Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap!
US envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Moscow on Wednesday, Tass news agency reported (12:41), just days before Donald Trump’s deadline for Moscow to move on Ukraine which expires on Friday.
The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said that Russia considered direct engagement with the US “important, substantial and helpful” and that a meeting between Witkoff and president Vladimir Putin was an option (11:36).
In Kyiv, there is little expectation of a breakthrough with Russia, but high hopes that Trump’s tougher rhethoric on Moscow could lead to a change in the way the US supports Ukraine (13:34).
However, senior Ukrainian administration officials also continued to call for direct talks between Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Putin (16:46).
Elsewhere,
Lithuania’s finance minister Rimantas Šadžius has been appointed as acting prime minister until a new cabinet has been sworn in, stepping into the role after the resignation of Gintautas Paluckas (15:51).
Eurostar services to and from Paris were hit by delays and cancellations after a power outage near Moussy, north of Paris, affecting also travellers in London (12:06).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
US to 'substantially' raise tariffs on India in retaliation for buying Russian oil, Trump says
In a sign of growing tensions over Russia’s continuing refusal to move on Ukraine, US president Donald Trump has just announced that the US would “substantially raise the tariff paid by India to the US” in retaliation for its continuing purchases of Russian oil.
He said:
“India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the Tariff paid by India to the USA. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!! President DJT”
Ukraine's Yermak criticises Russian delay tactics, calls for direct Zelenskyy-Putin talks
Andriy Yermak, most senior aide to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, once again called out what he claimed was a Russian tactic to delay any meaningful talks on ceasefire as he pushed for direct negotiations between Zelenskyy and Russia’s Putin.
In a post on Telegram, he criticised the lack of specifics in Russian comments on further talks, stressing that “Ukraine’s position is clear: we are ready for a meeting of leaders.”
“Our partners, all those who truly value peace, support Ukraine’s position that a meeting of leaders must take place,” he said.
He pointedly thanked US president Donald Trump for his “consistent” efforts to end the war, saying that Russian “endless [responses] ‘we do not rule this out’ without a specific date are unacceptable.”
Zelenskyy makes frontline visit to Kharkiv region
Back to Ukraine, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he visited Ukrainian troops on the frontline near Vovchansk in Kharkiv region.
He said they spoke about “the situation on the frontline, the defence of Vovchansk, the dynamics of the battle,” and the state of play with drones and financing available to soldiers.
He said that Ukrainian troops were seeing foreign mercenaries from China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and African countries taking part on the Russian side.
“We will respond,” he said.
Finance minister Šadžius picked as Lithuania's acting prime minister
Lithuania’s finance minister Rimantas Šadžius has been appointed as acting prime minister until a new cabinet has been sworn in, stepping into the role after the resignation of Gintautas Paluckas.
Paluckas faced growing scrutiny of his business dealings (covered on Europe Live) and eventually announced his intention to step down last week, formally tendering the resignation on Monday.
64-year-old Šadžius has served as Lithuania’s finance minister since December last year, and held the role twice before, from 2007 to 2008 and 2012 to 2016. Between 2016 and 2025, he was a member of the European Court of Auditors.
Paluckas’ Social Democrats are expected to pick their preferred long-term candidate for the job later this week, Lithuanian broadcaster LRT reported.
Reuters noted that lacking an overall majority, any successful candidate for prime minister will need to seek the support of their coalition partners, centre-left For Lithuania and populist Nemunas Dawn, which often disagree with each other.
The country’s parliament, which must approve the selection of the new prime minister, is due to next meet on 10 September after its summer recess.
Ukraine charges six people on allegations of kickbacks for drone purchases at inflated prices
Ukrainian authorities have charges six people including a lawmaker and a government official for embezzling funds in the purchase of drones and jamming equipment for the military, Reuters reported.
Anti-corruption authorities said on Saturday they had uncovered a scheme involving the legislator, one current and one now sacked official, a National Guard commander and two businessmen, giving kickbacks for purchases at inflated prices.
“In 2024-2025, an organised criminal group systematically misappropriated funds allocated by local authorities for defence needs,” the National Anti-Corruption Bureau said in a statement quoted by Reuters, adding the bribes totalled around 30% of the contracts’ value.
The drone contract was worth $240,000 with an inflation of about $80,000, the bureau said.
Reuters noted that none of the suspects were publicly identified by the authorities.
The Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, claimed its counterintelligence agents foiled a Russian-inspired terrorist attack on Dnipro, saying a 29-year-old woman was recruited on Telegram to plant an improvised explosive device near a government building.
In a post on Telegram, the SBU said it disarmed the explosive device and arrested the suspect as she attempted to flee to Odesa.
The suspect could face up to 12 years in prison, the agency said.
Ukraine has low expectations for Witkoff's visit, but hopes Trump will take action to match his rhetoric - snap analysis
in Kyiv
In Kyiv, there is little expectation that Witkoff will make a breakthrough with Putin, but a hope that Trump’s changed rhetoric and tougher stance on Moscow may lead to a real change in US support for Ukraine.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an aide to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said if Russia did not change its course by Friday, Kyiv would expect the “irreversible logistics” of secondary sanctions on Russian oil exports to be set in motion.
“After that he’ll look whether this is helping to bring about the end of the war or not, and if not then he will move to the next step,” said Podolyak, in an interview in Kyiv.
The next move, he said, could be further sanctions, and the increased militarisation of Ukraine.
“Trump has already said he’s ready to sell Europe as much weapons as they want [to pass to Ukraine]. Before he didn’t say that … This is already a different conception of the world,” he said.
Before that, though, all eyes will be on Witkoff’s visit to Moscow. On previous trips, he has held long one-on-one meetings with Putin and has spoken of his warm feelings for the Russian leader. On one occasion Putin gifted him an oil painting of Trump, on another, Witkoff arrived without an interpreter and used a Kremlin-provided translator.
The camaraderie has left both Kyiv and other US allies wondering whether Witkoff is capable of delivering harsh messages to Moscow, although his visit this week will be the first since Trump’s rhetoric on Ukraine became noticeably harsher.
Witkoff's visit to Moscow expected on Wednesday - reports
US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s visit to Moscow is now expected to take place on Wednesday, Tass news agency reported citing sources.
The latest deadline, set by US president Donald Trump, requiring Russia to agree to a ceasefire or face sanctions is set to expire on Friday.
Updated
SBU says hit Russian military airfield in Crimea, one aircraft 'completely destroyed'
The Security Service of Ukraine, SBU, said it struck five Russian fighter jets at the Saky airfield in the Russian-occupied Crimea, claiming one aircraft was “completely destroyed.”
In a post on Telegram, it said that a Russian aviation weapons depot was also hit, with estimated Russian losses in tens of millions of dollars.
“The successful special operation of the SBU in Saky is another step towards weakening the enemy’s ability to wage a war of aggression against Ukraine. The occupiers must remember that they will never feel safe on our land!,” it said.
Updated
Eurostar services to and from Paris disrupted due to power outage near Paris
Eurostar has just put out a note “strongly” advising customers to postpone their journey to and from Paris to a different date if possible due to “severe disruptions including cancellations” expected as a result of part of the track being closed in France.
In a statement, it said:
“Due to part of the track being temporarily closed on the French network, severe disruptions including cancellations are expected all day to and from Paris. We strongly advise all our passengers to postpone their journey to a different date.”
Live updates show disruptions to trains connecting London and Paris throughout the day, with multiple delays and cancellations.
The disruption is caused by a power outage near Moussy, 50 km north of Paris, on a high speed line between Paris Nord and Arras with “major repairs” required, France’s railway company SNCF said on its website.
A Eurostar spokesperson quoted by Reuters said that the London-Amsterdam, London-Brussels and Brussels-Amsterdam routes were unaffected by the disruption in France.
Kremlin sees Witkoff's visit as 'important, substantial, helpful,' talks with Putin possible
Kremlin’s Peskov also said that it was looking forward to US envoy Witkoff’s visit later this week, considering it “important, substantial and helpful.”
Peskov told reporters that a meeting with president Vladimir Putin was an option, as the pair met multiple times in the past.
Kremlin warns against using nuclear rhetoric, says won't get into polemic with Trump
And we now have a first public reaction from the Kremlin to Trump’s announcement on nuclear submarines (9:39), with spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying Russia had no desire to get into a polemic with Trump on the issue, Reuters reported.
He also played down the significance of Trump’s comments, saying it was clear that US submarines were already on combat duty anyway.
“Russia is very attentive to the topic of nuclear non-proliferation. And we believe that everyone should be very, very cautious with nuclear rhetoric,” Peskov said, quoted by AFP.
Updated
In wartime, demonstrations in Ukraine can never be more than a peaceful protest
in Kyiv
Once a decade, Ukraine has a moment in which street protests redefine the country’s political direction. The Orange revolution of 2004; the Maidan revolution of 2014; and now, over the past 10 days, the first major wave of protest since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
A series of unexpectedly boisterous and well-attended demonstrations forced Volodymyr Zelenskyy to execute a swift U-turn on his decision to scrap the independence of two anti-corruption bodies.
On Thursday, MPs reversed the contentious changes they had adopted a week previously. Outside the parliament building, crowds whooped and cheered as the result of the vote was announced.
The size, scope and demands of this latest protest movement have been much more modest than those of its revolutionary predecessors, but the spectacle has been no less remarkable, given the context of full-scale war in which it has taken place.
Over the last week, a lot of attention focused on Zelenskyy’s rushed U-turn on his anti-corruption law reform.
Shaun Walker in Kyiv spoke to people taking part in these protests and their motivation behind them.
Let me bring you his report with great photographs by Jędrzej Nowicki.
Over the weekend, Zelenskyy also said that Ukraine and Russia were preparing a prisoner exchange that would see 1,200 Ukrainian troops return home, following talks in Istanbul in July.
His comments came after an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on an oil depot near the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi ignited a raging fire, as the two countries traded strikes at the end of one of the deadliest weeks in Ukraine in recent months.
'Every day of delay results in loss of our people,' Zelenskyy says as he says Russian army attacks first respondents and wants to 'kill everything alive'
President Zelenskyy also called for more pressure on Russia, as he posted a video of drone strikes on what he said were first responders and medics arriving to help after attacks.
“Deliberate FPV [first person view] drone strikes on first responders and medics arriving to help after attacks – all of this is typical for every city or community within reach of Russian drones. The Russian army simply kills everything that is alive,” he warned.
Zelenskyy said that “the world has enough power to stop this and protect people.”
He added:
“We count on strong decisions from the United States, Europe, and the world regarding secondary sanctions on Russian energy trade and Moscow’s banking sector.
Ukraine looks forward to the implementation of every agreement on strengthening defense that has been reached with its partners.
Every day of delay results in the loss of our people.”
Morning opening: Shush
Andriy Yermak, the most senior aide to Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, seemingly enjoys the silence from Russia following Donald Trump’s decision to move two nuclear submarines in response to provocative comments from the country’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev.
“The moment American nuclear submarines appeared, … [he] suddenly went silent. Russia understands only one thing: strength,” he said.
Expect Kyiv to keep making similar representations this week, before US special envoy Steve Witkoff visits Russia “Wednesday or Thursday” for further talks ahead of Trump’s 8 August deadline for a ceasefire in Ukraine.
On Friday, there were no signs that Vladimir Putin was willing to change his mind, as he repeated that the Russian “conditions certainly remain the same,” even as he claimed that he nominally supported “a lasting and stable peace.”
With things getting quiet elsewhere as we hit peak holiday season, this could be the main focus this week.
I will bring you all key updates from across Europe here.
It’s Monday, 4 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
