Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump in the White House, Washington, D.C., August 18, 2025

Tuesday’s Coverage: Zelensky’s “Good Meeting” with Trump Envoy Kellogg

UPDATE 1440 GMT:

Russia has convicted more than 300 Ukrainian soldiers of “terrorism”.

The troops were involved in Ukraine’s cross-border incursion into the Kursk region in western Russia from last August.

One of the convicted soldiers has been given a life sentence, and most of the prisoners of war have been sentenced to 13-28 years in prison.

There has been public confirmation of 525 Ukrainian POWs who were captured in Kursk.

UPDATE 1008 GMT:

An explosion has sparked a fire at on Ryazan-Moscow oil pipeline, a key supply route for the Russian capital, says an official in Ukraine’s military intelligence service HUR.

Local media reported the blaze near the village of Bozhatkovo on the outskirts of Ryazan on Tuesday evening.

The Ukrainian official said transport of petroleum products to Moscow, including automobile gasoline and fuel to the Russian military, has been suspended indefinitely.

UPDATE 0957 GMT:

Despite international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, the US oil company Exxon Mobil is in talks with Russia’s Rosneft about a return to cooperation.

Exxon Mobil’s Senior Vice President Neil Chapman has led the discussions with Rosneft about a return to the Sakhalin oil and gas fields off Russia’s far-east coast, once the US and Russian governments give approval.

During the Biden and Trump administrations, Exxon and other companies have had permission and licenses from the Treasury Department to hold talks about stranded assets with Russian counterparts. Exxon executives have asked the US Government for support if the company goes back to Russia and received a sympathetic hearing, said a “senior administration official”.

Exxon Mobil CEO Darren Woods discussed the company’s possible return with Donald Trump at the White House in recent weeks.

Sakhalin-1 was one of Exxon’s biggest investments, agreed in 1995. Exxon ran the venture and owned 30% alongside Rosneft and Japanese and Indian companies.

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Exxon reduced output and said it would sell its stake, writing down its value by more than $4 billion. The Kremlin blocked a sale, then wiped out Exxon’s stake.

In February, senior US and Russian officials opened talks in Saudi Arabia. The Russians dangled the promise of investment opportunities for American companies, including in Arctic energy projects.

Privately, Exxon’s Chapman met Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin in the Qatari capital Doha. Sechin, a close ally of Putin, is under blocking sanctions by the US, banning deals with him without the type of Treasury license obtained by Exxon.

UPDATE 0939 GMT:

After a phone call with Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky posted:

Our teams are actively preparing the architecture of strong and multilateral security guarantees for Ukraine, with everyone involved – Europeans, Americans, and our other partners in the Coalition of the Willing.

He criticized Russia for “sending negative signals regarding meetings and further developments.”

“The Russians will only react to real pressure in response to all this,” he stressed.

The President said the latest Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians have cut power to more than 100,000 households in the Poltava, Sumy, and Chernihiv regions.

The Russians continue the war and ignore the world’s calls to stop the killings and destruction. New steps are needed to increase pressure on Russia to stop the attacks and to ensure real security guarantees.

UPDATE 0714 GMT:

Russia is formally withdrawing from Europe’s convention for the prevention of torture.

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree, published on Monday evening, proposing that Vladimir Putin submit the withdrawal to the Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament.

The European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, adopted in 1987, allows inspections of detention facilities across member states. Russia ratified the treaty in 1998.

Russia quit the Council of Europe in March 2022 after being suspended over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Later that year, it withdrew from the European Convention on Human Rights.

Russia remains a party to the UN Convention Against Torture, which it ratified in 1985.

UPDATE 0701 GMT:

At least two civilians have been killed and at least 29 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 74 of 95 drones launched by Russia overnight. The other 21 struck nine locations.

The fatalities were in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, where 12 people were wounded.

Casualties were reported in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.

UPDATE 0650 GMT:

Russian forces have launched an incursion into the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine.

Dnipropetrovsk borders the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, parts of which have been occupied by Russia throughout its 42-month full-scale invasion.

“Yes, they have entered, and fighting is ongoing as of now,” said Viktor Tregubov, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces in Dnipro city.

Ukraine’s General Staff rejected Russian claims of the capture of the villages of Zaporizke and Novogeorgiivka. Battlefield monitor DeepState said Russia had “occupied” them and was “consolidating its positions [and] accumulating infantry for a further advance”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The US may support a European-led peacekeeping force in security guarantees for Ukraine, providing intelligence, air defense, and battlefield oversight.

According to four European and Ukrainian officials briefed on the discussions”, senior US counterparts have said in multiple discussions that Washington is ready to provide “strategic enablers”. These include intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; command and control; and air defense assets such as US aircraft, logistics, and ground-based radar for a no-fly zone.

The officials said the US commitment depends on European countries allocating tens of thousands of troops to postwar Ukraine. They noted the offer could be revoked.

The rough outline for a security guarantee, following a halt to Russia’s invasion, includes a demilitarized zone that may be monitored by neutral peacekeeping troops from a country agreed upon by both Russia and Ukraine. Beyond that, a stronger line will be defended by Ukrainian forces trained by NATO militaries. European peacekeepers would monitor a line deeper within Ukraine, supported by US assets would support these forces from the rear.

Ukraine Presidential Chief of Staff Andrii Yermak said the possibility of US support is “a big change from the spring”, when the Trump Administration cut all aid to Kyiv. Last week’s meeting in Washington of President Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders with Donald Trump is “a breakthrough point”.

Washington “can provide the backbone that makes the whole security and deterrence architecture work”, he explained.

Asked for comment, the Pentagon said the security commitments “are pre-decisional, and the Defense Department will not comment on pre-decisional topics”.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky said:

It is important that everything be as practical as possible – what forces on the ground, in the air, at sea – everything must be clearly defined.

And the foundation of our security is our strong Ukrainian army, … which means long-term financing and the provision of weapons – all of this will be ensured….

We are working very substantively with the Americans following our meeting in Washington. We now have a new foundation for joint efforts. This is significant.