Zelenskyy urges Monday deadline for Russia to agree to bilateral meeting on ending war
We are getting some news lines from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, via Reuters.
He is quoted as saying that Ukraine and its allies have agreed to wait until 1 September for Russia to show genuine willingness and readiness to take part in a bilateral meting on ending the invasion of Ukraine.
But he said that he expected a response from partners if Russia fails to move by this deadline.
Zelenskyy also argued in favour of moving talks on security guarantees to a more senior level of national leaders.
I will bring you full quotes when we get them.
Key events
Zelenskyy says security guarantees discussion needs leaders’ involvement, parliamentary ratification
During a meeting with reporters, Zelenskyy said that discussions by Kyiv’s partners on security guarantees for Ukraine should be “urgently” elevated to a leaders’ level, and that US president Donald Trump should take part, Reuters reported.
He said he expected to continue discussions with European leaders next week on what he described as Nato-like commitments.
“We need the architecture to be clear to everyone,” he said. “Then we want to connect with President Trump during a meeting… and tell him how we see it.“
Zelenskiy added that he would also like to see allies ratify any security guarantees through their respective parliaments.
“We want legally binding security guarantees. We don’t want (another) Budapest Memorandum,” he said, referring to a 1994 deal in which Ukraine gave up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances.
Zelenskyy urges Monday deadline for Russia to agree to bilateral meeting on ending war
We are getting some news lines from Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, via Reuters.
He is quoted as saying that Ukraine and its allies have agreed to wait until 1 September for Russia to show genuine willingness and readiness to take part in a bilateral meting on ending the invasion of Ukraine.
But he said that he expected a response from partners if Russia fails to move by this deadline.
Zelenskyy also argued in favour of moving talks on security guarantees to a more senior level of national leaders.
I will bring you full quotes when we get them.
Europe needs to recognise need to work on readiness to respond to crises, EU’s von der Leyen says, as she warns against ‘predator’ Putin
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is in Latvia today, and has been speaking to the media in the last few minutes.
Speaking alongside Latvia’s prime minister Evika Siliņa, she praised the country’s work on becoming “a true drone and anti drone powerhouse” in Europe, contributing to Nato’s security in the region bordering with Russia.
We know that Europe is only safe if the eastern border is safe.
She added:
“The risks your country and the other Baltic States warned us about, unfortunately, have materialised.
Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is now in its fourth year, Putin is a predator, Putin’s proxies have been targeting our societies for years with hybrid attacks, with cyber-attacks, [and] the weaponising of migrants is another example.”
Von der Leyen also revealed that the EU has reached “full subscription” of the EU’s €150bn SAFE mechanism for joint procurement as part of its broader effort to step up defence production.
The commission president, and former German defence minister under Angela Merkel, stressed that “the whole of the European Union needs to understand that it is important to work on readiness, immediate readiness” to respond to growing risks and threats.
She spoke that this included the importance of financial flexibility for EU member states “to invest in their own defence,” and the need to look into more joint procurement across Europe.
Von der Leyen also said that “in parallel” the EU needed to work on strengthening the Ukrainian armed forces to turn them into “like a steel porcupine, undigestible for potential invaders.”
Turkish foreign minister claims Russia scales back its territorial demands in Ukraine
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said that it was his understanding that Russia would be willing to freeze the conflict in the south of Ukraine along current front lines if it is given all of the Donbas region.
In comments reported by the AFP, Hakan argued that Russia has moved on from its original demands.
“There is currently a preliminary (agreement) regarding the return of 25-30 percent of Donetsk and maintaining the contact line in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson,” Fidan said in an interview with TGRT Haber on Thursday.
It was not clear who that agreement was between, AFP noted.
Asked about Fidan’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow was “deliberately not disclosing all the details of the conversation between the two presidents in Alaska” as doing so would hinder the peace process.
The Ukrainian military said it had carried out an overnight strike on a facility in Russia’s Bryansk region responsible for pumping diesel fuel for Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, Reuters reported.
In a statement, Kyiv’s General Staff said the station in the village of Naitopovichi has a pumping capacity of around 10.5m tonnes per year, and that the strike had caused a fire.
Sweden summons Russian ambassador over Ukraine attacks
After the EU and the UK, Sweden has now also summoned the Russian ambassador to “protest against Russia’s continued attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians.”
Sweden wanted to “emphasise Russia’s obligation to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure in accordance with international humanitarian law,” a statement on the foreign ministry’s website said.
Russia appears to reject security guarantees for Europe, warning of risk of conflict
Meanwhile, Russia has appeared to reject the European proposals on security guarantees for Ukraine, claiming they would increase the risk of a military conflict and turn Ukraine into a “strategic provocateur” on Russia’s border, Reuters reported.
Russian missiles will not stop our support for Ukraine as the British Council’s vital work goes on – comment
Scott McDonald
Chief executive of the British Council
On Wednesday night, our office in Kyiv was damaged in a Russian missile attack. It was a stark reminder of the risks that an organisation such as ours faces in conflict-affected areas. I was relieved to hear that all colleagues were safe and accounted for. One colleague was injured and admitted to hospital but thankfully he is in a stable condition.
Working under such conditions around the world is challenging, and yet, time and again, our colleagues and partners demonstrate courage and commitment in carrying on despite the dangers. Their resilience is extraordinary. We are working to find ways to minimise disruption and continuing to support our team there. …
My colleagues work in the most complex and often dangerous places, whether in Myanmar, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian territories, Venezuela or Bangladesh. And they don’t give up when the going gets tough.
If we are absolutely forced to withdraw from a region, we return as soon as possible. This means that our history has not been without tragedy. In 1971, guards were killed protecting our office in Dhaka during Bangladesh’s liberation war. More lives were lost during the Taliban attack on our office in Kabul in 2011. There have been shootings, arrests and detentions. We will always be grateful to the people who have stood with us against those who will go to the most violent ends to disrupt our work.
Over the past 90 years there have been periods of friction, war and conflict and some of relative peace. I fear the years ahead hold significant challenge. But that is when the British Council needs to deliver more than ever.
This war has damaged Ukraine’s infrastructure, putting the right to education of millions of young people at stake. The British government recently committed to a 100-year partnership with Ukraine, signifying the breadth and depth of relationships between our countries. The work of the British Council is more important than ever – it will continue throughout the war, office or no office.
Kyiv residents fatalistic but defiant as city again comes under mass air attack
Dan Sabbagh
in Kyiv
Photographs by Julia Kochetova
At a five-storey residential apartment block in the Darnytskyi area in the east of the city, residents said they had heard Russian bombing in the distance. It was a familiar sound, and many had gathered away from the windows in central corridors that extended along the block, only for disaster to strike.
“We didn’t understand what had happened,” said Oleksandr Yastremskyi, who had taken refuge in a corridor with his wife, Tetiana, and their son Denys. “It’s like something had landed into our house. And then we heard people screaming.” A hundred metres away, the other end of their building collapsed, sending, according to Tetiana, “a big wave of dust and smoke” in their direction.
Ivan Zhelezko, a serving soldier, looked across at his bombed second-floor flat, its balcony hanging at an unsustainable angle. Around him in bags were a handful of possessions he had managed to take with him from the apartment where he lived with his family for 20 years.
Zhelezko said he was too stunned to be angry, describing himself as confused. Among those who died, he said, were his friend’s sister and the parents of a childhood friend.
The soldier explained that his family escaped because they left immediately after the first explosion, and he tried to insist the tragedy was “nothing new for me”. Such fatalism was hard to believe, though he added: “I’m just happy my family is alive.”
Those who moved fast or were simply at the other end of the building may have been able to escape unhurt but, such was the ferocity of the blasts, taking down all five storeys, they could only have been caused by a cruise or ballistic missile attack, giving those in the path of the rockets no chance.
Ireland’s Harris supports Denmark over alleged US Greenland influence campaign
Given the meeting is held in Copenhagen, as Denmark holds the rotating EU presidency at the moment, some ministers get asked about the recent allegations of US influence operations in relation to Greenland.
Ireland’s Harris declared his full support for Denmark in response, saying:
“Ireland fully supports and stands with the people of Denmark and the Danish government in relation to Greenland.
I think it’s important that every country in the European Union stands with Denmark in relation to this matter.”
‘This cannot be consequence-free zone,’ Ireland’s Harris says after Russian attacks on Kyiv
We are getting first lines from Copenhagen, where EU defence ministers are meeting this morning.
Ireland’s Simon Harris joined the growing chorus of those calling for a stronger reaction, including further sanctions.
He said:
“I’m absolutely appalled by the actions of Russia in terms of the attack on Kyiv and indeed the attack on the European delegation office there. This cannot be a consequence free zone.
I think it’s very important that the entire world speaks with one voice in its absolute condemnation of Russia’s clear breach of the Vienna Convention.
What’s also clear is that while the world is talking about peace, and how do we bring about peace and dialogue and diplomacy to end the war on Ukraine, it’s quite clear that Russia is continuing to engage in the actions of terror, attacking a civilian population, showing no willingness for a ceasefire, and therefore, I think it’s imperative that those of us in the European Union now consider further sanctions.”
Earlier, Estonia’s defence minister Hanno Pevkur argued that the best security guarantee for Ukraine would be membership in Nato.
Lithuanian minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, called for secondary sanctions on Russia and its partners, arguing it would be the most efficient way to stop funding the Russian war machine.
Morning opening: 23 dead in yesterday’s Russian attacks on Kyiv, Zelenskyy says
Jakub Krupa
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that at least 23 people were killed in yesterday’s Russian attacks on Kyiv, including 22 people on a single site in the city’s Darnytskyi district.
More than 50 people were injured, and 8 people are still missing.
On Friday morning, Zelenskyy reiterated his call for Russia to be held accountable for these strikes.
He said:
“When instead of diplomacy Russia chooses ballistics, continues to modernize ‘shaheds’ for killing, and deepens cooperation with actors like North Korea, it means the world must respond accordingly.
Strong sanctions, strong pressure, strong steps are needed so that the murderers do not feel impunity.”
EU defence ministers are meeting in Copenhagen today to discuss what else the bloc could do when it comes to both pressure on Russia to bring it to the negotiating table, and support and security guarantees for Ukraine.
Arriving for the meeting this morning, EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said:
“These attacks show that Putin is just mocking any kind of peace efforts that are made. So what we have to do is increase pressure on Russia.”
Expect that to be a recurring theme in the ministers’ comments throughout the day.
We will also hear from the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, as she is touring member states on the eastern flank, and from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, as they are meeting for a Franco-German summit in Toulon.
I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Friday, 29 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.