Polish officials said Wednesday its forces had shot down a “huge number” of Russian drones overnight that violated the country’s airspace during an attack on Ukraine.
Polish fighter jets, backed by NATO aircraft from Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany, intercepted and destroyed the drones, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said. He added that allies stood in solidarity with Poland and denounced Russia’s “reckless behavior.”
“Last night the Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of Russian drones. Those drones that posed a direct threat were shot down,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk <a href="https://x.com/donaldtusk/status/1965663914139824231">wrote</a> on X. “I am in constant communication with the Secretary General of NATO and our allies.”
He said 19 drones had been in Polish airspace, later telling Parliament that Russia had gone too far. 
&#8220;I have no reason to claim we&#8217;re on the brink of war, but a line has been crossed, and it&#8217;s incomparably more dangerous than before,&#8221; Tusk said, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/poland-is-its-closest-open-conflict-since-world-war-two-pm-says-2025-09-10/">according</a> to Reuters. &#8220;This situation brings us the closest we have been to open conflict since World War II.”
The Kremlin refused to comment on the situation.
“This is not for us to do so,&#8221; said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c2enwk1l9e1t">according</a> to the BBC. &#8220;It’s a matter for the [Russian] defence ministry.”
Russia&#8217;s Defense Ministry <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-poland-drones-1232774279039f9e5c5b78bd58686cb9">said</a> it did not target Poland, and General Pavel Muraveiko, the Russian-aligned commander of Belarus’s armed forces, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/10/world/europe/poland-russia-drones-ukraine-attack.html">claimed</a> that the drones “lost their course as a result of electronic warfare.”
Several European leaders condemned the drone incursion. 
“This was an extremely reckless move by Russia and only serves to remind us of President Putin’s blatant disregard for peace, and the constant bombardment innocent Ukrainians face every day,&#8221; said U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 
“Hungary stands in full solidarity with Poland following the recent drone incident. The violation of Poland’s territorial integrity is unacceptable,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wrote on X. “The incident proves that our policy of calling for peace in the Russia-Ukraine war is reasonable and rational. Living in the shadow of a war is fraught with risks and dangers. It’s time to make it stop! To this end, we support the efforts of President [Donald Trump] aimed at achieving peace.”
President Donald Trump has pushed for an end to the Ukraine-Russia war, but the fighting between the two countries has continued. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky have not yet met to discuss a possible end to the conflict.

NATO member Poland shoots down Russian drones in unprecedented ‘airspace violation’

Poland Downs ‘Huge Number’ Of Russian Drones Violating Its Sovereign Airspace

Drones

Global Politics

NATO

Poland

Russia

Ukraine-Russia War

Vladimir Putin

Volodymyr Zelensky

World

KYIV (Reuters) &#8211; A Russian airstrike killed more than 20 civilians who were collecting their pensions in a village in eastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday.
He called for pressure by Kyiv&#8217;s allies on Russia, whose forces have pressed a grinding offensive across much of the eastern Donetsk region as diplomatic efforts to end the 3 1/2-year-old war have largely stalled.
Zelensky said the Russian airstrike had hit the village of Yarova, about 15 miles (24 km) from the city of Sloviansk and several kilometres behind the front line.
&#8220;Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed,&#8221; he wrote on X.
The president posted video footage showing bodies strewn across the ground and debris. Another 21 people were wounded, said Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin.
&#8220;The world must not remain silent,&#8221; Zelensky said. &#8220;The world must not remain idle. A response is needed from the United States. A response is needed from Europe. A response is needed from the G20.&#8221;
Russia did not immediately comment on Zelensky&#8217;s remarks. Moscow has denied targeting civilians, but tens of thousands have died since its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukraine&#8217;s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, said the attack was &#8220;yet another confirmation of systemic terror against the civilian population of Ukraine.&#8221;
(Reporting by Yulia Dysa, Writing by Dan Peleschuk, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

FILE PHOTO: France hosts ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting on support to Ukraine

Zelensky: Russian Airstrike On Ukrainian Village Kills More Than 20

Politics

Ukraine Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky&#8217;s chief of staff discussed Russian strikes on Ukrainian targets with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday and told him a government building that came under attack on Sunday was hit by a Russian ballistic missile.
Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak, writing on Telegram, also said he and Rubio discussed U.S. military aid for Ukraine, security guarantees for Ukraine that have been under discussion with Kyiv&#8217;s allies, and increased pressure on Russia.
&#8220;I informed him of the constant Russian strikes that attack our cities, our residential buildings with drones and missiles,&#8221; Yermak wrote.
&#8220;They kill civilians and children, destroy our infrastructure. For the first time, the enemy attacked the Ukrainian Government building &#8211; the strike was carried out by an Iskander ballistic missile.&#8221;
In a separate post, Yermak said he had held a video conference with the national security advisers of Britain, France, Germany, and Italy.
He said the discussion was a continuation of a meeting in Paris last week with Ukrainian allies within the Coalition of the Willing and said &#8220;a further strengthening of Ukraine&#8217;s positions in confronting Russian aggression is necessary.&#8221;
The European Union&#8217;s top sanctions official was in Washington with a team of experts to discuss what would be the first coordinated transatlantic measures against Russia since President Donald Trump returned to office.
On Sunday, after the war&#8217;s biggest air attack set fire to a government building in Kyiv, Trump said he was ready to move to a second phase of restrictions.
(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Chris Reese, Rod Nickel)

View shows Ukrainian government headquarters building damaged during a Russian drone and missile strike in Kyiv

Rubio Meets With Zelensky’s Chief Of Staff To Discuss Recent Russian Strikes

Marco Rubio

Ukraine

Russia launched a sweeping attack on Ukraine which killed one person, injured at least 24 others, and damaged infrastructure and residential buildings, authorities said on Saturday.
Three children were among the 24 wounded in the southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, its Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported impacts on 14 regions by the attack, which used over 500 drones and 45 missiles.
Diplomatic efforts to end Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion have so far yielded little, even after U.S. President Donald Trump met separately with Russian and Ukrainian leaders earlier this month.
On Friday, Zelensky brought up Trump&#8217;s self-imposed deadline for deciding on new measures against Russia if President Vladimir Putin fails to commit to a one-on-one meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
&#8220;Two weeks will be on Monday. And we will remind everybody,&#8221; he said.
Russia has said there is no agenda for a potential summit between Putin and Zelensky.
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&#8220;It is absolutely clear that Moscow used the time meant for preparing a leaders-level meeting to organize new massive attacks,&#8221; Zelensky said on Saturday, calling for sanctions on Russian banking and energy sectors.
The air force recorded five missile and 24 drone hits at 7 locations with debris falling on 21 sites, according to the statement on the Telegram messaging app.
The attack on Zaporizhzhia cut power to 25,000 residents, Fedorov said. The local energy facility said the attack damaged its equipment and that repairs were underway.
As of early Saturday, Ukrainian state-owned railway Ukrzaliznytsia said it had repaired the damage to its infrastructure in the Kyiv region.
(Reporting by Anastasiia MalenkoEditing by Bernadette Baum)

Russia Hits Ukrainian City With Massive Drone And Missile Attack

Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is prepared to impose economic sanctions against Russia if its president, Vladimir Putin, fails to agree to a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.
&#8220;It&#8217;s very, very serious what I have in mind, if I have to do it, but I want to see it end,&#8221; Trump told a reporter who asked if Putin would face consequences. &#8220;We have economic sanctions. I&#8217;m talking about economic because we&#8217;re not going to get into a world war.&#8221;
The president has withheld long-threatened sanctions against Putin in his latest push to end the more than three-year-long war that has so far defied his efforts at mediation.
Trump is seeking one-on-one talks between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin. Though Zelensky has agreed in principle to such talks, Putin has not. The Kremlin has suggested no such meeting is currently on the cards.
&#8220;It will not be a world war, but it will be an economic war,&#8221; Trump said at a White House Cabinet meeting. &#8220;An economic war is going to be bad, and it&#8217;s going to be bad for Russia, and I don&#8217;t want that.&#8221;
He added: &#8220;Zelensky is not exactly innocent, either.&#8221;
Despite slow diplomatic progress, U.S. and European officials have been discussing potential security guarantees that Washington might provide Kyiv after a hypothetical deal is reached, potentially including support by air or intelligence sharing.
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Trump has long suggested using economic tools as leverage against warring nations. He is preparing to slap 25% more in tariffs on India&#8217;s U.S.-bound exports on Wednesday over New Delhi&#8217;s Russian oil buying.
India is one of the biggest consumers of Russian oil.
Trump suggested on Tuesday that he was open to &#8220;using a very strong tariff system that&#8217;s very costly to Russia or Ukraine&#8221; to make peace.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose; Editing by Don Durfee and Nia Williams).

U.S. President Trump And Russian  President Putin Meet On War In Ukraine At U.S. Air Base In Alaska

Trump Still Weighing ‘Very Serious’ Economic Sanctions On Russia

Sanctions

U.S. President Donald Trump renewed a threat to impose sanctions on Russia on Friday if there is no progress toward a peaceful settlement in Ukraine in two weeks, showing frustration at Moscow a week after his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to make a decision as to what we do and it&#8217;s going to be, it&#8217;s going to be a very important decision, and that&#8217;s whether or not it&#8217;s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both, or we do nothing and say it&#8217;s your fight,&#8221; Trump said.
He was unhappy about Russia&#8217;s deadly strike on a factory in Ukraine this week, he said.
&#8220;I&#8217;m not happy about it, and I&#8217;m not happy about anything having to do with that war,&#8221; Trump told reporters at the White House.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, meanwhile, said on Friday that Russia was doing everything it could to prevent a meeting between him and Putin, while Russia&#8217;s foreign minister said the agenda for such a meeting was not ready.
Zelensky has repeatedly called for Putin to meet him, saying it is the only way to negotiate an end to the war.
Trump had said he had begun the arrangements for a Putin-Zelensky meeting after a call with the Russian leader on Monday that followed their Alaska meeting on August 15.
Zelensky accused Russia of stalling.
&#8220;The meeting is one of the components of how to end the war,&#8221; he said on Friday at a press conference in Kyiv with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. &#8220;And since they don&#8217;t want to end it, they will look for space to (avoid it).&#8221;
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told NBC there was no agenda for such a summit.
&#8220;Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,&#8221; he said.
The statement echoed Moscow&#8217;s established rhetoric about a leaders&#8217; meeting being impossible unless certain conditions were met.
Asked for his response to Lavrov&#8217;s comments and what the next steps are, Trump told reporters earlier on Friday: &#8220;Well, we&#8217;ll see. We&#8217;re going to see if Putin and Zelensky will be working together. It&#8217;s like oil and vinegar a little bit.&#8221;
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Trump had taken sanctions off the table in preparation for his summit in Anchorage with Putin. But at the same White House event where he mentioned possible sanctions, he showed a photograph of his meeting with Putin on the red carpet in Alaska, saying Putin wanted to attend the World Cup 2026 soccer tournament in the United States.
&#8220;I&#8217;m going to sign this for him. But I was sent one, and I thought you would like to see it, it&#8217;s a man named Vladimir Putin, who I believe will be coming, depending on what happens. He may be coming, and he may not, depending on what happens,&#8221; Trump said.
Trump&#8217;s comments did not address the fact that Russia was banned from international competitions such as the World Cup after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine and has not taken part in qualification for the 2026 tournament, which will be hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
During a visit to a nuclear research center on Friday, Putin said Trump&#8217;s leadership qualities would help restore U.S.-Russia relations.
&#8220;With the arrival of President Trump, I think that a light at the end of the tunnel has finally loomed. And now we had a very good, meaningful and frank meeting in Alaska,&#8221; Putin said.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Russia launched in 2022. Analysts estimate that more than a million soldiers on both sides have been killed or wounded and fighting is continuing unabated, with both sides also attacking energy facilities.
Russia has maintained its longstanding demand for Ukraine to give up land it still holds in two eastern regions while proposing to freeze the front line in two more southerly regions Moscow claims fully as its own and possibly hand back small pieces of other Ukrainian territory it controls.
Zelensky meanwhile has dropped his demand for a lengthy ceasefire as a prerequisite for a leaders&#8217; meeting, although he has previously said Ukraine cannot negotiate under the barrel of a gun.
At the press conference with Rutte, Zelensky said they had discussed security guarantees for Ukraine. He said the guarantees ought to be similar to NATO&#8217;s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member of the alliance as an attack against all.
Rutte said NATO allies and Ukraine are working together to ensure security guarantees are strong enough that Russia will never try to attack again.
&#8220;Robust security guarantees will be essential, and this is what we are now working on to define,&#8221; he said.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Sabine Siebold, Steve Holland, Andrea Shalal and Jonathan Spicer; Writing by Max Hunder and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Philippa Fletcher, Rosalba O&#8217;Brien and Daniel Wallis)

With No Ukraine Peace Deal, Trump Again Threatens Russia Sanctions

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Ukraine should have been allowed to conduct more offensive strikes against Russia early on in the war, arguing that former President Joe Biden didn&#8217;t let the country &#8220;FIGHT BACK.&#8221;
Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115067017601499775">posted</a> on Truth Social that a nation must fight both offensively and defensively to have any &#8220;chance of winning.&#8221; The president&#8217;s comments come as he continues to push Russia and Ukraine toward a peace deal, while Russian President Vladimir Putin doubles down on his drone and missile attacks targeting Ukrainian cities.
&#8220;It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders [sic] country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning!&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;It is like that with Ukraine and Russia. Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out? Regardless, this is a war that would have NEVER happened if I were President &#8211; ZERO CHANCE. Interesting times ahead!!!&#8221;
When the United States first began sending weapons to Ukraine at the beginning of the war, the Biden administration held back on giving Kyiv any long-range missiles that could strike Russia within its borders. Last November, however, Biden <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/biden-approves-ukraines-use-of-long-range-missiles-inside-russia-003154be?mod=article_inline">approved</a> of Ukraine firing long-range U.S.-made missiles inside Russia.
When Biden authorized Ukraine&#8217;s use of long-range missiles to target Russia, then-president-elect Trump called the move &#8220;stupid,&#8221; according to The Wall Street Journal.
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“I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We’re just escalating this war and making it worse,” he said.
The president&#8217;s comments on Thursday could be a negotiating tactic to keep pressure on Putin as the Russian dictator is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in the coming weeks. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that “the president is making an observation, which happens to be true,&#8221; according to the WSJ.
On Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/moscow-draws-hard-line-over-security-guarantees-for-ukraine-4b1e8428?gaa_at=eafs&amp;gaa_n=ASWzDAj0voDE1VVEYWsO0kxr-PPysLoc2J7XGdZ6ZXqHWakNyRjtJ7-A3rSiKVcoxgU%3D&amp;gaa_ts=68a77756&amp;gaa_sig=Z5E9i-Wzt5X0yX8iKE96lJUVBMuzpyNWHaiTGIxTqD87Z3fWXkx4z6pjzOyKIY3TNmJ8G_ye6MRwdtjRb6kHOg%3D%3D">raised</a> some doubts over whether a Putin-Zelensky summit would happen. The Kremlin also said that it would have veto power over any security guarantees for Ukraine after Trump and other European leaders vowed on Monday to provide security for Kyiv if a peace deal is reached. Lavrov added that China should be involved in the discussions on security guarantees.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-witkoff-ukraine-russia-putin-war-048aa829a69b4020ca368577bfe18aee">said</a> that during Trump&#8217;s summit with Putin last week, the Russian dictator agreed to U.S. and European security guarantees for Ukraine, adding that it “was the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that.&#8221;

‘Biden Would Not Let Ukraine FIGHT BACK’: Trump Says Kyiv Should’ve Launched More Attacks On Russia

KYIV (Reuters) -Russia targeted a U.S.-founded electronics manufacturer near Ukraine&#8217;s border with the European Union in a major air attack on Thursday as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy sought U.S. support to bring Russian leader Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.
The overnight attack, which included 574 drones and 40 missiles, was one of the largest of Russia&#8217;s full-scale invasion of its neighbour, now in its fourth year.
One person was killed and 22 were wounded, most of them in the attack that damaged storage facilities at the electronics manufacturer in Ukraine&#8217;s far-Western Zakarpattia region, authorities said.
&#8220;It was a regular civilian business, supported by American investment, producing everyday items like coffee machines. And yet, it was also a target for the Russians,&#8221; Zelenskiy wrote on X.
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&#8220;This is very telling.&#8221;
Mukachevo mayor Andriy Baloha said the damaged enterprise belonged to the U.S.-listed company Flex Ltd. The corporate headquarters of the company, a global technology, supply chain and advanced manufacturing solutions partner, is in Austin, Texas and its registered office is in Singapore.
The company employed thousands of the area&#8217;s residents, Baloha said. Flex, which grew from a family firm founded in Silicon Valley in 1969, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Ukraine&#8217;s western city of Lviv, the attack killed one person, wounded three others and damaged 26 homes, said Governor Maksym Kozytskyi. Authorities in southeastern Ukraine&#8217;s Dnipropetrovsk region also reported damage to businesses, homes and gas lines. Two industry sources told Reuters a key gas pumping facility had been attacked, without giving a location.
Russia said Putin had repeatedly said he was ready to meet Zelenskiy but that Ukraine was trying to undermine Trump&#8217;s efforts to resolve the conflict and its leader was illegitimate.
The defence ministry in Moscow said it had struck Ukrainian energy and airfield infrastructure as well as military industrial facilities overnight, and captured another frontline village &#8211; Oleksandro-Shultyne, Russian news agency RIA reported. Ukraine said it had hit a Russian oil refinery, a drone warehouse and a fuel base.
Reuters could not independently verify the battlefield reports.
SECURITY TALKS
U.S. President Donald Trump met both Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin over the past week in pursuit of a diplomatic end to the fighting but has acknowledged that his Russian counterpart may not want to make a deal. Zelenskiy urged Trump to react firmly if that was the case.
&#8220;We are ready. But what if the Russians are not ready?&#8221; he said in comments released on Thursday. &#8220;If the Russians are not ready, we would like to see a strong reaction from the United States.&#8221;
U.S. and European military planners have begun exploring post-conflict security guarantees for Ukraine, according to U.S. officials and sources, but the path to peace remained uncertain.
A defence ministry source in Turkey, which has opposed sanctions on Russia while also giving military help to Ukraine and joining a &#8220;Coalition of the Willing&#8221; to help it with post-conflict security, said peace was still far off.
&#8220;It is necessary to first secure a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, then determine the framework of a mission with a clear mandate, and clarify the extent to which each country will contribute,&#8221; the Turkish source said on condition of anonymity.
The Kremlin said Putin had discussed Ukraine with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday, when Moscow also said attempts to resolve security issues without Russian involvement were a &#8220;road to nowhere&#8221;.
On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow was ready for an honest talk about security guarantees for Ukraine and accused Ukraine&#8217;s European backers of &#8216;adventurism&#8217; by excluding Moscow from their discussions.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, has used missiles and drones to strike Ukrainian towns and cities far from the front lines throughout the war.
Thousands of civilians, the vast majority of them Ukrainian, have been killed since Moscow&#8217;s full-scale invasion of February 2022. More than a million Russian and Ukrainian soldiers are estimated to have been killed or wounded.
(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko; Writing by Dan Peleschuk; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Tomasz Janowski, Philippa Fletcher)
&nbsp;

Russian drone and missile strike in Lviv

Russia Slams Ukraine In Massive Strikes, Blames Kyiv For Blocking Peace Talks

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, NATO scrambled two German warplanes after Russia launched missiles and drones at a Ukrainian city near the border with Romania, a NATO member.
The Russian missiles and drones targeted an area less than a mile from Romania&#8217;s border, Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/nato-scrambles-warplanes-russia-hits-near-romanian-border-ukraine">reported</a>. The Romanian government said that two German Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft were flown out &#8220;to monitor the air situation&#8221; as part of NATO&#8217;s Enhanced Air Policing. No Russian missiles or drones crossed over into NATO territory.
Russia also targeted Ukraine&#8217;s northern Sumy region on Tuesday night in an attack that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said wounded 14 people.
&#8220;A family with wounded children – 5 months, 4 years, and 6 years old – sought assistance after the attack. In Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, a glide bomb strike damaged five apartment buildings, and at least three people still remain under the rubble,&#8221; Zelensky posted on X early Wednesday morning. &#8220;The rescue operation continues. There was also a treacherous strike on a gas distribution station in the Odesa region. Shelling also targeted the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Poltava regions. In total, more than 60 drones and a ballistic missile were used.&#8221;
Zelensky added that Russia&#8217;s attacks &#8220;only confirm the need to put pressure on Moscow, the need to impose new sanctions and tariffs until diplomacy is fully effective.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Last night, a drone strike on Okhtyrka in the Sumy region injured 14 people. A family with wounded children – 5 months, 4 years, and 6 years old – sought assistance after the attack. In Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, a glide bomb strike damaged five apartment buildings, and at… <a href="https://t.co/TWRPo4Po6F">pic.twitter.com/TWRPo4Po6F</a>
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1958080483100700983?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 20, 2025</a></blockquote>
&nbsp;
The attack is just the latest in a major Russian offensive that has taken place as President Donald Trump attempts to get Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to work out a peace deal. Earlier this week, Russia launched its largest attack of the month shortly after Zelensky and other European leaders met with Trump at the White House to discuss a potential path to peace with Russia. On Monday night and into Tuesday morning, Moscow fired 270 drones and 10 missiles at Ukraine, with at least 40 drones and four missiles striking in Ukraine&#8217;s central Poltava region, ABC News <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/russia-launches-largest-attack-august-ukraine-after-trump/story?id=124768391">reported</a>.
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Despite Putin&#8217;s continued aggression, President Trump still believes Russia and Ukraine can reach a peace agreement and end the bloodshed. Trump set up a one-on-one meeting for Putin and Zelensky, scheduled to take place in the next two weeks. The president also said he would be willing to step in for a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky if the Ukrainian leader wants him to.
Following his meeting with Putin last week, Trump said he wanted more than a &#8220;mere Ceasefire Agreement&#8221; between Russia and Ukraine, <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115037569702889410">writing</a> on Truth Social that &#8220;it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.&#8221;
Trump vowed to provide security guarantees for Ukraine if Kyiv reaches a deal with Moscow, but he promised that U.S. troops would not be on the ground in the country. The president also left the door open to the United States providing air support for Ukraine if a peace agreement is reached.

Tactical Leadership Programme Albacete

Russian Attack Hits Close To NATO Ally, Warplanes Scrambled

WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt tore into the White House press corps on Tuesday afternoon, accusing the media of &#8220;negative and downright false coverage&#8221; of President Donald Trump and his efforts to bring peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Leavitt spoke from the James S. Brady Briefing Room podium, where she argued that &#8220;much of the left-wing media has been actively rooting against the president of the United States in the pursuit of peace&#8221; from the very beginning of Trump&#8217;s peace-making efforts.
&#8220;Initially, the media ridiculously claimed that President Trump was somehow beholden to Russia for even agreeing to have a face-to-face discussion with President Putin inside of the United States,&#8221; Leavitt argued. &#8220;The media said President Trump was making a grave mistake by, quote, &#8216;legitimizing&#8217; Putin.  They were aghast that President Trump would treat another world leader like a world leader.&#8221;
The White House press secretary accused the press of &#8220;relentlessly&#8221; attacking the president and claiming that he suffered a &#8220;major defeat&#8221; for not leaving that initial meeting with Vladimir Putin with a final agreement — &#8220;even though he said, heading into that meeting, this was a meeting to listen and to understand how to move the ball forward,&#8221; Leavitt argued.
<div id="attachment_962629" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karoline-leavitt-blasts-white-house-press-for-actively-rooting-against-trumps-peace-efforts/us-politics-briefing-leavitt-6" rel="attachment wp-att-962629"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-962629" class="wp-image-962629 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-864x576.jpg" alt="" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2230300432.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" /></a>White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 19, 2025. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)</div>
Leavitt pointed to the pundits, hosts, reporters, and &#8220;so-called experts in the foreign policy establishment&#8221; who suggested over the weekend that the U.S.-Russia bilateral talks had been a failure, though President Trump &#8220;has solved seven global conflicts in seven months&#8221; and &#8220;brokered the Abraham Accords in his first term, on top of more than half a dozen other peace deals this year alone.&#8221;
And she reminded the press that the president of Ukraine and all the major leaders of Europe flew across the Atlantic to meet with Trump at the White House because of the progress that was made in that meeting with Putin.
&#8220;It was highly productive,&#8221; Leavitt said of the Trump and Putin meeting, &#8220;and it was successful.&#8221;
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&#8220;This is why Americans&#8217; trust in the mass media is at a lowest point in more than five decades,&#8221; she said from the podium. &#8220;Diplomacy is a delicate process, and instead of reporting the facts about what is happening here at this White House and what is happening between this president and other leaders around the world, many outlets in this room continue to try to actively undermine the president and sabotage the efforts toward peace.  That is why I felt the need to set the record straight.&#8221;
Leavitt&#8217;s remarks caused a stir not only in the briefing room, but among other members of the president&#8217;s administration. Vice President JD Vance was watching Leavitt&#8217;s briefing and posted approvingly on X in real time: &#8220;Karoline Leavitt lighting the American media up for lying about our negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Karoline Leavitt lighting the American media up for lying about our negotiations with Russia and Ukraine.
— JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1957855752447496341?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
The White House press secretary was following up on a promise she had made during her very first briefing in January: to hold the press accountable.
&#8220;While I vow to provide the truth from this podium, we ask that all of you in this room hold yourselves to that same standard,&#8221; she told the assembled press in late January. &#8220;We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that.&#8221;
&#8220;We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House,&#8221; she warned. &#8220;So, yes, I will hold myself to the truth, and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.&#8221;
<div id="attachment_962635" style="width: 876px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/karoline-leavitt-blasts-white-house-press-for-actively-rooting-against-trumps-peace-efforts/white-house-press-briefing-10" rel="attachment wp-att-962635"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-962635" class="wp-image-962635 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-866x576.jpg" alt="" width="866" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-866x576.jpg 866w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513-768x511.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/08/GettyImages-2195915513.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 866px) 100vw, 866px" /></a>Press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds her first official news briefing at the White House on Tuesday, January 28, 2025. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)</div>
Leavitt has certainly held true to her promise, singling out reporters when she considers their questions unfair or duplicitous. On Tuesday, for example, a New York Times reporter questioned Leavitt: &#8220;If the point is to get everybody on the same page, why wouldn&#8217;t Trump just take the call from Putin while the other leaders were in the room. He said it would be disrespectful to do that, but why is that disrespectful?&#8221;
The reporter was referring to Trump&#8217;s move to leave the room to take a private call from President Putin on Monday amid negotiations with European leaders.
&#8220;With all due respect,&#8221; responded Leavitt with a smile, &#8220;only a reporter from the New York Times would ask a question like that.&#8221;
A White House official reminded The Daily Wire that the president himself repeatedly called out the media and similar naysayers on Truth Social only a few days ago, reminding his critics: &#8220;Despite all of my lightweight and very jealous critics, I’ll get it done — I always do!!!&#8221;
&#8220;The president set the tone in his Truth Social posts over the past few days — we are not going to allow the left-wing legacy media to derail the progress made in this historic peace process,&#8221; the White House official told The Daily Wire. &#8220;President Trump has broken a three and a half year deadlock and the media wants you to believe that’s somehow actually a failure. Karoline, following the president’s lead, is cutting through their dishonest narrative and taking the truth directly to the American people.&#8221;
And Leavitt chimed in further at the end of the day on Tuesday.
&#8220;From the beginning of this process, much of the left-wing media has been actively rooting against the President of the United States in his pursuit of peace,&#8221; she argued. &#8220;President Trump finally broke the deadlock between Russia and Ukraine and created a real opportunity for a lasting peace for the first time in 3.5 years of brutal war.&#8221;
&#8220;But instead of accurately reporting the facts, dishonest outlets are actively trying to sabotage these peace efforts,&#8221; she concluded, reiterating her statement during the briefing: &#8220;This is why Americans’ trust in the mass media is at its lowest point in more than five decades.&#8221;

US-POLITICS-BRIEFING-LEAVITT

Karoline Leavitt Blasts White House Press For ‘Actively Rooting’ Against Trump’s Peace Efforts

Karoline Leavitt

White House

President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-u-s-boots-on-the-ground-in-ukraine-trump-pledges?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=No+U.S.+Boots+On+The+Ground+In+Ukraine%2C+Trump+Pledges">vowed</a> not to place U.S. troops on the ground in Ukraine on Tuesday, but he didn’t rule out providing air support for the country as he pushes for a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow.
Trump told the hosts of “Fox &amp; Friends” Tuesday morning that European countries “are willing to put people on the ground” in Ukraine, and that the United States could potentially provide air support.
“We’re willing to help them with things, especially, probably, if you talk about by air because nobody has stuff we have,” Trump said.
The president added that he doesn’t believe the United States or its European allies would have to step in to push back against further Russian aggression if a peace deal is reached.
“I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. I think if a deal is made — you know, famous last words, right? — but I think if a deal is made, I think Russia’s had it, they’ve all had it. And for a very extended period of time, I don’t think there will be a problem,” Trump said. “But there will be some form of security. It can’t be NATO because that’s just not something that would ever, ever happen.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Trump tells <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@foxandfriends</a> that the U.S. may give Ukraine air support as part of the peace deal.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a different kind of a thing for them&#8230;when it comes to security, they are willing to put people on the ground, we &#8216;re willing to help them with things, especially, probably,… <a href="https://t.co/7CxucrpMMy">pic.twitter.com/7CxucrpMMy</a>
— Reagan Reese (@reaganreese_) <a href="https://twitter.com/reaganreese_/status/1957796884694671719?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote>
&nbsp;
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt added later on Tuesday that air support for Ukraine remains “an option and a possibility.”
“The president understands that security guarantees are crucially important to ensure a lasting peace,” Leavitt said.
Trump told “Fox &amp; Friends” that the American people have his “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/no-u-s-boots-on-the-ground-in-ukraine-trump-pledges?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=No+U.S.+Boots+On+The+Ground+In+Ukraine%2C+Trump+Pledges">assurance</a>” that no American boots would be on the ground in Ukraine under any security guarantees.
“You have my assurance — and I’m president. I’m just trying to stop people from being killed,” Trump said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would likely only accept the terms of a peace deal with Russia if Kyiv receives security guarantees from the United States and Europe, such as peacekeepers on the ground in Ukraine. Russia, however, has repeatedly shot down the idea of troops from any NATO countries being deployed to Ukraine. The Kremlin said on Monday, “We reiterate our longstanding position of unequivocally rejecting any scenarios involving the deployment of NATO military contingents in Ukraine, as this risks uncontrollable escalation with unpredictable consequences.”
In February, Trump said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was open to European troops being sent to Ukraine to ensure peace if a deal is made with Ukraine, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/08/19/us/trump-zelensky-ukraine-russia/western-forces-nato-peacekeepers-trump?smid=url-share">reported</a>.
“He will accept that,” Trump said. “I specifically asked him that question. He has no problem with it.”

National-Independence-Day-Celebration-July-4-2025

Trump ‘Willing’ To Back Ukraine With American Air Power

As the media and Democrats fulminate over President Trump&#8217;s supposed capitulation to Vladimir Putin, precisely the opposite seems to be happening.
But leave it to the media and the Left to deliberately misinterpret what is going on.
On Monday, President Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/with-historic-zelensky-visit-donald-trump-moves-the-world-one-step-closer-to-peace?author=Mary+Margaret+Olohan&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=14&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=With+Historic+Zelensky+Visit%2C+Donald+Trump+Moves+The+World+One+Step+Closer+To+Peace">met with</a> Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, along with a bunch of European leaders.
Everything seems to be moving toward Ukrainian territorial concessions in return for serious security guarantees for Ukraine.
Those guarantees would presumably be some form of European trigger force in Ukraine that would implicate a mutual defense pact. It wouldn&#8217;t exactly be NATO, but it would be NATO-lite. The problem is that to be a credible deterrent, you need tens of thousands of troops.
The second possibility is a trip-wire force that would trigger the possibility of the mutual defense coming into effect if Russia were to walk across the border.
A third possibility would be a kind of observer force, perhaps a few hundred troops or so, to report on incoming military action, which could be accomplished with satellites and ground cameras.
Of course, all of this flies in the face of the fact that Russia wants to leave Ukraine utterly defenseless and prostrate before them.
But here’s the thing: The fact that President Trump is willing to hold Russia&#8217;s feet to the fire by even talking about these kinds of significant security guarantees is a major move from the president, and pretending that it&#8217;s a pro-Russia move is silly. If there were a significant security guarantee, a sort of NATO-lite and Article Five-lite approach to Ukraine in exchange for territorial concessions in Donbas, that would be a masterstroke from the president of the United States, because otherwise this war just keeps going.
All of Trump’s forward movement on this issue is to the great consternation of both the media and the Democrats, who claim that Donald Trump was a Putin catspaw. They thought that Trump was going to welcome Zelensky to the White House yesterday by berating him and telling him he needed to basically surrender in the war: No security guarantees, no economic health, no nothing.
None of that happened. In fact, it was pretty warm. You could see Trump and Zelensky getting along. This was not an antagonistic meeting.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2262-the-ben-shapiro-show?elementPosition=2&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
One of the things that Zelensky also said is that as part of any of the security guarantees put forward by Europe and the United States, Ukraine would buy $90 billion in American weapons via Europe. The rest of the NATO nations and the United States military would benefit from it. The defense industries in the United States would end up benefiting from that. He expressed gratitude to both President Trump as well as the EU leaders for their hard work on the possibility of a peace deal.
There are still a lot of steps to go. We still have to see whether Vladimir Putin actually is interested in ending the war in any serious way.
As I’ve said before, a good thing about President Trump is that he&#8217;s heterodox in his views, which means he does very creative things. But if things don&#8217;t happen, he will respond. He&#8217;s responsive. He doesn&#8217;t just stick with an idea, no matter what.
The idea that endless diplomacy is something that President Trump is going to pursue here is not true. If Russia does not come to the table, if he feels that Putin is jacking him around again, he&#8217;ll walk away. He is not going to be bullied by Vladimir Putin here.
Trump remains optimistic, saying that he thinks that Putin wants to make a deal.
For the media and the Left to pretend that somehow Trump is doing Putin&#8217;s work here is to ignore everything that&#8217;s actually going on in favor of a pre-established narrative.
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Even Michael McFaul, who was President Obama&#8217;s Russian ambassador, <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5459351-mcfaul-praises-trump-peace-efforts/">admitted</a> that Trump is actually doing a pretty good job here. “I think this was a very positive meeting,” he said. “And whoever had the idea to bring all these European leaders together, in addition to President Zelensky, that was a brilliant, brilliant idea. And having it come so quickly after Alaska was also very important because now they&#8217;ve changed the talking points here. Just in this meeting alone, they&#8217;ve walked back some of the positions that the president was echoing, when he met with President Putin. So this is very positive progress.”
If you&#8217;re honest —even if you&#8217;re a Democrat — you should be acknowledging that President Trump not only is not doing anything wrong here, he&#8217;s actually moving the ball forward.
To pretend that this was somehow a gigantic Trump capitulation to Putin is to ignore the actual reality of the situation, and it demonstrates the wild disconnect between reality and what Democrats think of President Trump.
But then, Democrats and reality are like oil and water.

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