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German chancellor has arranged a bid of meetings, opening with European leaders and followed by a telephone with the US president.
Published On 13 Aug 2025
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy volition question to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European leaders and apical United States officials up of a planned acme betwixt US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin aboriginal this week.
Both the German and Ukrainian governments confirmed the sojourn connected Wednesday, which comes arsenic Kyiv and its European allies propulsion to guarantee their voices are heard successful discussions astir ending the war.
Merz has arranged a bid of virtual meetings, opening with European leaders and followed by a telephone with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance astir an hr later.
The time volition reason with a abstracted treatment among leaders of the alleged “coalition of the willing” – an assemblage of Western countries allied with Ukraine.
At a quality briefing connected Wednesday, Merz besides pledged to assistance Ukraine make long-range rocket systems without Western-imposed restrictions connected their usage oregon targets.
Trump to conscionable Putin
Trump has described Friday’s acme with the Russian person arsenic “a feel-out meeting” to gauge whether Putin is superior astir ending the conflict.
But helium has unsettled European allies by suggesting Ukraine volition person to springiness up immoderate Russian-held territory and by floating the thought of onshore swaps, without specifying what Moscow mightiness surrender.
European governments person insisted Ukraine indispensable beryllium portion of immoderate bid negotiations, informing that excluding Kyiv could payment Moscow.
On Monday, Trump declined to perpetrate to pushing for Zelenskyy’s information successful his talks with Putin, saying a gathering betwixt himself, Putin and Zelenskyy could beryllium arranged afterwards.
Zelenskyy claimed helium rejected an connection connected Tuesday that Putin had proposed, wherever Ukraine would retreat from the 30 percent of the Donetsk portion it inactive controls arsenic portion of a ceasefire deal.
Kyiv and European officials fearfulness that immoderate US–Russia statement reached without them could legitimise Moscow’s seizure of Ukrainian territory – including Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson – 4 regions which are partially occupied by Russia.
Fighting continues successful eastbound Ukraine
Meanwhile, warring continues on the beforehand line, with the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reporting 165 clashes with Russian forces implicit the past day, with the heaviest warring successful the Pokrovsk, Novopavlivka and Lyman sectors.
In the Kherson region, Russian forces utilized a drone to onslaught a civilian car connected the Novoraisk–Kostyrka highway, sidesplitting a antheral and a woman, according to determination politician Oleksandr Prokudin connected Telegram.
The Russian Defence Ministry said its aerial defences destroyed 46 Ukrainian drones overnight crossed Russian territory and the Sea of Azov.
Debris from intercepted drones fell connected the extortion of an flat artifact successful the confederate metropolis of Volgograd and successful the yards of 4 residential buildings successful Slavyansk-on-Kuban.
The AFP quality bureau has besides reported that Ukraine is continuing to suffer much ground, with evacuations successful Bilozerske, portion Ukrainian battlefield monitoring radical DeepState reported that Russian forces had precocious successful Nikanorivka, Shcherbynivka and adjacent Petrivka successful the Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian General Staff said its forces were engaged successful “difficult” warring adjacent Pokrovsk successful Donetsk, a cardinal logistical hub for Kyiv’s forces, whose seizure would woody a important stroke to its front-line defences and prospects astatine securing a favourable bid woody with Russia.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
English (US) ·