Zelensky vows to push Russia to peace in Independence Day remarks
Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to “to push Russia to peace” as Kyiv marked its Independence Day on Sunday.
The ceremony in Kyiv was attended by US envoy Keith Kellogg as Zelensky insisted that a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin is “the most effective way forward” to end the war in Ukraine.
The commemoration of Ukraine’s 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union came as Russia accused Kyiv of launching a massive drone attack that sparked fire at a nuclear power plant in the western Kursk region.
President Volodymyr Zelensky delivered remarks in a video address from Kyiv’s Independence Square, emphasizing the nation’s resolve.
“We are building a Ukraine that will have enough strength and power to live in security and peace,” Zelenskyy said, calling for a “just peace.”
“What our future will be is up to us alone,” he said, in a nod to the US-Russia summit in Alaska earlier in August, which many feared would leave Ukrainian and European interests sidelined.
“And the world knows this. And the world respects this. It respects Ukraine. It perceives Ukraine as an equal,” he said.
US special envoy Keith Kellogg was also awarded the Ukrainian Order of Merit of the 1st degree.
Arpan Rai25 August 2025 05:53
RECAP: Lavrov says next steps ‘depend on US’
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said the ‘next steps’ in repairing US-Russia relations depend on US leadership.
In a post on Telegram, he stated: “President #Putin: @realDonaldTrump & I had a very good, constructive & frank discussion in Alaska.
“I really hope the first steps made are just the beginning of a full-scale recovery of #RussiaUS relations.
“The next steps depend on the US leadership.”
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 05:00
Ukraine unveils devastating new ‘Flamingo’ cruise missile
Ukraine has revealed its plans to move ahead with a new cruise missile that would have the ability to strike deep into Russian territory.
The Flamingo FP-5 missile can carry a warhead weighing more than one tonne, and can fly more than 3,000 kilometres.
Manufactured by Ukraine’s Fire Point defence company, the missile is reportedly faster than any the country currently use and took just nine months to develop.
Workers inspect Flamingo missiles a Fire Point’s secret factory in Ukraine on Thursday (AP)
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 04:45
Vance insists Trump will bring end to war
US vice president JD Vance has insisted Donald Trump will be the one to bring an end to war in Ukraine as he praised his “energetic diplomacy”.
In remarks made on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday, Vance told Kristen Welker both sides had shown openness to accepting “significant concessions” in recent days.
He added Trump would be willing to pile the pressure onto one side if necessary.
Earlier this week, the US president said he would “see whose fault it is” before taking further action towards peace talks.
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 04:30
Belarusian president says he is healthy after physical examination
Veteran Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, said that he had undergone the first physical of his life and was found to be in good health.
Questions have periodically been raised about Lukashenko’s health in the past few years
“Recently, for the first time in my life, I underwent a complete physical over two days,” Lukashenko, 70, told journalists on Belarusian television in comments posted on his Pul Pervogo Telegram channel.
“Goodness knows what they didn’t do to me. They even got into my brain. They x-rayed every bit of me… Touch wood, I am happy. Everything is normal.”
Doubts about his health intensified during a visit to Moscow in 2023 on the anniversary of the 1945 Soviet victory over Nazi Germany during which he missed events, appeared unsteady and failed to make an address.
Lukashenko said even intelligence services from nations friendly to Belarus had inquired about his health.
“I am saying that I am ok with that,” he said. “Hand over the test results, those examinations and let them be published.”
In power since 1994, Lukashenko allowed Putin to use his country’s territory to launch the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but has said he will play no direct role in the conflict.
Arpan Rai25 August 2025 04:17
RECAP: Putin says Trump is ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for US-Russia relations
Russian leader Vladimir Putin praised US President Donald Trump as the “light at the end of the tunnel” after decades of strained relations between the two countries.
His remarks came after the two met in Alaska in a high-stakes summit that failed to see any significant progress made towards peace in Ukraine.
Putin fawns over Trump as ‘light at the end of tunnel’
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 04:15
Ukrainians living in UK fear war will ‘never end’
Ukrainians living in the UK have said they are scared the war will “never end” after peace talks between the US and Russia ended uneventfully.
Monika Popadiuk, who moved to the UK from Kyiv in July 2022, said she was “afraid of losing everything a second time” if the conflict is not brought to an end.
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 04:00
Russian air defence units destroy two drones flying towards Moscow
Russia’s air defence units destroyed two drones flying towards Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, the mayor of the Russian capital said this morning.
“Emergency services are working at the site where the debris fell,” Sobyanin said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
Arpan Rai25 August 2025 03:59
Zelensky: ‘The end of the war means a guarantee of peace in Ukraine’
Speaking in Kyiv on Ukraine’s Independence Day, Zelensky said the end of the war would mean a “guarantee of peace” for Ukraine.
“We are all working to ensure that the end of this war would mean the guarantee of peace for Ukraine, so that neither war nor the threat of war are left for our children to inherit,” Zelensky told a crowd of dignitaries in Kyiv’s Sophia Square.
Zelensky has previously said he wants future security guarantees as part of a potential peace deal to be as close as possible to NATO’s Article 5, which considers an attack on one member state as an attack against all.
Zelensky (AP)
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 03:00
Zelensky shares more messages from world leaders
Support has poured in for Ukraine and President Zelensky on Ukraine’s Independence Day.
Posting on X, Zelensky shared dozens of letters and posts from foreign leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Mark Carney.
Nicole Wootton-Cane25 August 2025 02:00