Ukraine war latest: Trump and Putin 'agree to meet in coming days', Kremlin aide says

Ushakov's full statement on Trump-Putin talks

We reported earlier on confirmation from the Kremlin that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet (see post at 9.03am).

Now, we have Ushakov's full statement on this possible meeting - and he appears to have distanced himself on the chance of a trilateral meeting involving Volodymyr Zelenskyy (which is one of Trump's conditions).

At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement in principle was made to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Now, together with our American colleagues, we are starting to work out the specific parameters of this meeting and the venue. By the way, I will note that the venue has also been agreed upon in principle and we will inform you about it a little later.

As for the option of a trilateral meeting, which for some reason was mentioned by Washington yesterday, this option was simply mentioned by the American representative during the meeting in the Kremlin. But this option was not specifically discussed. 

The Russian side left this option completely, completely without comment. We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump and we believe that the main thing is for this meeting to be successful and productive.

Everyone also knows that yesterday, immediately after Witkoff's report, Trump called a number of leading European partners and discussed this matter with them. 

I will note that we, using the appropriate channels, have already begun informing our closest partners and friends about the issues that were discussed during this meeting with Witkoff.

Next week was considered as the targeted date [for the meeting], but the parties are starting to directly prepare for this important meeting, and it is difficult to say how many days the preparation will take. But the option of holding the meeting during the next week was considered, and we are quite positive about this option.

Nearly 70% of Ukrainians now favour ending war through negotiations, poll shows

Most Ukrainians now want a negotiated end to the war with Russia, a new poll shows.

The poll by Gallup shows that about 69%  say their country should seek to negotiate a settlement as soon as possible. 

This marks a nearly complete reversal from public opinion in 2022, when 73% favoured Ukraine fighting until victory and 22% preferred that Ukraine seek a negotiated end as soon as possible.

However most Ukrainians do not expect a lasting peace anytime soon, the poll found. 

Only about one quarter say it's "very" or "somewhat" likely that active fighting will end within the next 12 months. 

And when it comes to US approval, this has fallen. 

Three years ago, about 66% of Ukrainians approved of US leadership. 

That's since fallen to 16% in the latest poll, reflecting new tensions between the two countries since Trump took office in January.

But Germany has grown more popular among Ukrainians over the past few years, rising to 63% approval in the new poll.

The findings were based on samples of 1,000 or more respondents aged 15 and older living in Ukraine. 

Some territories under Russian control, representing about 10% of the population, were excluded from surveys conducted after 2022 due to lack of access.

Russian stock index up after Putin-Trump meeting announced by Kremlin

Russia's stock market index has risen 4.5% after Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov announced a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the coming days.

At the start of trading today - and ahead of Ushakov's announcement - the Russian stock market had been growing in the main session on the MICEX, as it responded to the positive reaction of Donald Trump on the talks that took place between US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin. 

Now, it is growing again.

Elsewhere, Ukraine's international bonds have rallied some 3 cents after the Kremlin announcement.

As we reported earlier, Ushakov has confirmed that Putin and Trump will meet "at the suggestion of the American side" (see post at 9.03am).

He did not say where the summit would take place.

Zelenskyy to hold calls with Germany, France and Italy today

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has planned contacts with Germany, France and Italy today to discuss progress towards peace.

Zelenskyy said he planned to discuss a ceasefire, a leaders' summit and long-term security, following a meeting between Vladimir Putin and US special envoy Steve Witkoff yesterday.

Yesterday, Trump said Witkoff and Putin had a "highly productive" meeting in Moscow, adding that "great progress was made".

Since then, a Kremlin aide has said a Trump-Putin meeting is planned for the coming days (see our previous post).

The Kremlin pointedly referred to a bilateral meeting, though - despite the US suggestion of Zelenskyy also being involved.

Putin and Trump to hold meeting 'in coming days'

An agreement has been made to hold a meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the coming days, the Russian news agency IFAX reports, citing Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

The official, who advises Putin on foreign affairs, has reportedly said that all parties have begun working on the details.

The venue for the meeting has also been agreed and will be announced later, the Kremlin aide said.

Ushakov said US special envoy Steve Witkoff had talked about the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he held talks with Putin yesterday, but Moscow left it without comment.

"At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was agreed in principle to hold a bilateral summit in the coming days, that is, a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump," Ushakov said.

The meeting could happen next week, as we've been reporting, but Ushakov said it is still difficult to say how many days preparations for the summit will take. 

Will Putin agree to Trump's condition to meet Zelenskyy?

Vladimir Putin has always been reluctant to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy and there will be many in Europe accusing Putin of playing for time following the announcement that a meeting could take place between the Russian leader and Donald Trump, our Moscow correspondent Ivor Bennett reports.

Speaking to Sky's presenter Kamali Melbourne, Bennett notes that we haven't yet heard anything from the Kremlin on the possibility of a meeting between Trump and Putin. 

He says the only readout from the meeting with US special envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin was "brief".

"There was a feeling ahead of the meeting that Russia and Putin would have to offer Trump something if they wanted to temper his anger and a face-to-face meeting may have been it," Bennett says.

Bennett says it was known that Trump had always been keen to sit down with Putin but yesterday's news was "the most concrete yet about a possible summit".

He says while there is no word where it could happen, possible locations include Saudi Arabia, Turkey or the UAE.

Is Putin just playing for time?

After our US partner NBC News reported that Trump had stipulated that a meeting between himself and Putin was conditional on the Russian leader agreeing to a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Bennett expressed his doubts about whether a summit will take place.

"This is something he [Putin] has always been very reluctant to do," he says.

"If that's the case, I am doubtful this summit will happen.

"Even if it does, there will be many in Europe accusing Putin of playing for time because a summit is not a ceasefire."

Trump's latest tariffs kick in - as he finally uses trade war to pressure Russia over oil

We've already explained how Donald Trump announced new tariffs yesterday - an extra 25% rate on India, taking its total rate to 50% - because the country is buying Russian oil.

That extra 25% on India will kick in from 27 August, unless it stops buying that oil.

It's the first time the US president has really turned his trade war on a country which could affect Russia and its war effort in Ukraine.

Today is also a big day more generally for Trump and his tariffs, with a host of new rates coming into force.

Trump's reasoning for tariffs on India

Earlier this week, Trump said he would raise tariffs on India "very substantially" over its continued purchase of Russian oil, a decision criticised by New Delhi and Moscow.

The US president also told reporters that declining energy prices could pressure Vladimir Putin to halt the war in Ukraine.

And then yesterday, Trump issued an executive order imposing that additional 25% tariff on India over Russian oil imports, raising the total tariff on Indian imports to 50%. 

Trump says one of the reasons for the order is the "unusual and extraordinary threat" that Russia poses to the national security and foreign policy of the US.

New Delhi's foreign ministry says tariffs placed on India by the US over its imports of Russian oil are "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable".

Fire put out at Russian oil refinery after drone attack

A fire at an oil refinery in Russia has been put out, according to local officials, after reports of a Ukrainian drone attack.

The blaze at the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's Krasnodar region was apparently started by fallen drone debris, local emergency services said.

Last night, Russia downed nine Ukrainian drones, according to its defence ministry.

The ministry only tends to give details about the number of drones it shot down.

-SKY NEWS