Here is how things stand on Saturday, August 16:
Fighting
- The Ukrainian military said that it struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region overnight, reporting a fire and explosions at the refinery, which it said produces a range of fuels and is one of the biggest in Russian energy company Rosneft’s system.
- The Ukrainian military also said it struck the port of Olya in Russia’s Astrakhan region, hitting a ship transporting drone parts and ammunition from Iran.
- Russia is preparing to test its new nuclear-capable, nuclear-powered cruise missile and, if successful, plans to use the results to bolster its negotiating position with the West, Ukrainian military intelligence said.
- Ukrainian regional officials said Russia fired a ballistic missile into the Dnipropetrovsk region in eastern Ukraine, killing one person and wounding at least one other, while a drone damaged civilian infrastructure and caused a fire in the Sumy region in the northeast.
- Russian troops also took control of the settlement of Oleksandrohrad in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Moscow’s Ministry of Defence said.
- President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised Russia for continuing to attack Ukraine in advance of the meeting in Alaska between United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. “On the day of the negotiations, they also kill people. And that says a lot,” Zelenskyy said.
Alaska summit
- Trump and Putin held their much-anticipated meeting in the Alaskan city of Anchorage, with the Russian leader receiving the red carpet treatment and a US military flyover as he deplaned.
- Both leaders provided brief statements to reporters after the shorter-than-expected meeting, which failed to achieve its primary goal – a deal bringing an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
- Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Putin said his country is committed to ending the war, but the conflict’s “primary causes” must be eliminated.
- Putin also warned Ukraine and its European allies not to throw a “wrench in the works” and cautioned against attempts to use “backroom dealings to conduct provocations to torpedo the nascent progress”.
- Trump praised the “extremely productive meeting”, in which he said “many points were agreed to”. He conceded, however, that there remain sticking points with Moscow, including at least one “significant” one.
- Trump said he would call NATO officials and President Zelenskyy to discuss the meeting, and cautioned that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal”.
- As Trump thanked Putin for his time, he said he hoped they would meet again soon. Putin quickly responded by saying, in English with a laugh, “Next time, in Moscow” – a proposal which Trump appeared reticent to accept.
- Speaking to Fox News later, Trump said Zelenskyy and Putin intend to set up another meeting to try to reach a ceasefire. He also emphasised that it is up to the Ukrainian leader to “get it done”.
- New consultations aimed at resolving points of tension in bilateral relations between Russia and the US will take place soon, said Russia’s ambassador to the US, Alexander Darchiev, according to the RIA Novosti state news agency.
International aid
- USAID is concerned that the Trump administration’s cancellation of independent aid monitoring contracts for Ukraine has increased the risk of waste, fraud and abuse, according to the Department of State, Pentagon and USAID inspectors general in a new report.
- Norway’s government said it was donating one billion kroner ($98.29m) to Ukraine for the purchase of natural gas ahead of winter. Ukraine had been forced to increase gas imports after Russian missile attacks damaged production facilities in the east of the country.
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