Xi Jinping is hosting Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un in Beijing for the first time, alongside other international leaders, as the West watches on. Meanwhile, the suspect in the killing of a former speaker in Ukraine’s parliament has confessed. Follow the latest on the Ukraine war below.
Tuesday 2 September 2025 19:14, UK
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What does the meeting between Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un mean for the war?
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Denys Shmyhal has thanked Turkey’s ambassador to Ukraine for “advancing efforts toward a just peace” after the two held talks today.
Ukraine’s defence minister said he noted the “high level of cooperation” between the defence sectors in Kyiv and Ankara.
As one of the main guests of honour in China this week, Xi Jinping has ensured his “old friend” Vladimir Putin has been given the red carpet treatment.
That stretches, apparently, to a tea break away from diplomatic talks that saw the two world leaders sit opposite each other at a table adorned with delicate cakes and petit fours.
“When I worked in China, I’d often think that it has the feel of an old people’s home,” international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn tells chief presenter Mark Austin.
“Those meetings in Zhongnanhai and the place where the Chinese leaders host people, there are often lots of doily laces over the sofas and cakes and things.
“But actually, there’s nothing fuddy-duddy about what’s going on here between these old men… preparing a new world order.”
Waghorn adds: “They believe that the old world order that has held since the Second World War is on its way out, and they are encouraged by Donald Trump doing his best to trash much of that world order.
“The Chinese talk about multipolarity and multilateralism. Don’t be fooled by that.
“They want a world order that is made in the Chinese mould that the Chinese will lead.”
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia’s aerial strikes on Ukraine are becoming more brazen after another day of repeated attacks.
Ukraine’s air force reported dozens of Russian drones entering the country’s airspace overnight and into today, with a rare afternoon attack forcing Kyiv residents underground.
“Last night there were 150 drones, this morning – more than fifty, in the evening – dozens more,” Zelenskyy said.
He added the strikes show “Russia’s blatant disregard for everything the world is doing to stop the war”.
Putin ‘telling tales’ in China
Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine come with Vladimir Putin in China for a four-day visit.
While there, the Russian leader repeatedly blamed the West for igniting the war in Ukraine, insisting the Kremlin’s invasion was provoked by years of Western provocations.
“These days in China, Putin continues to tell his tales – as if he is not to blame for the war,” Zelenskyy said.
“As if someone is always ‘forcing’ him – to fight, kill, drive children into shelters, send thousands of people to storm our positions.”
China’s largest ever military parade will bring more than two dozen world leaders together in Beijing tomorrow to mark 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of the Second World War.
Among them will be China’s own Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and, most notably, according to military analyst Michael Clarke, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“This is a great moment for him in a way, because he’s about to mix with 25 other leaders overnight and tomorrow morning in Beijing,” Clarke tells presenter Jayne Secker.
Clarke adds: “This is the first time that Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have all met together face to face.
“Putin and XI have met a few times before, and Kim has met Xi five times before. But the fact that all three are together is a great boost for him.
“He’s far and away the most minor of these three characters, but he’s the one that everyone will be concentrating on because it’s a bit of a novelty. So for him, this is a triumph.
“I don’t think we’ll hear very much about what he thinks about anything. I think he’ll just bask in the glory of being in with this group of senior leaders.”
Clarke says we’re not likely to see an official communique or statement from the leaders, as tomorrow’s parade is a ceremonial occasion.
If there is one released, Clarke says there’s very little that could be included that we don’t already know, especially about the leaders’ thoughts on the war in Ukraine.
He adds: “I don’t think we’re going to hear any more about new initiatives, but all of this will cement the idea that Xi, Putin and Kim are at one in terms of prevailing in Ukraine, which is bad news for Ukrainians.”
The recording of the conversation between Ursula von der Leyen’s plane and air traffic control (ATC) has shed some more light on what happened during its landing.
An EU spokesperson told Sky News yesterday there was “GPS jamming” and Bulgarian authorities suspect it was carried out by Russia.
In the recording, the EU chief’s jet tells air traffic control: “We seem to have some issues with GPS scanner.”
ATC at Plovdiv Airport in Bulgaria replies, telling the plane’s crew that, if they wish, they can continue their route to the runway – effectively telling them to carry on as normal.
In response, the plane’s pilot then says the crew will attempt to keep navigating using ‘GNSS waypoints’ – this is a system that will likely have been pre-programmed into their flight management system.
The conversation lasts around three minutes and ends with the plane being told to do a holding loop before landing.
The ATC recording was captured by liveatc.net, which monitors air traffic recordings.
It doesn’t make it clear if “paper maps” were used, which has been reported previously.
The GPS data from ADS-B Exchange shows the route the plane took.
By Michael Drummond, foreign news reporter
Ursula von der Leyen’s plane was allegedly GPS jammed by Russia on Sunday, forcing the pilot to land using paper maps.
The EU said the Commission president’s plane was able to land safely despite the jamming.
An EU spokesperson added: “We have received information from Bulgarian authorities that they suspect this blatant interference was carried out by Russia.”
‘Why didn’t they just have an iPad?’
Sean Fitzpatrick is an experienced pilot who regularly flies through areas known for GPS interference. Indeed, he flew within 40 miles of Plovdiv airport on the same day as Von der Leyen.
He told Sky News: “That airport is in a known GPS interference area. Anyone flying in there would know that there’s a high probability of having GPS issues.”
While GPS jamming is a nuisance, pilots essentially turn off GPS receivers and rely on other aids like the instrument landing system, Fitzpatrick explained.
He added: “When I heard they were pulling out paper charts [in order to navigate], I’m like, why didn’t they just have an iPad?”
‘We can make your life difficult’
Dr Thomas Withington, an expert on electronic warfare at the RUSI thinktank, agreed with Fitzpatrick that there could be political reasons for why this incident was revealed to the public.
“I think it’s quite hard to say with any degree of certainty whether her aircraft was deliberately targeted,” he told Sky News, noting that jamming signals are often sent out over a wide area. “But I’m sure that for Putin it’s a very happy coincidence.”
He added: “Politically, what you’re saying is ‘we’re here, we can make your life difficult’.”
Read Drummond’s full story below…
Vladimir Putin’s four-day trip to China continued today with more diplomatic meetings.
Having met yesterday with the leaders of Turkey, Iran and India, among others, the Russian president has met today with the prime ministers of Slovakia and Pakistan, as well as the presidents of Serbia and Uzbekistan.
A meeting between Putin and close ally Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, is also taking place in Beijing this afternoon.
As we’ve reported, Putin’s trip to China has not meant any let up for Ukraine, with Russian forces launching drone attacks on Kyiv both overnight and throughout the day.
The funeral of murdered Ukrainian politician Andriy Parubiy has taken place this afternoon in Lviv.
The 54-year-old former parliament speaker was shot dead in the street last Saturday. Authorities have already detained a suspect who has admitted to the killing (see last post).
Parubiy played a key role in a pro-democracy uprising in 2014 that ousted a pro-Russian president, and later served as parliament speaker.
“He was a big patriot of Ukraine – that’s all you need to say,” 82-year-old resident Orest Kokovskyi told Reuters.
The man arrested in connection with the murder of Ukrainian politician Andriy Parubiy has admitted to carrying out the assassination in Lviv on Saturday.
In courtroom footage broadcast on television today, a Ukrainian man admitted to the murder and described it as “my personal revenge” against the state.
“I admit, I killed him. And I want to ask to be exchanged for prisoners of war so that I can go and find my son’s body,” told journalists from a glass cell.
When asked why Parubiy became the victim, he replied that the politician “was nearby”.
Ukraine’s air force says Russia has fired 53 drones at Ukraine today during daytime attacks.
It already reported this morning that some 150 drones were launched overnight, but says “repeated attacks” since then have targeted the capital, Kyiv.
“As of 4pm (2pm UK time), air defence has shot down/suppressed 48 enemy drones.”
The air force said further Russian drone groups are being detected over the northern Chernihiv and Sumy regions.
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