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)

Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Our Drone Experts Will Be in Middle East Next Week

UPDATE 1216 GMT:

Officials say Ukraine will soon get a shipment of US-made Patriot anti-aircraft missiles from Europe.

The sources said German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has secured around 30 PAC-3 interceptors from European allies, with Germany adding five from its own military stockpiles.

UPDATE 1141 GMT:

At least two civilians have been murdered and 17 injured, including a child, by a Russian airstrike on Sloviansk in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.

UPDATE 1133 GMT:

Officials say a Saudi Arabian arms company has signed an agreement to buy Ukrainian-made interceptor missiles.

One source in Ukraine’s defense industry said the Saudi and Ukrainian Governments are negotiating a “huge deal” for arms that could be finalized this week.

UPDATE 1116 GMT:

At least 33 civilians, including two children, have been injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Air defenses downed 122 of 137 drones, but 12 drones struck 10 locations.

Casualties are reported in the Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, and Sumy regions.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: As his Administration eases sanctions over Russia’s 4-year full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Donald Trump has spoken by phone with Vladimir Putin.

Last week, amid the surge in oil prices from the US-Israel War on Iran, the Administration gave a 30-day sanctions waiver to India — Moscow’s second-largest customer — over its imports of Russian oil.

US Treasury Scott Bessent said over the weekend that more sanctions could be lifted.

Trump followed up on Monday after the call with Putin, “So we have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off until the Strait [of Hormuz] is up.”

Shipping through the Strait, off the Iranian coast, is down 90% because of the war. The near-complete shutdown affects around 20% of the world’s maritime gas and around 25% of maritime oil.

Trump gushed about the one-hour conversation with Putin, “We were talking about Ukraine, which is just a never-ending fight. But I think it was a positive call on that subject.” Putin’s foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talk as “frank and businesslike”.

Citing multiple sources, Reuters said there could be a further easing of US sanctions.

Last November, the US sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies Rosneft and Gazprom, with secondary sanctions on customers. Six of seven Indian refiners suspended or cut imports.

The Russian Government’s revenues from oil were down 47% in January-February, compared to a year earlier.