The White House is considering inviting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Alaska. Meanwhile, analysts say Russia’s demands mean Kyiv giving up its best fortifications and giving the Kremlin better positions to launch another invasion.
Saturday 9 August 2025 23:27, UK
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That’s all for our live coverage of the war in Ukraine today.
If you’re just checking in, here is a recap of the key developments over the last day.
The White House is considering inviting Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, sources say.
It is “absolutely” possible, a senior administration official told our US partner network NBC News.
“Everyone is very hopeful that would happen.”
Another official briefed on internal conversations said: “It’s being discussed.”
If Zelenskyy were to travel to Alaska, it is not clear if he and Putin would ever be in the same room, one source said.
Asked whether the US had officially invited Zelenskyy to Alaska, a senior White House official said: “The President remains open to a trilateral summit with both leaders. Right now, the White House is focusing on planning the bilateral meeting requested by President Putin.”
Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have pledged to find a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine.
“They discussed the latest developments in Ukraine, reiterating their unwavering support to President Zelenskyy and to securing a just and lasting peace for the Ukrainian people,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
“They welcomed President Trump’s efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine and end Russia’s war of aggression, and discussed how to further work closely with President Trump and President Zelenskyy over the coming days.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned any attempt to partition Ukraine will result in another Russian invasion.
Allowing Putin to take Crimea led to the occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, he said.
“Now, Putin wants to be forgiven for seizing the south of our Kherson region, Zaporizhzhia, the entire territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and Crimea. We will not allow this second attempt to partition Ukraine. 
“Knowing Russia – where there is a second, there will be a third.”
Zelenskyy said the US can undoubtedly bring about an end to the war – the only party opposing that is Putin.
“His only card is the ability to kill, and he is trying to sell the cessation of killings at the highest possible price.”
The Ukrainian president continued: “He fears sanctions and is doing everything to bail on them. 
“He wants to exchange a pause in the war, in the killings, for the legalisation of the occupation of our land – he wants to get territorial spoils for the second time.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the meeting of security advisers in the UK was constructive.
He says that Kyiv’s arguments were heard and dangers were taken into account. 
Officials from Britain, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Finland and Poland took part in the meeting, he said.
“The path to peace for Ukraine should be determined together and only together with Ukraine, this is key principle.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has posted images of the security meeting held in Kent today, which concluded a little earlier.
Present were US vice president JD Vance and head of Zelenskyy’s office Andriy Yermak, as well as Ukraine’s secretary of the national security and defence council, Rustem Umerov.
European national security advisors were also at the meeting.
Boris Johnson has weighed in on the talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
The leaders are set to hold a summit without Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Alaska on the future of Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said the war cannot be ended without Ukraine and any decisions made at the summit against Ukraine were dead on arrival.
“This is quite right,” Boris Johnson said, reposting Zelenskyy’s comments on X.
Vladimir Putin wants Kyiv to hand Moscow all the Ukrainian land that Russia occupies – around 20% – and the last quarter of the Donetsk region still controlled by Ukraine, according to reports.
In exchange for a ceasefire, the front line would freeze in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, of which Russia occupies 74%, and Luhansk, where Russia has taken 99%, officials briefed on the proposal told the Wall Street Journal.
They are terms Volodymyr Zelenskyy has rejected, and will be discussed in a summit between Putin and Donald Trump that European leaders have dismissed as illigitimate.
European officials told vice president JD Vance that decisions on Ukraine cannot be made without Ukraine in the room, during a meeting held in Kent.
The Putin summit showed how vulnerable he was to US pressure after Trump threatened sanctions, a senior aide to a European leader told the WSJ.
But Trump’s deadline for Putin to end the war passed yesterday without any repercussions and it was regrettable Trump has not used his leverage over Russia’s war economy, the official said.
The EU continues to support peace negotiations in which Ukraine is at the table and making independent, sovereign decisions, diplomatic sources have told Sky News ahead of Donald Trump’s meeting with Vladimir Putin.
They added European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was in contact with EU leaders in preparation for the meeting in Kent between British, European, Australian, and US officials. 
Italy will be part of the meeting, Italian government sources have said.
Russian Ambassador to Italy Alexei Paramonov earlier said Italy “had all the credentials” to host the summit between Putin and Trump but it missed the chance “due to the Russophobia of the ruling class, a senseless all-round support for Ukraine, and a total refusal of dialogue”.
Vatican sources also reiterated their availability to host peace talks. 
Vladimir Putin will head into talks with Donald Trump demanding that Ukraine give up the entirety of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, of which Russia occupies 75% and 99% respectively.
This would mean Ukraine abandoning its best defensive fortifications – separating the Ukrainian-held and Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk – in return for nothing, military analysts say.
It would allow Russia to avoid years of bloody struggle to break through this “fortress belt”, advance 51 miles, and line up its troops on the edge of the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
With much more open terrain, these borders are difficult to defend, enabling the Kremlin to more easily launch another invasion in future.
“Putin’s reported proposal reportedly demands that Ukraine concede this critical defensive position, which Russian forces currently have no means of rapidly enveloping or penetrating, apparently in exchange for nothing,” the ISW said.
The think tank added it would provide “favourable conditions” for Russia to renew fighting and attack Kharkiv, starting with Izyum and leading to Kharkiv city.
“Russian forces will almost certainly violate any future ceasefire or peace agreement and renew military aggression against Ukraine in the future unless a peace agreement includes robust monitoring mechanisms and security guarantees for Ukraine.”
Enormous, urgent investment from Western allies would be required to build up massive defensive fortifications in Donetsk, running through open terrain, to avoid this, said the ISW.
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