DAILY NEWS DIGEST
August 17, 2025
RUSSIA SEES VICTORY AS TRUMP ADOPTS PUTIN’S APPROACH TO ENDING UKRAINE WAR
Within hours of the meeting, Trump had discarded his previous position – one also held by Ukraine and Europe – that a full ceasefire was required to allow the details of a peace agreement to be hammered out. The move enables Russia to keep fighting without the risk of U.S. sanctions, and puts pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to Russian terms or face open-ended attacks.
PUTIN DEMANDS UKRAINE SURRENDER THE DONBAS AS PRICE OF PEACE
Trump told Zelensky that Putin was “ready to promise” to end the war and not start wars against other nations, in exchange for Donbas and the other Ukrainian territory he has seized. Zelensky is unwilling to give up any territory, but Trump wants a fast deal – setting the stage for a potentially difficult clash.
ZELENSKIY BRACES FOR PERILOUS TRUMP TALKS IN WASHINGTON ON MONDAY
Kyiv has publicly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognised Ukrainian land they control as part of any deal. Donetsk region, Ukrainian officials say, serves as a fortress holding back Russian advances deeper into Ukraine.
PUTIN GOT EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED FROM TRUMP
“In Putin’s view, a peace agreement means several dangerous things – Ukraine not joining NATO, his absurd demands for denazification and demilitarisation, the Russian language and the Russian church,” a Ukrainian official said.
