Zelenskiy to Visit US, Trump Speaks with European Leaders after Putin Summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
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Zelenskiy to Visit US, Trump Speaks with European Leaders after Putin Summit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attends a press conference in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025. REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen

Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he will visit Washington on Monday to meet Donald Trump, who spoke at length with the Ukrainian president and with NATO and European leaders after the US president's summit in Alaska with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

The highly anticipated Trump-Putin summit yielded no agreement to resolve or pause Russia's war in Ukraine, although both leaders described the talks as productive before heading home.

Trump held the calls with Zelenskiy and US allies on his way back to Washington, where he landed in the early hours of Saturday morning, the White House said. Zelenskiy described the over 90-minute call with Trump as "long and substantive."

Zelenskiy said Ukraine supported Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the US and Russia. He also said he discussed with Trump the "positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security."

"Ukraine emphasizes that key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this. On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, D.C., to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war," Zelenskiy said on X.

Axios reporter Barak Ravid said, citing a source, that Trump told Zelenskiy and European leaders during the phone call that Putin was not interested in a ceasefire but in a comprehensive agreement to end the war.

"I think a fast peace deal is better than a ceasefire," Trump said in the call, according to Ravid, who cited a source on the call without identifying that person.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, French President Emmanuel Macron and leaders from Germany, Finland, Poland, Italy and Britain joined the call in which Trump briefed allies about the summit with Putin.



Trump Says Iran 'Better Get Serious' in Mideast War Talks

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
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Trump Says Iran 'Better Get Serious' in Mideast War Talks

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP
US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual fundraising dinner at Union Station on March 25, 2026 in Washington, DC. President Trump was this year's keynote speaker at the dinner. AFP

US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday to engage in talks to end the Middle East war "before it is too late", after Tehran publicly spurned US overtures to resolve the nearly four-week conflict.

Trump's warning came as Israel said it had killed the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' navy, calling him "directly responsible" for throttling the Strait of Hormuz since the war's outbreak.

Hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Israeli war with Iran, which has engulfed much of the region, rose after Washington was said to have put a peace plan to Tehran, only for the Islamic republic to deny the sides were speaking, AFP reported.

But Pakistan confirmed Thursday it was indeed facilitating "US-Iran indirect talks" by relaying messages -- and that a 15-point American plan was being "deliberated upon" by Tehran.

"They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won't be pretty!" Trump warned on social media, saying Iran had been "militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback".

Iran's foreign minister flatly denied Wednesday that "negotiations" had been engaged with Trump's administration -- but did concede messages were being exchanged through "friendly countries".

"We seek an end to the war on our own terms," Abbas Araghchi said on state TV.

Islamabad has been touted as a go-between, given its longstanding ties with both neighbouring Iran and the United States, as well as its network of regional contacts.

 

 


Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
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Russia Says It Hopes for New Round of Ukraine Talks with US as Soon as Conditions Allow

FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov looks on as Russia's President Vladimir Putin (not pictured) and Togo's President of the Council of Ministers Faure Gnassingbe (not pictured) meet at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia November 19, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo

Russia is in contact with the United States about a new round of talks on a Ukraine peace settlement as soon as conditions allow, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

"We remain open, we are in contact with the Americans, and we are counting on holding the next round of talks as soon ‌as circumstances permit," ‌Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Peskov rejected ‌the ⁠thesis of a ⁠New York Times opinion piece that said the Iran war had caused President Vladimir Putin to lose interest in negotiating an end to the Ukraine conflict, Reuters reported.

"This is an absolutely false invention that does not correspond to reality. During the rounds of trilateral talks that ⁠have taken place, some progress was made ‌toward a settlement," Peskov told ‌reporters.

Peskov said Russia had not lost interest in peace ‌talks but added that key issues - including territory - had ‌yet to be settled.

The NYT opinion piece, by Russian journalist Mikhail Zygar, said Russia's economy had been faltering earlier this year, prompting Putin at that point to take negotiations on ‌a Ukraine settlement more seriously.

However, Zygar said the Iran war had reversed those dynamics by ⁠boosting ⁠oil prices, easing the economic pressure on Moscow and reducing the US focus on Ukraine, weakening any incentive for the Kremlin to seek a settlement.

Earlier this week, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the US had briefed Russia about Washington's latest round of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Florida, which took place last Saturday.

The last three-way peace talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US took place last month, before the Trump administration and Israel began airstrikes against Iran on February 28.


Pentagon Reportedly Weighs Diverting Ukraine Military Aid to the Middle East

FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
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Pentagon Reportedly Weighs Diverting Ukraine Military Aid to the Middle East

FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
FILE - The Pentagon and the surrounding area is seen in this aerial view in Washington, Jan. 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The Pentagon is weighing whether to redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East, as the war in Iran strains supplies of some of the US military's most critical munitions, the Washington Post reported Thursday, citing three people familiar with the matter.

The weapons that could be redirected include air defense interceptor missiles purchased through a NATO initiative launched last year, under which ⁠partner countries buy ⁠US arms for Kyiv, the report said.

The consideration comes as US operations in the region intensify. Admiral Brad Cooper, the Central Command chief leading US forces in the Middle East, on Wednesday said the US had hit ⁠over 10,000 targets inside Iran and was on track to limit Iran's ability to project power outside its borders.

A Pentagon spokesperson told the newspaper that the Defense Department would "ensure that US forces and those of our allies and partners have what they need to fight and win."

In response to a query about the report, a NATO official said members of ⁠the ⁠alliance and its partners continue to contribute to its Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List (PURL) program that funds the supply of US arms for Kyiv.

"Equipment is continuously flowing into Ukraine," the official added. "The amount pledged to PURL so far is of several billion US dollars and we expect more contributions to follow."

The Pentagon and the US State Department did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment.