The Russian leadership continued to obfuscate on Wednesday, after European leaders and Donald Trump said Vladimir Putin had agreed to a one-on-one meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to kickstart peace talks. Sergei Lavrov said Moscow did not reject any format for Ukraine peace talks but the Russian foreign minister appeared to apply the brakes, saying any leaders’ meeting “must be prepared with utmost thoroughness”. A war crimes warrant could oblige Hungarian authorities to arrest a visiting Putin, but Hungary is withdrawing from the international criminal court. The Austrian chancellor, Christian Stocker, said his country supported any initiative leading to a just and lasting peace protecting Ukrainian and European security. Putin opposes Ukraine joining Nato – Trump told Fox that “there’ll be some form of security.

Source: The Guardian August 20, 2025 14:38 UTC