The slow process of negotiations for a Russia-Ukraine peace agreement continues. Special Envoy General Kellogg spoke out about critics of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska: “I would advise them [critics of the Alaska summit] to keep quiet and stay on the sidelines.” According to CNN: “Putin is not ready to meet Zelensky, either now or in the future. The Kremlin could send Lavrov or Yuri Ushakov to a new round of talks in Istanbul, the network notes.
US Vice President J.D. Vance said that key details of a peace agreement in Ukraine, including security guarantees and territorial issues, could be agreed upon before the meeting between Russian and Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. According to Vance, if the process follows the “bureaucratic path,” then this is precisely the scenario that will unfold.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held “diplomatic talks” with the national security advisers of Ukraine and European countries on August 21. The focus of the summit was the development of proposed security guarantees for Ukraine. Washington, in any case, will have minimal involvement in ensuring Ukraine’s security guarantees. US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby briefed allies. NATO’s response to this, Politico reports, citing sources.
US presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff awarded the Order of Courage, awarded by Russian President Vladimir Putin, to the family of the son of CIA Deputy Director Michael Gloss, who fought alongside Russia and died in Ukraine. CNN reported the news, citing a senior US administration official.
US B-1B strategic bombers were recorded flying over Riga and the Baltic Sea on the evening of August 20.
For Europeans, the issue of security guarantees has become a veritable obsession: Europe is demanding that Trump send US fighter jets to Romania as part of security guarantees for Ukraine, The Times reports. Sweden has said it is ready to contribute to providing security guarantees for Kiev, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in an interview with Sveriges Radio.
“The Americans must imagine that they have lost several major states at once. Then they will understand Russia’s territorial demands on Ukraine.” “As if they gave up Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, even Virginia, and then moved closer to Maryland,” said Finnish President Stubb.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda reported: “We will provide assistance with soldiers and weapons for any peacekeeping mission that takes place in Ukraine after the war.” Estonia is also ready to send a company of its peacekeeping forces to Ukraine, Prime Minister Kristen Michal said during an online meeting of the “coalition of the willing,” ERR reports. Poland and Greece will not send troops: “Poland rules out sending troops to Ukraine for fear of weakening its forces,” Politico writes. “Greece does not intend to send troops to Ukraine as part of security guarantees,” the Cabinet stated. The Netherlands will provide air defense systems to Poland to “protect NATO territory,” the acting Defense Minister reports.
The vast majority of Germans are against sending troops. German soldiers in a “peacekeeping mission in Ukraine,” according to a new poll conducted by INSA. The German Social Democratic Party (SPD) is willing to discuss the issue of sending German troops to Ukraine only if the US military participates in such a mission, said SPD Secretary General Matthias Miersch. Nearly all German parties, however, oppose sending Bundeswehr troops to Ukraine, NTV reports. The Bundestag’s new Defense Commissioner, Otte, for his part, has stated that sending German troops to Ukraine would pose a challenge to the Bundeswehr.
Italian Prime Minister Meloni has proposed providing Ukraine with security guarantees without NATO membership, Bloomberg reports, citing sources. She advocates for forcing Kiev’s allies to agree on military support within 24 hours if the conflict with Russia were to resume. The agency calls this format “NATO-Light.” Meloni’s plan does not imply Ukraine’s membership in the alliance, but it offers a mechanism of collective assistance similar to Article 5 of the Alliance’s founding charter and allows for rapid coordination of response measures in the event of a deployment of troops, the sources noted.
According to sources, support options will include providing Kiev with rapid and sustained defensive and economic assistance, strengthening the Ukrainian army, and imposing sanctions against Russia. From a technical and legal perspective, the plan has significant implications, and NATO Article 5 also requires parliamentary approval before responding to an attack. The format seems more like a “NATO-Heavy” than a “NATO-Light” one.
Reports have appeared online that the irretrievable losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces amount to approximately 1.7 million people. According to an estimate made by OSINT channels on Russian social media, which add to official statements, those declared missing online by their families as of August 18th were present in 614 combat battalions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the front, or approximately 200,000-500,000 personnel in service.
Volodymyr Zelensky said that negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin should take place in a neutral zone in Europe, and that Ukraine does not oppose a meeting, such as in Switzerland, Austria, or Turkey. Zelensky ruled out the possibility of a meeting in Moscow. He called the choice of Budapest as the summit venue “controversial,” as Hungary opposes supporting Ukraine.
Zelensky said that Ukraine wants to “understand the architecture of US security guarantees” within the next seven to ten days. He noted that his meeting with Putin is already in preparation. “Regarding the exchange of territories: it’s worth discussing what Ukraine is ready for only after Russia’s demands are clearly understood. But Ukraine will definitely not legally recognize Russia’s occupation of its territories,” Zelensky noted.
Andriy Yermak has identified the Vatican, Geneva, Istanbul, and Saudi Arabia as possible venues for a meeting between Putin and Trump with Zelensky. Regarding Russia’s request for Chinese peacekeepers, Zelensky stated, “Ukraine does not need China as one of the countries that could provide security guarantees to Kiev.” He said China “did not contribute” to ending the conflict in 2022 and “did nothing” when Russia incorporated Crimea into its territory in 2014.
Zelensky stated that serial production of the long-range Flamingo missile, with a declared range of up to 3,000 kilometers, is planned for early next year, according to Reuters. Finally, Yermak stated that “Ukraine will not hold a referendum on amending the Constitution to recognize the regions as part of Russia.” Corriere della Sera
Russia has proposed raising the level of delegation heads in negotiations with Ukraine, Sergei Lavrov said in a press statement. Participants in the Baikonur SVO will receive out-of-turn housing subsidies when they move from Baikonur to Russian territory, according to a Putin decree.
Andrey Gangan, director of the monetary policy department at the Russian regulator, stated in a television interview that the Russian economy is moving toward “balancing” growth rates after overheating over the past two years, he told Rossiyskaya Gazeta. “Today, our economy has used almost all its available production, logistics, and infrastructure capacities, and, above all, almost all its human resources: now it is difficult to find new workers. We need a break and new approaches to increasing labor productivity. Without this, all wage growth will inevitably be “eaten up” by inflation, and workers will ultimately earn nothing,” he said in an interview. According to Rosstat calculations, Russia’s GDP growth rate has slowed this year: the Russian economy grew by 1.1% in the second quarter of 2025, after 1.4% in the first quarter.
And now a look at the military scenarios updated at 3:30 PM on August 21. In the early hours of the morning, Russian strategic bombers launched missiles into Ukrainian territory. This was preceded by the action of the Gerans, which, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, numbered “more than a hundred.” In Transcarpathia, the Flextronics plant in Mukacheve was damaged; in the Dnipropetrovsk region, gas storage facilities near Pavlograd and gas infrastructure were damaged in the Kehychivka district of the Kharkiv region. Explosions were also reported in Zaporizhia, Lutsk, and Lviv, as well as detonations in the Cherkasy and Kiev regions.
In the Rostov region, Ukrainian armed forces drones attacked one of Novoshakhtinsk’s industrial plants, without causing any casualties. In southern Voronezh Region, more than five drones were destroyed, a power plant was damaged, several villages were left without electricity, and several passenger trains were delayed.
In the Bryansk Region, Ukrainian forces attacked a logging truck with FPV drones in the village of Novy Varin, Klimovsky District, resulting in one death and one injury.
On the Kursk border, in the Tetkino area, Ukrainian forces unsuccessfully attempted to cross the Russian border with forces from the assault group of the 24th “Aidar” separate battalion. Following a fire attack, the attempt was foiled, and after suffering losses, the Ukrainians retreated to their original positions.
In the direction of Sumy, Russian forces are fighting in Yunakivka. Russian Aerospace Forces aviation has intensified attacks on Ukrainian Armed Forces equipment and personnel storage areas along the entire front line in the Sumy region.
In the direction of Kharkov, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Command has brought new reserves into the battle and is attempting to regain lost positions at Vovchansk, on the left bank of the Vovcha River. Fighting continues in the forest west of Synelnykove. Assault groups of the “North” GRT are advancing towards Khatnje.
Near the Belgorod-Kharkov border crossing, in the direction of Milove-Khatnje, after massive air strikes on Ukrainian Armed Forces positions and artillery preparations, Russian attack aircraft advanced 1 km into the forests towards Khatne. The Ukrainians attempted to halt the advance with the help of armored vehicles, but were unsuccessful. In the Belgorod region, five people were injured in attacks by Ukrainian forces.
In the direction of Lyman, in the Serebryans’kyy forest, Russian forces have occupied two “pockets” with a total area of up to 10.5 km², according to Russian social media sources.
North of Pokrovsk, Russian forces are expanding their penetration of Ukrainian defenses; the villages of Sukhets’ke and Pankivka in the DPR have been occupied.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, the Vostok Group of Forces has captured the settlement of Novoheorhiivka, in the Dnipropetrovsk region, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. Fighting continues near the village.
On the Zaporizhia front, fighting continued near Stepnohirsk; The information about the advance east of L’gov-2 and north of Levadne is noteworthy.
In the Black Sea, reports emerged of another aborted landing operation by Ukrainian forces on gas production platforms. The Ukrainians deployed approximately 10 vessels, indicating that they retain the potential to conduct sabotage operations in maritime spaces, including landing operations with limited targets.
Graziella Giangiulio
Follow our updates on Geopolitical Gleanings - Spigolature geopolitiche: https://t.me/agc_NW and on our blog The Gleanings of AGCNEWS - Le Spigolature di AGCNEWS: https://spigolatureagcnews.blogspot.com/
