Donald Trump says he hopes Vladimir Putin is “going to be good” and rules out sending US troops to Ukraine as part of a security guarantee after talks at the White House with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders last night. Follow the latest.
Tuesday 19 August 2025 16:04, UK
Security analyst Michael Clarke is back tomorrow afternoon to answer all your Ukraine war questions after a significant flurry of diplomacy in the past week.
Will Donald Trump’s meetings with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy come to anything? Is a ceasefire now a non-starter? Are Moscow’s forces pushing for territorial gains to gain the upper hand in negotiations?
Submit your question for Clarke in the box at the top of the page and join us tomorrow at 12pm.
Russia and Ukraine are both reporting that the bodies of more soldiers have been exchanged.
Ukraine has received over 1,000 bodies from Moscow, with Russia receiving 19 in return, Tass news agency is reporting.
The announcement comes after a wider agreement was struck in Istanbul in June, when Russia and Ukraine agreed to repatriate around 6,000 bodies.
Things did not go south in Washington yesterday, according to our deputy political editor Sam Coates.
Speaking on the Trump100 podcast, he said the US rhetoric over security guarantees was Europe’s “biggest ask” – and they “got it”.
“And they got it repeatedly on camera and in a full-throated way from Donald Trump,” he added.
Our US correspondent Mark Stone said one diplomatic source described it as a “serious breakthrough on security guarantees”.
“I did get the sense today that he seems now to recognise that there’s no point in getting peace short-term if it all unravels in the months and years ahead,” he added.
“His legacy – which is what this is partly all about for him, the Nobel Peace Prize and all the rest of it – it matters that this peace lasts.
“And I do think the likes of Marco Rubio – his secretary of state and national security advisor, who is kind of a grown-up in the room, to use that phrase – he seems to be influencing the president in that respect.”
The tone has shifted for sure, Stone added, but the “end point” is still “impossible to chart”.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has spoken to the president of the European Council, Antonio Costa.
The Ukrainian leader said they discussed the European Council meeting held earlier – see our 14.17 post for more.
“We have taken an important step toward ending this war and ensuring security for Ukraine and the whole of Europe,” Zelenskyy said.
He goes on: “Reliable security guarantees for Ukraine that will work are the most important achievement of our joint efforts, of all our partners, and above all of the Ukrainian courage that defended our independence.”
Read his full statement, shared on social media, here…
Hungary’s leader has had his latest say on efforts to bring Russia’s war on Ukraine to an end.
Viktor Orban – historically a Vladimir Putin ally – said the “danger of a third world war can only be reduced through a Trump-Putin meeting”.
He also appeared to contradict Antonio Costa, the president of the EU Council, who said just a short while ago Ukraine’s EU membership needs to be advanced (see 14.17).
“It has been confirmed that Ukraine’s membership in the European Union provides no security guarantees; therefore, linking membership with security guarantees is unnecessary and dangerous,” Orban wrote on social media.
“Hungary welcomes the steps taken at the Trump-Putin talks and supports the continuation of the negotiation process, with particular regard to a second Trump-Putin meeting.
“We are keeping the Hungarian initiative on the agenda for the Union to propose a Europe-Russia summit as soon as possible.”
Donald Trump said a little while ago the UK is one of at least three European countries that “want to have boots on the ground” to secure a peace for Ukraine – see our 13.17 post.
Earlier, however, a UK minister told us it’s “premature” to say UK troops will be directly involved.
But the country does need to play its part, he added.
“What’s clear is that we and 30 other countries now, including the United States, need to be prepared to play our part in providing those security guarantees,” pensions minister Torsten Bell told our presenter Wilfred Frost.
“We can’t ask the Ukrainian people to sign up to a system of just trusting President Putin after the illegal invasion three years ago, actions long before that.
“Nobody in Ukraine is going to trust promises from President Putin.
“If we want to see a meaningful peace, it will need to involve meaningful guarantees.”
Downing Street has released a statement after Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron chaired a virtual meeting of more than 30 leaders from the coalition of the willing this morning to update them on last night’s talks.
“The prime minister began by reflecting on the constructive meeting, saying it was clear there was a real sense of unity and shared goal of securing a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” a spokesman said.
“Turning to next steps, the prime minister outlined that coalition of the willing planning teams would meet with their US counterparts in the coming days to further strengthen plans to deliver robust security guarantees and prepare for the deployment of a reassurance force if the hostilities ended.
“The leaders also discussed how further pressure – including through sanctions – could be placed on Putin until he showed he was ready to take serious action to end his illegal invasion.
“The prime minister said he looked forward to updating the group again soon, as further work progressed in the coming days and weeks.”
The European Council’s president is talking about Ukraine’s security now.
“Now is the time to accelerate our practical work to put in place a guarantee similar to NATO’s Article 5 with continued United States engagement,” Antonio Costa said.
But Ukraine’s military has to be the “first line of defence”, he added.
Costa said the main security guarantee – a key topic of discussion since Donald Trump’s talks with Vladimir Putin on Friday – must be for Ukraine to have armed forces capable of defending its sovereignty.
He’s also touched on the need to advance on trilateral talks – which would involve Trump, Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – and on Ukraine’s EU membership.
We’re hearing from president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, after those talks in Washington last night.
He is speaking after European leaders held a virtual debrief earlier this hour (see 12.19 post).
Watch live in the live stream at the top of the page. We’ll bring you any developments.
Ukrainians are not going to accept just a diplomatic solution to the war, our military analyst Sean Bell has said.
He explained that a peace deal has got to “have teeth” and be something that causes Vladimir Putin to think twice over invading the country again.
Watch his full analysis below…
Donald Trump says he “purposefully didn’t” read the letter handed to him by Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday.
Ukraine’s president gave Trump a letter from his wife addressed to Melania Trump.
That came after the first lady of the United States wrote a letter to Putin, which Trump handed to him on Friday.
Speaking about the letter from Olena Zelenska, Trump tells Fox News it was handed to him sealed.
“Melania told me it was absolutely a beautiful letter,” he says.
“It was a beautiful letter I’m sure.”
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