MOSCOW/KYIV: Russian attacks, including on an apartment block in Kharkiv city, killed 14 people across Ukraine, authorities said on Monday, ahead of talks in Washington between President Volodymyr Zelensky and US leader Donald Trump.
The early-morning drone attack on Kharkiv reduced part of a five-storey residential building to rubble and sparked fires on at least three floors, governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram. The emergency services posted videos showing rescuers trying to break through rubble to free a trapped resident.
“Seven civilians, including two children, have been killed in the attack,” Interior Minister Igor Klymenko said on social media, adding that 23 people were wounded.
The city near the Russian border was also hit hours earlier by a ballistic missile that wounded at least 11 people, Mayor Igor Terekhov said. Klymenko said another three people were killed and 23 wounded in a strike on the Zaporizhzhia region.
In the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Russian shelling killed four people in settlements still under Ukrainian control — Dobropillia and Kostiantynivka, regional prosecutors said.
Russia also struck the southern Odesa region with drones on Monday, sparking a fire at a fuel facility, regional governor Oleg Kiper said.
Syzran oil refinery
Russia’s Syzran oil refinery suspended production and crude intake after a Ukrainian drone attack last Friday, two industry sources said on Monday. Crude distillation unit 6 was hit by drones and repair work is likely to last until the end of the month, they said. Refinery owner Rosneft did not respond to a request for comment.
The Ukrainian military said that it had struck the Syzran oil refinery in Russia’s Samara region on the Volga river.
Volgograd oil refinery
Russian oil giant Lukoil’s Volgograd refinery has been shut down after being hit by drone attacks, two sources familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Ukraine intensified drone attacks on Russian oil facilities last week, targeting major refineries and oil depots mainly in southern and central Russia daily.
The refinery was attacked by drones on August 13 and suspended oil processing at crude distillation unit CDU-5, which has a capacity of 9,110 metric tons per day.
The next drone attack on August 14 damaged two other crude distillation units — CDU-1, with a capacity of 18,590 tons per day, and CDU-6, with a capacity of 14,570 tons per day, the sources added.
Oil processing at the Volgograd refinery has been halted at least until the middle of September, the sources said.
• Indian FM tells Chinese counterpart that peace on Himalayan border essential for positive momentum in ties • White House trade adviser says Indian oil purchases fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine; urges halt • Indian Oil Corp says Russian crude will continue to be bought ‘based on economics’
NEW DELHI: As Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar opened talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in New Delhi on Monday, the White House urged India to halt its purchases of Russian crude, warning that the revenues were helping finance Moscow’s war in Ukraine.”
The Indian foreign minister began talks with his Chinese counterpart, stressing that there could be positive momentum in ties between the neighbours only if there was peace on their border.
Wang arrived in the Indian capital on Monday for a two-day visit during which he will hold the 24th round of border talks with Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and also meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“This (discussing border issues) is very important because the basis for any positive momentum in our ties is the ability to jointly maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas,” Jaishankar told Wang in his opening remarks.
It is also important for the two countries to pull back their troops amassed along their disputed border in the western Himalayas since a deadly border clash in 2020, Jaishankar said.
Wang’s visit comes days before Modi travels to China – his first visit in seven years – to attend the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional political and security group which also includes Russia.
Relations between the Asian giants began to thaw in October after New Delhi and Beijing reached a milestone pact to lower military tensions on their Himalayan border following talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Modi in Russia.
Ties between the two countries had deteriorated sharply following a military clash on their disputed Himalayan border in the summer of 2020 in which 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
‘Cozying up to Russia and China’
Meanwhile, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said India’s purchases of Russian crude were funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and had to stop.
New Delhi was “now cozying up to both Russia and China,” Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times on Monday.
“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the US., it needs to start acting like one.” India’s Foreign Ministry has previously said the country is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the United States and European Union continue to purchase goods from Russia.
US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods earlier this month, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil. The move will take total tariffs on imports from India to 50pc.
“India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Navarro wrote.
The adviser also said India’s close ties with Russia and China made it risky to transfer cutting-edge US military capabilities to India.
Separately, Indian Oil Corp, the country’s top refiner, will continue to buy Russian oil depending on economics, the company’s head of finance Anuj Jain told an analyst meeting on Monday.
Jain said his company’s Russian oil processing in the June quarter was about 24pc compared to an average 22pc in 2024-25.
As he touted his bona fides as the so-called “peacemaker-in-chief” during talks over Ukraine at the White House on Tuesday, Donald Trump made two big claims: that he wants peace deals instead of ceasefires, and that he has ended six wars since he became president.
But in his haste to hammer out a peace deal in Ukraine, Trump is playing fast and loose with the truth.
Trump and his administration have claimed to have helped settle the conflicts between Israel and Iran, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Cambodia and Thailand, India and Pakistan, Serbia and Kosovo, and Egypt and Ethiopia.
Yet the claim to have settled those conflicts is embellished and in some cases contradicted by continued violence in countries like DR Congo, where Rwanda-backed rebels missed a deadline to reach a peace deal in Doha on Tuesday.
In Iran, the US carried out its own strikes using bunker-buster bombs against military and nuclear facilities before strong-arming Iran to accept a ceasefire. India has denied that Trump played any role in reaching a ceasefire deal with Pakistan to end days of strikes over the disputed Kashmir territory in May. Egypt and Ethiopia have no deal to settle the root of their conflict – a Nile River dam constructed by Ethiopia that would divert water from Egypt. And Serbia has denied it had any plans to pursue a war with Kosovo, although Trump took credit for preventing one.
On the subject of ceasefires, by Trump’s own admission, he has often been seeking them in these conflicts. Now, he has sought to rewrite the record, piling pressure on Ukraine.
Trump’s declaration that he was not seeking a ceasefire in Ukraine came after meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week where the Russian president initially demanded that Ukraine cede control over territory in the country’s southeast before negotiating a ceasefire.
The question is crucial to the sequencing of an eventual peace in Ukraine: Putin wants to decide which territory Russia will retain while the fighting still rages, while Kyiv has demanded the guns fall silent in a ceasefire before any decisions are made over territorial claims.
By Monday’s meetings with European leaders, Trump had said he was no longer pursuing a ceasefire.
“If you look at the six deals that I settled this year, they were all at war. I didn’t do any ceasefires,” Trump stated, telling Zelenskyy, “I don’t think you need a ceasefire.”
But his record speaks otherwise. On 10 May, after the outbreak of violence between India and Pakistan, Trump announced: “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence.”
On 26 July, Trump said he was calling the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia in order to call for a ceasefire after three days of border fighting. “The call with Cambodia has ended, but expect to call back regarding War stoppage and Ceasefire based on what Thailand has to say,” he wrote. “I am trying to simplify a complex situation!”
And on Israel and Iran, Trump had also written: “It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE.”
MSNBC, the US television news station, posted a compilation of Trump calling for a ceasefire in Ukraine in the weeks and days before his meetings with Putin and then Zelenskyy.
But Trump – looking for a quick win – has rewritten his record as he edges closer to a Putin-endorsed roadmap to ending a conflict that has proved much harder to solve than he had once thought.
UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) — UN humanitarians on Monday welcomed Israel’s decision to lift the shelter ban in Gaza but warned that plans to intensify military operations will have a horrific impact on people already deprived of basics needed for survival.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the looming expansion of military operations in Gaza City would displace thousands of people, once again, into an overcrowded area in the south of the Gaza Strip, which is almost devoid of basic infrastructure, including water, food and medical services.
The office said that since early March, when the Israeli shelter ban came into force, more than 780,000 new displacements have taken place. Existing shelters have deteriorated or been left behind amid repeated displacement orders.
Humanitarian partners estimate that at least 1.35 million people need emergency shelter and some 1.4 million need essential household items.
“The situation in the Gaza Strip is beyond catastrophic,” the office said. “Amid ongoing hostilities and extreme hunger, more deaths are recorded every day.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) said that it is doing everything possible to deliver food to people. However, supplies remain far below needs, less than half of the WFP’s daily target. Organized distributions, WFP-supported hot meals and bakeries depend on far more aid entering Gaza.
OCHA said Gaza’s health authorities reported that five people, including two children, died over the past 24 hours due to malnutrition and starvation.
The office said that to prevent such deaths, humanitarians must be able to deliver aid at scale, safely and consistently, through all available border crossings and routes to reach the population of about 2 million people.
It said restrictions on the movement of humanitarian vehicles hinder the delivery of aid to people in desperate need.
The humanitarians said their commitment is to serve people wherever they are. All civilians must be protected, whether they choose to stay or move. Those who decide to move must have their essential needs met, and they must be able to voluntarily return.
“Unimpeded humanitarian access is needed across all of Gaza, including community-based distribution and supplies entering at scale through all possible crossings and land routes,” OCHA added. ■
On August 6, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on “Addressing Threats to the United States by the Government of the Russian Federation,” imposing additional tariffs on Indian imports. Under these new tariffs imports of most Indian goods will be subject to an additional 25% duty, which will stack on top of the 25% duty on Indian imports taking effect on August 7, to result in a 50% effective duty.
The Executive Order states that the tariffs are necessary because India is directly or indirectly importing Russian oil, exacerbating the national emergency declared Executive Order 14066 of 2022, which bars the importation of Russian oil into the US. This tariff is the first imposed by the U.S. on this basis. The new directive expands the scope of economic pressure by targeting third-nations that facilitate Russia’s oil trade.
The tariff will take effect 21 days from the date of the Executive Order (i.e., August 27), with limited exceptions for goods already in transit. It applies broadly to Indian imports unless exempted under specific trade provisions or existing reciprocal tariff agreements. Notably, this duty stacks atop other applicable tariffs except for tariffs imposed under Section 232, such as recent tariffs on copper, steel, aluminum, and autos.
The Executive Order also outlines a robust framework for monitoring and enforcement. The Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with other senior officials, is tasked with identifying additional countries engaged in similar trade practices with Russia. Recommendations for further action—including the imposition of similar tariffs—may be made to the President based on these findings. The Executive Order also allows for future modifications based on evolving circumstances or retaliatory actions
The U.S. represents the largest market for Indian exports, receiving Indian goods worth over $80 billion in 2022—goods which will soon be subject to a steep tariff.
The global tariff landscape continues to be extremely fluid, presenting new challenges to businesses on a daily basis. The latest tariffs on Indian products show how trade policy is intertwined with broader geopolitical factors. We will continue to monitor and report on developments in this space.
The current phase of the war in Ukraine continues unabated into its fourth year, with grinding offences and strikes against civilian infrastructure increasingly the norm.
It is, for Ukraine, arguably the most vulnerable that it has been since 2022.
These developments have prompted calls among world leaders to end the conflict. On the surface, United States President Donald Trump’s meetings with both the Ukrainian and Russian leaders suggests a balanced approach. In reality, however, Trump’s actions primarily benefit Russia.
The Alaska summit
After the recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Trump declared that their summit had been “very useful.” When asked how he would rate the meeting on a scale of one to 10, the president declared the meeting “was a 10 in the sense we got along great.”
While Trump and Putin may have hit it off, the issue with such an assessment is that it failed to address the underlying reason for the meeting: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this regard, the meeting was far more useful for Putin and Russia than Ukraine and its allies.
Putin managed to stoke tensions, and potentially divisions, among Ukraine’s principal supporters by not including Ukraine in the summit. No other countries participated in the summit.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
This format caused considerable consternation in Ukraine, where it was feared that Trump would make an agreement without Ukrainian consent, as well as in Europe, where Russian aggression and revisionism is a more direct threat.
Prior to Trump assuming power for a second time in 2025, Ukraine benefited from a largely united front among NATO and the European Union. This unity has declined over the last several months, and the Alaska summit reinforced this decline to Russia’s benefit.
Ceasefire demand evaporated
Putin and his negotiators managed to obtain a major concession from Trump at the summit as Trump renounced his own recent calls for a ceasefire.
For Ukraine and its allies, achieving a ceasefire was a fundamental requirement for any peace negotiations in 2025. This precondition has become more significant as Russia ramps up its attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilians.
Lastly, the very nature of the Alaska meeting itself helped legitimize Russia in international opinion.
Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia has courted international opinion. It’s been more successful than most people in Europe and North America realize as significant portions of Asia, Africa and Latin America remain ambivalent or even support Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Nonetheless, Russia was always restrained by the condemnation it’s received from multiple international organizations, most notably the United Nations and the International Criminal Court.
Trump welcoming Putin on American soil, when the Russian leader is under what amounts to a de facto travel ban by the International Criminal Court, undermines these institutions’ condemnations.
Zelenskyy’s visit to Washington
The benefits that Putin obtained from Trump in Alaska demanded an immediate response by Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy promptly arranged a White House meeting with Trump in the aftermath of the Alaskan summit. And he didn’t arrive alone: European leaders accompanied him to show solidarity with Ukraine.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio insisted the European leaders weren’t on hand to prevent Trump from bullying Zelenskyy, as occurred during their last Oval Office meeting.
Read more:
What the U.S. ceasefire proposal means for Ukraine, Russia, Europe – and Donald Trump
That’s probably only partly true. Several European leaders — ranging from the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to French President Emmanuel Macron — almost assuredly accompanied Zelenskyy to prevent Trump from forcing the Ukrainian leader into concessions that are detrimental to their interests as well.
Trump’s pre-meeting social media post undoubtedly heightened their concerns. In the post, he placed the burden of peace on Zelenskyy and argued that Ukraine must accept the loss of Crimea and never accede to NATO.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as France’s President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, right, listen during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, foreground left, and European leaders in the East Room of the White House on Aug. 18, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Carefully orchestrated
Ukrainian officials sought to carefully orchestrate Zelenskyy’s one-on-one Oval Office meeting with Trump. Zelenskyy wore a suit and delivered a letter from the Ukrainian first lady to Melania Trump.
These and other efforts aimed to stroke Trump’s ego, and the president’s response — in particular agreeing with a reporter that Zelenskyy “look(ed) fabulous” in a suit — suggests it was a success. The same American reporter criticized Zelenskyy for failing to don a suit during his ill-fated February White House visit.
Notably, Trump did not rule out a role for American soldiers in helping to maintain peace in Ukraine during the meeting. Outside observers believe an American presence in Ukraine to maintain any eventual peace is a fundamental requirement for its success.
Unfortunately, while Trump did not immediately oppose the idea, he did not make any firm commitment either. Trump’s propensity to reverse course on statements that he makes in the moment, furthermore, undermines any firm takeaways from the meeting.
Hope versus reality
Any direct American involvement in Ukraine would also undermine his support among his political base. One of Trump’s key campaign promises was not to involve the U.S. in “endless foreign wars.”
A move by Trump to deploy American soldiers to Ukraine would be politically tenuous, as fractures are already emerging among his political base over his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Read more:
Trump’s changing stance on Epstein files is testing the loyalty of his Maga base
Trump’s cordial meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders may fuel hope among Ukraine’s supporters in the coming days. But any optimism should be tempered by the damage done by Trump’s meeting with Putin. Trump reportedly interrupted the meetings in Washington to call Putin.
Trump’s unwillingness to make firm commitments at the meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders means that Russia, on the balance, has succeeded in advancing its interests to the detriment of Ukraine and the prospects for a long-term, sustainable peace.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine as part of a peace deal, as he hosted Volodymyr Zelensky and European leaders in an extraordinary show of unity at the White House.
Trump expressed optimism over the chances of ending Russia’s invasion and said he was ready to hold a three-way meeting with Ukrainian leader Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he met in Alaska last week.
Zelenskywho also met separately with Trump in the Oval Office for the first time since their acrimonious row there in Februarysaid his talks with Trump on Monday were the “best” yet.
“In a week or two weeks, we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue,” Trump said as he opened the meeting.
The presence of the leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Finland, the European Commission and NATO however underscored continuing nervousness about Trump’s pressure on Kyiv to make concessions to Moscow.
Trump had pushed Ukraine ahead of the meeting to give up Crimea and abandon its goal of joining NATOboth key demands made by Putin.
But the US president said his talks with Putin had made progress on the issue of security guarantees.
“In a very significant step, President Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine,” Trump said. “We’re going to be considering that at the table, also who will do what essentially.”
Trump said that during the White House talks on Monday they also “need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory” between Russia and Ukraine.
Reports had said Putin was pushing for Ukraine to cede its eastern Donbas region, much of which is still partly in Kyiv’s hands, in exchange for freezing the frontline elsewhere.
Ukraine has rejected any such move.
Trump said he was ready to attend a trilateral meeting with Putin and Zelensky in the near future to reach a peace deal.
“I think if everything works out well today we’ll have a trilat, and I think there will be a reasonable chance of ending the war when we do that,” Trump said earlier as he sat in the Oval Office alongside Zelensky.
Zelensky hailed his meeting with Trump, saying it was “important that the United States gives such strong signals” about Western security guarantees.
The atmosphere was far calmer than when Trump and Vice President JD Vance berated Zelensky in front of TV cameras less than six months ago for not being “grateful” for US support.
Trump even complimented Zelensky on his black jacket, after the Ukrainian was criticized by right-wing media because he failed to change his trademark war-leader’s outfit for a suit during the February visit.
The Europeans lined up to praise Trump as they called for a lasting peace to end Russia’s invasion.
“I’m really excited. Let’s make the best out of today,” NATO chief Mark Rutte said as the US president went round the table asking them to comment.
French President Emmanuel Macron, however, called for a separate four-way meeting including Europeans to deal with a grinding conflict that is on their doorstep.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meanwhile contradicted Trump’s call to go straight for a full peace deal instead of an immediate ceasefire, calling for a truce before any leaders’ summit.
“Let’s work on that and let’s try to put pressure on Russia,” Merz said.
Trump said he would be talking to Putin by telephone later Monday.
The Trump-Putin summit in Alaska failed to produce a ceasefire in the nearly three-and-a-half-year war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russian strikes overnight killed at least seven people in Ukraine, including two children.
