Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with prime minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street later today, as part of a final push for a European perspective to be heard at a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
It comes after Volodymyr Zelensky said Mr Trump told European leaders he supports a ceasefire and the idea of security guarantees for Ukraine and discussed America’s willingness to “take part” in this.
The Ukrainian president was speaking after a virtual meeting with Mr Trump and other European leaders, as Kyiv presses its case on the US president ahead of the landmark meeting on Friday.
Late on Wednesday, Trump threatened Putin with “severe consequences” if the Russian leader does not agree to a ceasefire at crunch talks in Alaska at the end of this week.
The US president did not say what these would be, but has previously threatened Moscow with harsh sanctions if it did not agree to a truce in Ukraine.
Ukraine-Russia latest: Key Points
- Zelensky to meet Starmer in Downing Street ahead of Trump-Putin summit
- Russia says it struck Ukrainian missile plants
- Europe rallies behind Ukraine after talks with Trump
- 'Severe consequences' if Putin doesn't agree to stop war, warns Trump
- Inside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
'No deal without Ukraine': Zelensky on Putin and Trump's meet in Alaska
09:03 , Alex CroftUkraine believes Putin has just ‘one card left to play’ in ceasefire talks – and it gives Kyiv the upper hand
08:47 , Alex CroftVladimir Putin has “only one card” left to play – to prolong the killing in Ukraine, according to a senior source in Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential office as Europe held top-level talks ahead of the Alaska summit this week.
Zelensky has not been invited to Friday’s meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. And there are deep concerns that the US president will emerge from the encounter taking an even harder line on Ukraine.
Europe’s leaders, including Keir Starmer, have been corralling US officials and White House insiders, and met virtually with the Oval Office to try to persuade Trump to use the leverage he has over Putin to get him to agree to a ceasefire.
Our world affairs editor Sam Kiley writes:
Ukraine believes Putin has just ‘one card left to play’ in ceasefire talks
Zelensky and Starmer’s meeting at No 10 is a signal to one man - Donald Trump
08:30 , Alex CroftThe Independent’s Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports:
The PM’s meeting with the Ukrainian leader this morning will be highly symbolic.
After days of diplomatic wrangling, the two men are putting on a show – for the US president.
The message is clear – the UK, like mush of Europe, is standing strong with Zelensky.
On the eve of Trump’s potentially historic summit with Putin in Alaska, there is some cautious optimism that the US is coming more onside to Europe’s arguments, including that nothing is imposed on Ukraine and that the country has to be involved in its own destiny.
This follows a call with European leaders, including the PM, on Thursday.
The fear, as always, however, is how unpredictable the US President can be.
WhatsApp says Russia is trying to block its services
08:15 , Alex CroftWhatsApp said Russia was trying to block its services because the social media messaging app owned by Meta Platforms offered people's right to secure communication, and vowed to continue trying to make encrypted services available in Russia.
Russia has started restricting some Telegram and WhatsApp calls, accusing the foreign-owned platforms of failing to share information with law enforcement in fraud and terrorism cases.
"WhatsApp is private, end-to-end encrypted, and defies government attempts to violate people's right to secure communication, which is why Russia is trying to block it from over 100 million Russian people," WhatsApp said in a statement.
"We will keep doing all we can to make end-to-end encrypted communication available to people everywhere, including in Russia."
Trump's meeting with Putin in Alaska allows him to show American military strength, says expert
07:51 , Arpan RaiThe meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at an American military base allows them to avoid any protests and provides an important level of security, said Benjamin Jensen, senior fellow for defense and security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
"For President Trump, it's a great way for him to show American military strength while also isolating the ability of the public or others to intervene with what he probably hopes is a productive dialogue," Jensen said.
He said the location means Trump can cultivate ties with Putin while "signaling military power to try to gain that bargaining advantage to make a second meeting possible”.
What has Trump said about the Ukraine invasion since the start
07:14 , Arpan RaiAfter Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, Donald Trump described the Russian leader in positive terms."I mean, he's taking over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I'd say that's pretty smart," Trump said at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
In a radio interview that week, he suggested that Vladimir Putin was going into Ukraine to "be a peacekeeper."
Trump repeatedly said the invasion of Ukraine would never have happened if he had been in the White House — a claim Putin endorsed while lending his support to Trump's false claims of election fraud.
"I couldn't disagree with him that if he had been president, if they hadn't stolen victory from him in 2020, the crisis that emerged in Ukraine in 2022 could have been avoided," he said.
Putin appears ready to test new missile as he prepares for Trump talks
06:55 , Arpan RaiRussia appears to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise missile, according to two US researchers and a Western security source, even as Russian president Vladimir Putin readies for talks on Ukraine with US president DonaldTrump tomorrow.
Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organisation, based in Virginia, reached their assessments separately by studying imagery taken in recent weeks until Tuesday by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm.
They agreed the photos showed extensive activity at the Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, including increases in personnel and equipment and ships and aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel).
“We can see all of the activity at the test site, which is both huge amounts of supplies coming in to support operations and movement at the place where they actually launch the missile,” Lewis said.
Zelensky to meet Starmer in Downing Street ahead of Trump-Putin summit
06:44 , Arpan RaiUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with prime minister Keir Starmer in Downing Street later today, part of a final push for a European perspective to be heard ahead of a summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
We'll bring you more details on exactly when the meeting will take place, but its likely to be little more than 24 hours before the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.
Sir Keir and Trump both joined a teleconference with European leaders including Zelensky yesterday.
"The prime minister was clear that our support for Ukraine is unwavering – international borders must not be changed by force and Ukraine must have robust and credible security guarantees to defend its territorial integrity as part of any deal," Starmer's Downing Street office said in a statement yesterday.
Russia says it struck Ukrainian missile plants
06:31 , Arpan RaiRussia's defence ministry said its forces had struck a number of Ukrainian missile plants, weapons design bureaus and rocket fuel productions enterprises with missiles and drones in July.
Russian forces destroyed a number of Western missile defence systems – including Patriot launchers and fire control radar in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions – that had been deployed to defend the plants, the ministry said in an update this morning.
"An attempt by the Kyiv regime, together with its Western partners, to organise the production of missiles to carry out attacks deep into the territory of the Russian Federation was thwarted," the ministry said.
When Trump and Putin go head to head in Alaska, who wins?
06:30 , Arpan RaiEven by Donald Trump’s standards, his pre-match assessment of how his bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart would play out was bullish.
“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin,” he told a news conference at the White House. “And at the end of that meeting – probably in the first two minutes – I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made. Cos that’s what I do – I make deals.”
It’s typical Trump: boastful, bereft of meaning and utterly unconvincing.
On Friday, when Trump welcomes the Russian president to talks in Alaska, like a python eyeing a particularly plump suckling piglet, Putin will squeeze the spirit out of him, and then eat him for breakfast, as he has on each and every occasion when this tragically unevenly matched pair have had cause to interact.
Trump has suggested Ukraine swap land with Russia – but that’s illegal
06:00 , Arpan RaiAny peace deal that would see Ukraine cede territory to Russia in hopes of ending the war would be deeply unpopular with the Ukrainian people.
It would also be illegal under the country’s constitution.
US President Donald Trump, who is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska’s Anchorage on Friday, has suggested that a concession involving a swap of Ukrainian territories would be “to the betterment of both” sides.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has categorically rejected the suggestion.
Kyiv "will not give Russia any awards for what it has done", Mr Zelensky said.
Trump has suggested Ukraine swap land with Russia – but that’s illegal
How Russia’s war on Ukraine led to crucial Trump-Putin summit - and why the stakes are so high
05:30 , Arpan RaiDonald Trump is meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska in what the US president has said may be little more than a “look see”, but in truth may prove an encounter that defines Europe -and global security - for decades.
From Trump’s perspective, the summit may be part of his drive for a Nobel Peace Prize by ending Putin’s war against Ukraine using the “art of the deal”. Putin, however, is likely to prevail and his agenda is the art of the steal – specifically a massive grab of his neighbour’s land.
Missing from the meeting is the country most affected – Ukraine itself. Led by Volodymyr Zelensky, it has held out against the Kremlin for 11 years.
How Russian war on Ukraine led to Trump-Putin summit - and why the stakes are so high
Inside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
05:00 , Arpan RaiDonald Trump and Vladimir Putin will sit face-to-face for the first time in seven years on Friday for talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine.
The Russian president will fly into Anchorage, Alaska, where he will meet his US counterpart at a remote military installation which plays host to some of America’s most fearsome fighter jets. It has been visited by several US presidents in the past.
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska’s largest military base, combines the Air Force’s Elmendorf base with the US Army’s Fort Richardson.
Inside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
Ukraine believes Putin has just ‘one card left to play’ in ceasefire talks – and it gives Kyiv the upper hand
04:30 , Arpan RaiVladimir Putin has “only one card” left to play – to prolong the killing in Ukraine, according to a senior source in Volodymyr Zelensky’s presidential office as Europe held top-level talks ahead of the Alaska summit this week.
Zelensky has not been invited to Friday’s meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. And there are deep concerns that the US president will emerge from the encounter taking an even harder line on Ukraine.
Europe’s leaders, including Keir Starmer, have been corralling US officials and White House insiders, and met virtually with the Oval Office to try to persuade Trump to use the leverage he has over Putin to get him to agree to a ceasefire.
Ukraine believes Putin has just ‘one card left to play’ in ceasefire talks
Trump and Putin will meet at an Alaska military base long used to counter Russia
04:17 , Arpan RaiIn an ironic twist, US president Donald Trump is set to discuss the war in Ukraine with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at a military base in Alaska that was crucial to countering the Soviet Union during the height of Cold War and still plays a role today.
The meeting is scheduled to take place Friday at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal planning.
The base created by merging Elmendorf Air Force Base and Army Fort Richardson in 2010 has played a key strategic role in monitoring and deterring the Soviet Union during much of the Cold War.
Throughout its long history, the base hosted large numbers of aircraft and oversaw operations of a variety of early warning radar sites that were aimed at detecting Soviet military activity and any possible nuclear launches. It earned the motto "Top Cover for North America" at this time, according to the base website.
While much of the military hardware has since been deactivated, the base still hosts key aircraft squadrons, including the F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jet. Planes from the base also still intercept Russian aircraft that regularly fly into US airspace.
Trump praises 'very good call' with European leaders
04:00 , Alexander ButlerUS president Donald Trump said he would rate his call with Sir Keir Starmer and European leaders as a 10.
Asked if it was his decision not to invite Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Mr Trump said: “No, just the opposite.
“We had a very good call, he was on the call, President Zelensky was on the call. I would rate it a 10, you know, very, very friendly.”
He added: "It was always going to be, I was going to meet with President Putin, and then after that, I'm going to call the leaders and President Zelensky, I'm going to call President Zelensky, and then I'll call, probably, in that order, the leaders.
“There's a very good chance that we're going to have a second meeting which will be more productive than the first, because the first is I'm going to find out where we are and what we're doing."
Mr Trump described the war as "Biden's war", adding: "This war would have never happened if I were president. But it is what it is, and I'm here to fix it."
'Severe consequences' if Putin doesn't agree to stop war, warns Trump
03:00 , Alexander ButlerThere will be “severe consequences” if Vladimir Putin does not agree to a ceasefire following crunch talks in Alaska, Donald Trump warned.
Mr Trump was "very clear" in a virtual meeting Wednesday with European leaders that the US wants to achieve a ceasefire at the upcoming US-Russia summit in Alaska, French President Emmanuel Macron said.
In the same meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, he told the group that Putin “is bluffing” ahead of the planned meeting with Mr Trump.
Mr Putin, Mr Zelensky said, "is trying to apply pressure ... on all sectors of the Ukrainian front" in an attempt to show that Russia is "capable of occupying all of Ukraine."
Europe rallies behind Ukraine after talks with Trump
02:00 , Alexander ButlerEU leaders have rallied behind Ukraine after praising a “very good call” with US president Donald Trump ahead of his landmark summit with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday.
Finland's President Alexander Stubb said the next few days and weeks could be decisive in the Ukraine peace process.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was a "very good call".
"Today Europe, the US and NATO have strengthened the common ground for Ukraine.
"We will remain in close coordination. Nobody wants peace more than us, a just and lasting peace."
German chancellor Friedrich Merz described the meeting with Trump as "constructive" and said that "important decisions" could be made in Anchorage, but stressed that "fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected" at the summit.
Zelensky tells Trump that Putin is ‘bluffing’ and does not want peace ahead of crunch Ukraine summit
01:00 , Alexander Butler
Zelensky tells Trump Putin is ‘bluffing’ and does not want peace ahead of summit
Ukraine, US, European leaders discuss venue for follow-up meeting after Trump-Putin summit
Thursday 14 August 2025 00:01 , Alexander ButlerLeaders of the US, Ukraine and Europe discussed possible locations for a follow-up meeting between US president Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump said on Wednesday there was a “very good chance” of Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky meeting after his crunch summit with the Russian leader in Alaska on Friday
Possible locations include cities in Europe and the Middle East, according to sources close to the matter.
Watch: Trump warns of 'severe consequences' if Russia doesn't stop Ukraine war
Wednesday 13 August 2025 23:09 , Holly EvansInside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
Wednesday 13 August 2025 23:00 , Alexander ButlerInside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
When Trump and Putin go head to head in Alaska, who wins?
Wednesday 13 August 2025 22:41 , Holly EvansEven by Donald Trump’s standards, his pre-match assessment of how his bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart would play out was bullish.
“We’re going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin,” he told a news conference at the White House. “And at the end of that meeting – probably in the first two minutes – I’ll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made. Cos that’s what I do – I make deals.”
It’s typical Trump: boastful, bereft of meaning and utterly unconvincing.
On Friday, when Trump welcomes the Russian president to talks in Alaska, like a python eyeing a particularly plump suckling piglet, Putin will squeeze the spirit out of him, and then eat him for breakfast, as he has on each and every occasion when this tragically unevenly matched pair have had cause to interact.
Read the analysis here:
Putin appears ready to test new missile as he prepares for Trump talks
Wednesday 13 August 2025 22:30 , Alexander ButlerRussia appears to be preparing to test its new nuclear-armed, nuclear-powered cruise missile, according to two US researchers and a Western security source, even as Russian President Vladimir Putin readies for talks on Ukraine with US President DonaldTrump on Friday.
Jeffrey Lewis of the California-based Middlebury Institute of International Studies, and Decker Eveleth of the CNA research and analysis organisation, based in Virginia, reached their assessments separately by studying imagery taken in recent weeks until Tuesday by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm.
They agreed the photos showed extensive activity at the Pankovo test site on the Barents Sea archipelago of Novaya Zemlya, including increases in personnel and equipment and ships and aircraft associated with earlier tests of the 9M730 Burevestnik (Storm Petrel).
“We can see all of the activity at the test site, which is both huge amounts of supplies coming in to support operations and movement at the place where they actually launch the missile,” Lewis said.
69 per cent of Ukrainians favour negotiated end to war, poll finds
Wednesday 13 August 2025 22:16 , Holly EvansA Gallup poll released last week found that 69 per cent of Ukrainians favour a negotiated end to the war as soon as possible. But polls also indicate Ukrainians do not want peace at any cost if that means significant concessions.
Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Alexei Fadeev earlier said Moscow's stance had not changed since last year.
As conditions for a ceasefire and the start of talks, Putin had demanded Ukraine withdraw its forces from four regions that Russia has claimed as its own but does not fully control, and formally renounce plans to join NATO.
Kyiv swiftly rejected the conditions as tantamount to surrender.
Trump has suggested Ukraine swap land with Russia – but that’s illegal
Wednesday 13 August 2025 22:00 , Alexander ButlerTrump has suggested Ukraine swap land with Russia – but that’s illegal
Trump threatens 'severe consequences': What we know so far
Wednesday 13 August 2025 21:47 , Alexander ButlerUS president Donald Trump joined a call with Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders today in which he was said to have backed the idea of security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a peace deal with Russia.
When asked if Russia would face any consequences if Putin does not agree to stop the war after Friday’s meeting, Mr Trump said: “Yes, they will.”
Asked if those consequences would be sanctions or tariffs, Trump told reporters: “I don't have to say, there will be very severe consequences.”
The remark came soon after Mr Trump consulted with European leaders, who said the president assured them he would make a priority of trying to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine when he speaks with Mr Putin on Friday in Anchorage, Alaska.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said afterward that "important decisions" could be made in Alaska, but he stressed that "fundamental European and Ukrainian security interests must be protected."
Merz convened Wednesday's meeting, which had several European heads of state, in an attempt to make sure European and Ukrainian leaders are heard ahead of the summit.
He stressed that a ceasefire must come at the beginning of negotiations. He said Mr Trump "also wants to make this one of his priorities" in the meeting with Putin.
Ukraine believes Putin has just ‘one card left to play’ in ceasefire talks – and it gives Kyiv an upper hand
Wednesday 13 August 2025 21:30 , Alexander ButlerUkraine believes Putin has just ‘one card left to play’ in ceasefire talks
Watch: Starmer says Ukraine ceasefire viable because of Trump
Wednesday 13 August 2025 21:05 , Alexander ButlerAnalysis: How Russia’s war on Ukraine led to crucial Trump-Putin summit - and why the stakes are so high
Wednesday 13 August 2025 19:47 , Alexander ButlerDonald Trump is meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska in what the US president has said may be little more than a “look see”, but in truth may prove an encounter that defines Europe -and global security - for decades.
From Trump’s perspective, the summit may be part of his drive for a Nobel Peace Prize by ending Putin’s war against Ukraine using the “art of the deal”. Putin, however, is likely to prevail and his agenda is the art of the steal – specifically a massive grab of his neighbour’s land.
Missing from the meeting is the country most affected – Ukraine itself. Led by Volodymyr Zelensky, it has held out against the Kremlin for 11 years.
Read the full analysis from our world affairs editor Sam Kiley here:
How Russian war on Ukraine led to Trump-Putin summit - and why the stakes are so high
Trump asked Polish President Nawrocki to replace Tusk in Ukraine meeting
Wednesday 13 August 2025 19:43 , Alexander ButlerUS President Donald Trump at the last minute requested Maga-allied Polish President Karol Nawrocki join the Ukraine teleconference with European leaders on Wednesday, according to centrist Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Nawrocki's bitter political rival who had been expected to attend.
Nawrocki, a conservative nationalist and eurosceptic, is an ally of Trump's right-wing populist Maga political movement and visited the White House during Poland's presidential election campaign this year. He defeated the candidate of Tusk's pro-European, centrist party in June.
"Just before midnight yesterday we received information, alongside our European partners, that the American side would prefer that Poland was represented by the president in contacts with President Trump," Tusk told a news conference.
The White House did not comment whether the US requested Nawrocki rather than Tusk take part in the call.
A Polish government spokesperson said on Tuesday that Tusk, a former head of the European Council of leaders, would attend the call with Trump.
Russian forces advance in the Donbas after heavy fighting
Wednesday 13 August 2025 18:58 , Holly EvansRussian forces on the ground in Ukraine have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donbas region that comprises Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland, which Putin has long coveted.
Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles have said Ukraine's ability to fend off those advances could be critical.
Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit and could complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts.
Inside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
Wednesday 13 August 2025 18:45 , Alexander Butler
Inside the remote military base where Trump and Putin will hold historic summit
Friedrich Merz shares photo of European conference
Wednesday 13 August 2025 18:32 , Holly EvansIn a post on social media, German chancellor Friedrich Merz shared a photo of him and Volodymyr Zelensky discussing the upcoming Alaska meeting with European counterparts.
Die Gespräche mit unseren Freunden und Partnern sind ausgesprochen gut.
— Bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz (@bundeskanzler) August 13, 2025
Es gibt Hoffnung auf einen Frieden in der Ukraine. Wir wollen, dass Donald Trump in Alaska Erfolg hat und wir Europäer tun alles, um die Weichen für dieses Treffen in die richtige Richtung zu stellen. pic.twitter.com/IZXu9tFb5C
Ukraine, US, European leaders discuss venue for follow-up meeting after Trump-Putin summit
Wednesday 13 August 2025 18:30 , Alexander ButlerLeaders of the US, Ukraine and Europe discussed possible locations for a follow-up meeting between US president Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin.
Mr Trump said on Wednesday there was a “very good chance” of Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky meeting after his crunch summit with the Russian leader in Alaska on Friday
Possible locations include cities in Europe and the Middle East, according to sources close to the matter.
