Putin Pokrovsk and Kupyansk [in eastern Ukraine]. And there’s fierce fighting there right now. Until we consolidate these positions, we won’t talk about the [front] line.”

A “source working with the Kremlin’s domestic policy bloc” said Trump “still has nothing to offer either us or them”. He said of the cancelled Trump-Putin summit in Hungary, “Why fly all the way across the world, beg for an overflight, and stir up all this fuss?”

UPDATE 0735 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said of the cancellation of Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin in Hungary:

Zelensky assured:

We have now finalized preparations for our upcoming meetings with European partners [in London on Friday]….

There will be a strong and, in many ways, completely new agreement on our defense capabilities as part of our long-term security guarantees for our state and all our people.

UPDATE 0727 GMT:

The toll in the Kyiv region has risen to six murdered from Russia’s overnight strikes.

The victims include a 6-month-old baby, a 12-year-old girl, and a husband and wife who perished when a fire broke out in their apartment in a 16-story building.

At least 22 other people were injured.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky commented:

Russian words about diplomacy mean nothing as long as the Russian leadership does not feel critical problems. And this can be ensured only through sanctions, long-range capabilities, and coordinated diplomacy among all our partners. It is high time the European Union adopted a strong sanctions package. We also count on strong sanctions measures from the United States and the G7, from all those who seek peace. It is very important that the world does not remain silent now and that there is a united response to Russia’s vile strikes.

UPDATE 0722 GMT:

Ukraine struck a Russian chemical plant with UK-made Storm Shadow missiles late Tuesday.

The complex in the Bryansk region in western Russia makes gunpowder, explosives, and rocket fuel.

“A massive combined missile and air strike was carried out, including the use of air-launched Storm Shadow missiles, which successfully penetrated the Russian air defense system,” the Ukraine General Staff said.

Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz confirmed a missile and drone attack.

Damage is being assessed.

UPDATE 0646 GMT:

At least three civilians have been murdered in Kyiv amid overnight Russian strikes across Ukraine.

Five others were injured, including a two-year-old child. Another 15 were wounded in Zaporizhzhia city, with damage to residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure.

Explosions in the capital began around 1:10 a.m., shortly after the Ukraine Air Force issued a ballistic missile warning. Blasts were also reported in Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and the port city of Izmail.

An air raid alert was still in place in Kyiv at 8:20 a.m.

Ukraine’s biggest private energy firm DTEK said emergency power outages are in place in Kyiv and the Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions. It reported “significant damage” to energy infrastructure in the Odesa region.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The forthcoming summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Hungary’s capital Budapest has been cancelled.

Trump told reporters on Tuesday night that he did not want a “wasted meeting” with Putin: “I don’t want to have a waste of time, so I’ll see what happens.”

The meeting was announced by Trump for “next week” after his phone call with the Russian leader last Thursday. A day later, Trump stepped back from provision of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine in a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump also pushed the Kremlin’s demand for more Ukrainian territory before calling for talks and a freeze of the frontlines.

But over the weekend, the Kremlin first pulled back on an immediate encounter and then said there were no firm plans.

On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov maintained the Kremlin’s maximum demands. Yesterday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov denied that he had scheduled a preliminary meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and he insisted on Ukraine’s capitulation, rejecting the freeze of the frontlines.

Lavrov said he told Rubio in a Monday call, “I want to officially confirm: Russia has not changed its position compared to the understandings that were reached during the Alaska summit [between Trump and Putin in August].”

A White House official said there are no plans for Trump to meet with Putin “in the immediate future”.

They claimed that, as Rubio’s call with Lavrov on Monday was “productive”, a face-to-face meeting is “not necessary”.

A senior European diplomat summarized that the Russians “haven’t at all changed” their maximalist position: “I assume Lavrov gave the same spiel, and Rubio was like: ‘See you later’.”

Another European diplomat assessed, “It became evident for the Americans that there will be no deal for Trump in Budapest.”