Damage in Lviv in western Ukraine from Russian attacks, August 21, 2025

EA on BBC: Why Shouldn’t Ukraine Give Up Territory to Russia?

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Zelensky’s “Smartest Move” in Washington

UPDATE 1711 GMT:

“Three sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking” say Vladimir Putin is maintaining ultimata that Ukraine give up all of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the east — even though Kyiv controls part of Donetsk — renounce ambitions to join NATO with a legally binding pledge from the bloc’s members, become “neutral”, and keep Western troops out of the country.

UPDATE 1707 GMT:

Military chiefs from the US, Ukraine, and four European partners — France, Germany, Italy, and the UK — have developed proposals and will present them to national security advisors, says a US official.

UPDATE 1224 GMT:

The toll from Russia’s massive overnight attack on Ukraine has risen to one civilian murdered and 22 injured.

Air defenses downed 546 of 574 drones and 31 of 40 missiles.

UPDATE 1155 GMT:

Italian police have arrested a Ukrainian man suspected of coordinating attacks on Nord Stream gas pipelines from Russia to Germany in September 2022.

The underwater attacks, near the Danish island of Bornholm, damaged both pipelines of Nord Stream 2, which was just being put into service. One of two Nord Stream 1 pipelines was struck.

No individual or country has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Germany’s prosecutor general said the suspect will be brought before a German judge after being transferred from Italy.

The prosecutor’s office said the man and his accomplices set off from Rostock on Germany’s north-eastern coast in a sailing yacht for the operation.

UPDATE 1019 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said, “We want to have an understanding of the security guarantees architecture within seven to 10 days. We need to understand which country will be ready to do what at each specific moment.”

He warned that Russia is building up troops on the southern frontline, as Ukraine test launches a new long-range cruise missile.

The President confirmed that he asked Donald Trump to encourage Hungary to withdraw its opposition to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union.

Zelensky made the request during his meeting with Trump in Washington on Monday:

It is absolutely fair that Ukraine wants to join the European Union….This is our sovereign right.

President Trump promised that his team would work on this.

Trump subsequently called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a long-time ally of Vladimir Putin, to discuss the issue.

Zelensky said, “We are ready for the bilateral meeting. If the Russians are not, then we would like to see a strong response from the United States.”

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov continued his diversion from a possible Zelensky meeting with Vladimir Putin.

He declared without evidence that Ukraine wanted to “undermine Trump’s efforts to resolve conflict”. He insisted that Russia “was already ready for an honest talk about security guarantees” while maintaining its ultimata from spring 2022.

He emphasized the ultimata by using Moscow’s framing of the “root causes of the conflict”, saying the Coalition of the Willing supporting Ukraine wanted to “shift the focus” from these.

He effectively rejected security guarantees for Kyiv, saying European troops could not be in Ukraine.

Lavrov restated another barrier to a meeting with Zelensky, repeating the Kremlin’s refusal to recognize the President or his Government: “When it comes to signing something, the issues of legitimate of the Ukrainian representative will have to be resolved”.

UPDATE 0918 GMT:

For the first time, the US has refused to join international condemnation of Russia’s August 2008 invasion of Georgia and its continued occupation of the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

The Trump Administration did not publicly comment on its decision. The joint statement was issued by five UN Security Council members — Denmark, France, Greece, the UK, and Slovenia — and incoming member Latvia, denounced Russia’s invasion of Georgia 17 years ago and its continued military presence in the country’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions.

The statement reaffirmed Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and condemned Russia’s “continuous provocations, violations of international law, and militarization” in the occupied regions. It insisted that Russia comply with the 2008 ceasefire agreement, brokered by the European Union, and withdraw its forces.

In February, the Trump Administration voted against a UN General Assembly resolution naming Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the resolution should not be “antagonistic to either side” as the Administration pursued direct talks with Moscow.

UPDATE 0900 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has commented on Russia’s latest attacks on civilians:

The Russians carried out this attack as if nothing has changed at all, as if there are no global efforts to stop this war. This requires a response. There is still no signal from Moscow that they truly intend to engage in substantive negotiations and end this war. Pressure is needed. Strong sanctions, strong tariffs,

Asked by reporters if Kyiv will make any concessions, Zelensky responded, “To discuss what Ukraine is willing to do, let’s first hear what Russia is willing to do. We do not know that.“

UPDATE 0753 GMT:

Finnish President Alexander Stubb uses a US analogy to explain the extent of Russia’s demands for the surrender of Ukrainian territory.

UPDATE 0736 GMT:

US Vice President J.D. Vance heaps praise on Vladimir Putin:

UPDATE 0717 GMT:

A Russian missile has struck an American electronic manufacturer in the Zakarpattia region in western Ukraine, causing damage and casualties, says Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha.

At least 10 people were wounded in the region.

Yaroslav Trofimov of the Wall Street Journal adds:

UPDATE 0654 GMT:

Trying to maintain its invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is preparing to raise taxes and cut spending.

Russia is caught between inflation, interest rates coming down only slightly from 20-year highs, a government budget that has widened to 4.9 trillion roubles ($61 billion), and warnings of recession.

“Given the more pessimistic estimates of economic indicators and the decline in oil and gas revenues, we will need to urgently start fiscal consolidation,” Anatoly Artamonov, head of the Budget Committee in Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said in late July.

The budget has almost doubled since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Spending of 17 trillion roubles on defense and national security in 2025 is the highest since the Cold War, accounting for 41% of total expenditure.

Putin declared in June that Russia plans to reduce the military budget, but Artamonov said, “We cannot cut spending on national defense and…in all likelihood, we will have to increase it.”

The 2025 budget, formally presented in September, provides for defense and security spending at 8% of GDP, but a Russian government source said the actual figure is slightly higher. There will be no reduction in 2026, but a decline is possible in 2027 should the invastion stop.

Artamonov suggested Russia may need to reduce non-defense spending by 2 trillion roubles each year until 2028, redirecting the money to defense.

“In the next three years, we will not have enough means to live as comfortably as we do now,” he said.

A government official said raising taxes is unavoidable: “Otherwise, we simply won’t be able to make ends meet, even with a reduction in defense spending. Oil and gas revenues are falling and the economy cannot fully compensate for this.”

UPDATE 0645 GMT:

One civilian has been murdered and three injured by Russia’s overnight drone and missile strikes on Lviv in western Ukraine.

Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, said dozens of residential buildings were damaged.

Ten other people were wounded across the country.

A 71-year-old woman and a 70-year-old man were slain on Tuesday in Russian attacks on nine settlements in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine.

UPDATE 0640 GMT:

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has proposed a security guarantee, following an end to Russia’s invasion, requiring Ukraine’s allies to decide within 24 hours of a renewed Russian attack whether or not to commit troops, say “sources familiar with the discussions”.

Meloni was among the seven European leaders who joined Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

Around 10 European countries have indicated that they are willing to commit troops to Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Pushing back the proposal of a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, Russia bombed cities across Ukraine overnight.

Two ways after discussions among Zelensky, European leaders, and Donald Trump, Russian missiles and drones injured 12 civilians. Fires were set at a large electronics plant in Mukachevo, and damage was reported in other cities such as Lviv.

Three explosions were heard in the Rivne region, around 304 km (390 miles) west of Kyiv, after Russia launched MiG-31 fighter jets capable of launching Kinzhal ballistic missiles. Drone flew in the airspace over the outskirts of Kyiv.

Kremlin: We Must Be Included in Security Guarantees for Ukraine

Cornered by Trump’s support of a Zelensky-Putin encounter, followed by a trilateral meeting, the Kremlin continued to play for time on Wednesday.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov avoided any reference to a summit in high-profile remarks. Instead, he complained that Russia — having invaded and carried out mass killings in Ukraine over the past 42 months — should be included in the talks between Kyiv, Europe, and the US on security guarantees for the Ukrainians.

“To discuss security guarantees seriously without Russia is a road to nowhere,” he grumbled during a visit to Jordan. He added that China, whose equipment and material have supported Moscow’s attacks, should be among the guarantors.

Russian commentator Alexei Mukhin, close to the Kremlin, wrote:

Simply put, Putin only sees value in a meeting with Zelensky if it ends with a capitulation. If Zelensky is unwilling to sign one, the Kremlin will keep “working on” the idea of a meeting until he is.

Will US Join the Security Guarantee?

Defense chiefs from the US and other NATO countries conferred virtually on Wednesday about the guarantees.

Gen. Dan Caine, Chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and around six NATO partners then considered options for implementation. The chair of NATO’s military committee, Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, said it was a “great, candid discussion….Priority continues to be a just, credible and durable peace.”

However, a NATO diplomat expressed caution about the possibilities: “There’s the dawning reality that this will be Europe making this happen on the ground….The US is not fully committed to anything.”

In a discussion on Tuesday, Pentagon official Elbridge Colby — whose “report” this spring pushed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth into a brief suspension of military aid to Ukraine — told European military leaders that the US would play a minimal role over troops and air support.

“I don’t know where that leaves us,” a European official said. “Pretty much back to where we were in the spring with the coalition of the willing.”

Officials said European countries are seeking the deployment of American F-35 fighter jets to Romania, where the largest NATO base in Europe is under construction.

The Europeans also want guarantees of continued use of American satellites for intelligence. The US could also commit to supplying Kyiv with Patriot and NASAMS systems to repel Russian attacks.