Donald Trump says he knows “exactly” what he’s doing and he’ll stop the war in Ukraine – as Keir Starmer lands in the US to join Volodymyr Zelenskyy for talks with the US president at the White House. Watch and follow live below – with special Sky News coverage from 5pm.
Monday 18 August 2025 16:57, UK
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We’ve just been hearing from military analyst Sean Bell, who was speaking to presenter Kamali Melbourne.
Melbourne suggests today’s gathering of European leaders and Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington DC has raised hopes of a breakthrough to end the war in Ukraine – which feels a bit closer than it did before the Donald Trump-Vladimir Putin summit on Friday.
But Bell says he’s not sure there has, in reality, been much progress.
He says: “Let’s be brutally frank – why would Russia stop at the moment?
“Let’s face it, Putin is on the front foot. If I was a military adviser to Putin, I’d be saying ‘just keep going’.”
Bell adds Putin has more of a voice and influence following his Alaska summit with Donald Trump, having been brought back from “pariah status”.
The “irony”, Bell explains, is that Russia could be brought to its knees with tough sanctions from Trump targeting Russian oil.
But the US president has backed away from taking that sort of tough approach to Putin.
European leaders will hold a “debrief” tomorrow, after the meeting with Donald Trump this evening.
European Council President Antonio Costa says a video conference for members of the council will take place at midday UK time.
“Together with the US, the EU will continue working towards a lasting peace that safeguards Ukraine’s and Europe’s vital security interests,” Costa says.
Members of the council from Italy, France, the European Commission and Germany are all in Washington today.
Sir Keir Starmer is one of the key leaders in Washington today.
Along with European and NATO leaders, he will be supporting Volodymyr Zelenskyy, trying to help Ukraine’s efforts to win over Donald Trump.
Watch him speak on his flight over below…
A video circulating online appears to show an armoured personnel carrier (APC) displaying both a Russian and an American flag.
According to Russian state-funded news organisation RT (Russia Today), the video was filmed by Russian tank crews working in the ’70th motorised rifle regiment’, which was formed in 2023.
RT released the video earlier today.
Andriy Yermak, head of the office of the president of Ukraine, reposted the video on Telegram, saying “the Russians are using the symbols of the United States in their own terrorist, aggressive war with the murder of civilians”.
Vehicle in video ‘hard to confirm’
Sky News has been unable to verify the exact date when the video was filmed.
But our data and forensics team has geolocated the video to the east of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, around 5km behind the Russian frontline.
Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation has identified the vehicle as a “captured American M113 APC”.
Christopher Petrov, a senior analyst at Janes Defence magazine, added: “I think it’s hard to confirm this conclusively, but there are several points in the video that show a visual silhouette consistent with the M113 armoured personnel carrier.”
What is an M113?
Reports suggest as of June 2024, the US had provided Ukraine with more than 900 M113 APCs of various types, including troop carriers and medical evacuation vehicles.
The military vehicle can hold 11 soldiers, a driver and a vehicle commander, and is equipped with a .50-calibre machine gun.
Italy’s prime minister has warned “there are no easy solutions” to the war in Ukraine.
In a statement released via Giorgia Meloni’s spokesperson, the Italian leader says she thinks “we must explore all possible solutions”.
She says: “There are no easy solutions.
“I believe we must explore all possible solutions to ensure peace and security for our nations.
“The work we will do today is important.”
She added there are “finally glimmers of hope for dialogue”.
Two children were among those killed in overnight Russian attacks, Volodymyr Zelenskyy says.
While much of today’s focus is on diplomatic developments in the US, the war in Ukraine continues to claim lives.
We brought you the news earlier that at least seven people were killed in Kharkiv, and three people were also killed in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The Ukrainian leader earlier thanked Donald Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg for a meeting – see our 15.09 post.
In the same statement, Zelenskyy said: “Last night, Russian attacks on our cities continued – among those killed were two children, and dozens of people were wounded.
“People were simply sleeping when the Russian army launched strikes on the cities.”
Nightly attacks on Ukraine are a regular feature of the war and have grown larger in recent months.
What Volodymyr Zelenskyy will wear is already a talking point today.
Donald Trump took issue with him not wearing a suit during their Oval Office showdown in February – with a friendly reporter choosing to shout a question about it (Brian Glenn, who is the chief White House correspondent for right-wing website Real America’s Voice, accused Zelenskyy of lacking respect for America).
Our US correspondent Mark Stone explained earlier how attire could help set the tone of the meeting (see 12.54 post).
Now there’s a report that the White House has asked Ukrainian officials if President Volodymyr Zelensky will wear a suit to his meeting withTrump in the Oval Office. It comes from Axios, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the meeting preparations.
We’ve already seen Zelenskyy meet Trump’s Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg today – he wore a black T-shirt for that meeting (see our 15.09 post).
But that doesn’t mean he won’t change later, of course.
He does sometimes smarten up – below is what he wore to meet the Dutch king and queen around the time of June’s NATO summit.
He has largely, however, consistently worn battle fatigues to show solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
Some have compared it to how Winston Churchill often dressed during the Second World War.
Trump famously restored a Churchill bust to prominence in the White House – so perhaps Keir Starmer could remind the US leader of the comparison…
As the meeting later gets closer, here’s a reminder of two conditions Donald Trump appeared to set out this morning for Volodymyr Zelenskyy…
The US president said Zelenskyy was able to “end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to”.
And the US leader also warned that getting back Crimea is off the table, and weighed in on any possible Ukrainian NATO membership.
The US leader shared his message, as he often does, through social media – apparently trying to exert pressure on Zelenskyy ahead of their meeting today.
As a reminder, the last time the two met in Washington, things went badly…
Speaking earlier today, Trump said Zelenskyy could end the war “if he wants to, or he can continue to fight.”
He added that there’s “no getting back” Crimea – which Russia seized in 2014 – and “NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE.”
They could be important markers for the meeting today, and hint at what the US leader’s position is – amid fears he was swayed by Vladimir Putin at the Alaska summit on Friday.
Here’s a look at who will join Zelenskyy today as Ukraine and its allies seek to avoid a repeat of February:
And here are all the key UK timings to be aware of – this is just how it’s scheduled to go, and is subject to change:
Sir Keir Starmer is arriving at the Ukrainian embassy in Washington.
He joins Volodymyr Zelenskyy, NATO chief Mark Rutte, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen there.
The UK ambassador to the US, Lord Peter Mandelson, arrived ahead of Starmer.
We’re still expecting leaders from France, Italy and Germany.
Our US correspondent James Matthews is outside the Ukrainian embassy in Washington where the head of NATO has just arrived – see our previous post for more.
Matthews has broken down what he thinks could be going on inside, saying he thinks European leaders will be comparing notes on “what makes Trump tick”.
He goes on: “They’ll be asking what buttons do we press with Donald Trump to bring him back on side, to boost the interpersonal relations that we have with him, because that’s the starting point.
“And from there, the politics will follow.”
The politics, Matthews warns, is the “more difficult aspect in all of this”.
The European leaders will need to find a middle ground that works for both Trump and Zelenskyy.
“Because right now they appear to be poles apart on that key issue of ceding ground,” he says.
Matthews also sent us the above picture of the scene outside the Ukrainian embassy in Georgetown.
One passer-by asked what was going on. When Matthews told her, “it’s Zelenskyy,” she replied: “Thank goodness, I thought it was an ICE raid.”
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