The Trump administration has approved the sale of artillery ammunition and military equipment to Ukraine worth over $200 million. Just as Steve Witkoff met with Vladimir Putin.
The meeting lasted about two hours. At 3:33 p.m. on August 6, social media reported that a “Gulfstream jet, presumably carrying US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff, had departed from Moscow.” The news was confirmed by Interfax.
The United States, with Donald Trump himself, said they were very optimistic after the meeting, talking about significant progress. Trump said that his “Special Envoy Steve Witkoff had a ‘very productive’ meeting with Putin, ‘much progress has been made.’” “Much progress has been made! Since then, I have informed some of our European allies. Everyone agrees that this war must end, and we will work to make that happen in the coming days and weeks. Thank you for your attention to this issue!”
Those informed of the meeting were NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who participated in a telephone conversation between US President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a Ukrainian source.
Trump explained at a press conference that “only three will take part in the talks” — the US, Russia, and Ukraine — “without the participation of European countries.”
Despite progress in negotiations with Russia, Trump intends to impose secondary sanctions against Moscow.
CNN reported that Trump asked his team to act quickly in preparing for meetings with Putin and Zelensky. Planning began immediately. According to the television station, negotiations could take place within two weeks.
The Russians have been more cautious in issuing statements. It has been reported that Putin received US President Trump’s special envoy Witkoff at around 11:00 a.m. Italian time on August 6.
Russian presidential adviser Yuri Ushakov spoke to the press about the meeting, but only on August 7. This was after Trump addressed the nation. Among the advisor’s statements, we report: “The location of the meeting between Putin and Trump has been agreed upon and will be announced later.” And again, “At the suggestion of the American side, a bilateral meeting at the highest level has been agreed upon in principle in the coming days, namely a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.” “Witkoff mentioned the idea of a trilateral meeting between Putin, Trump, and Zelensky, but Moscow has not issued any statements.” “Now, together with our American colleagues, we are starting to work on a specific project (on the meeting between Trump and Putin).” “Next week has been designated as the benchmark for the meeting between Putin and Trump, but it is difficult to say how many days the preparation will take,” Ushakov explained. “Moscow is informing its friends and partners about the results of Putin’s working meeting with Witkoff,” Ushakov said.
The Russian stock market accelerated its growth to 4% following the agreement between Russia and the US on a meeting between the leaders of the two countries, according to trading data.
As for Ukraine, Russian official mediator Vladimir Rostislavovich Medinsky has officially confirmed Kiev’s refusal to exchange 1,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war. According to the Russian news agency TASS: “Among the Ukrainian prisoners that Kiev has refused to exchange, there is not a single officer; about 70% are soldiers and sailors. About 15% of the prisoners that Kiev has removed from the exchange lists have been mobilized.”
In Ukraine, an An-124-100 transported a Patriot air defense missile system from the United States. Ukrainian Prime Minister Svyrydenko reports that: “The first meeting of the board of directors of the US-Ukraine Investment Fund is scheduled for September.” According to the Prime Minister, he discussed the launch of the fund with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “We are working to expand its mandate so that the fund can also invest in the defense sector. The goal is to launch the first three projects within 18 months,” said Sviridenko.
The US State Department has approved the possible sale of equipment and services for the repair of M777 howitzers to Ukraine for $104 million. British company BAE Systems will act as the prime contractor under the contract.
Volodymyr Zelensky approved several new SBU operations, he said after a meeting with the head of the secret service, Vasyl Maliuk, during which they discussed operations conducted against Russia. “We will not make the details public,” Zelensky said, thanking Malyuk for his work.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy said in a statement: “Russia has attacked the station through which gas from Azerbaijan is supplied to Ukraine.”
And now a look at the Front Line updated at 3:30 p.m. on August 7. In Novorossiysk, an attack by a Ukrainian MBE was repelled at night. In two villages in the Krasnodar Territory, drone attacks caused fires, including in one of the grain silos. In Slavjansk-na-Kuban, a drone attack was repelled. In the Rostov region, a drone attack was repelled in the Chertkovsky and Millerovsky districts. From Surovikino, in the Volgograd region, explosions were reported above the city and a fire near the railway station; restrictions were imposed on airport operations.
On the morning of August 7, Iskander missiles struck Izyum, Chuhuiv Oblast, Kharkiv. Russian MLRS attack on Kramatorsk.
Russian “Gerans” worked on targets in the regions of Kryvyj Rih, Dnipropetrovs’k, Pavlohrad, Sumy, Zaporižžja, Chernihiv, and Kharkiv. Information from Ukrainian channels about alleged air-launched missile launches proved to be untrue.
In the Kursk region, a Ukrainian drone attacked a civilian car in the Ryl’skij district, injuring one man.
The Ukrainian armed forces are unsuccessfully attempting to break through the flanks of advancing Russian troops near Yunakivka, in the Sumy region, and fighting is ongoing.
In the Belgorod region, there have been 21 drone attacks in 21 different locations.
In the direction of Kupjans’k, Russian armed forces are attacking in the area of the settlements of Moskovka and Sobolivka with the aim of cutting off the logistics of the Ukrainian armed forces group in Kupjans’k. Russian infantry has been spotted in Sobolivka, according to Ukrainian social media. The Russian Armed Forces’ control zone is also expanding near the northern outskirts of the city, in the area of the settlements of Rad’kivka and Holubivka.
In the direction of Lyman, Ukrainian social media reports the expansion of the Russian zone of control north of Lake Chernykove. Russian forces are also advancing in the direction of Lake Linevoe and on the northern bank of the Seversky Donets River. Battles are ongoing in the Tors’ke area.
In the direction of Kostyantynivka, Russian troops have captured the southern part of Poltavka and are advancing towards the area of the Rusyn Yar settlement.
On the Zaporizhzhia front, battles are taking place near Nesteryanka, Russian forces are defeating Ukrainian forces in the settlement of Plavni, and positional battles are ongoing near Stepnohirs’k. The Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant reported that Ukrainian forces have again shelled the Enerhodar industrial zone, in the area where the transport workshop and printing house of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant are located. The level of radioactivity is normal. The Ukrainians blame the Russians for the incident.
In the direction of Kherson, Russian forces are destroying the bridge from Karantynnyy Ostriv Island with air strikes and other weapons. Ukrainian armed forces positions in that area are also under heavy bombardment and artillery attack. In Antonivka, anything that even remotely resembles the positions of Ukrainian drone operators is being targeted by the Russian air force.
Graziella Giangiulio
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