"Russia “no longer considers itself bound” by the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, prohibiting the deployment of intermediate-range missiles, Moscow’s foreign ministry announced yesterday. The treaty is largely defunct; the United States pulled out of the agreement during Trump’s first term, and Washington has long accused Moscow of violating the pact. Paul Sonne and John Ismay report for the New York Times.

The Kremlin is not ruling out the possibility of a meeting between the U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week, the Kremlin spokesperson said yesterday. Earlier on, Trump said that Witkoff “may be going to Russia” as “we’ve got to get to a deal where people stop getting killed.” Nataliya Vasilyeva reports for the New York Times.

"Russian President Vladimir Putin sees Trump’s threatened U.S. sanctions as likely manageable, and retains the goal of capturing Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions in their entirety, according to sources close to the Kremlin. Darya Korsunskaya, Andrew Osborn, and Mark Trevelyan report for Reuters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday thanked Trump for a “productive” phone call. According to a Ukrainian source, during the call the two leaders agreed that targeting Russia’s sales of oil to India, China, and other countries could create enough pressure for Putin to change his mindset about the war, and Trump told Zelensky that Witkoff is visiting Moscow at the Kremlin's request. Laura Gozzi reports for BBC News; Barak Ravid reports for Axios.

"U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff had “some very good talks with Putin,” and while there was no “breakthrough,” “there’s a good chance that there will be a meeting very soon,” President Trump said yesterday after Witkoff’s Moscow meeting with the Russian president. Separately, Trump told European leaders that he wanted to meet with Putin potentially as early as next week, with the meeting followed by trilateral talks with the Russian leader and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to White House sources, Putin suggested a meeting with Trump to Witkoff. Anna Chernova, Svitlana Vlasova, Catherine Nicholls, Ivana Kottasová, Kylie Atwood, Kristen Holmes, and Kevin Liptak report for CNN.

Fareed Zakaria's Global Briefing from his article of today- 08/08/2025-

Worth a read-

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday defended his government’s plan to take control of Gaza City, despite widespread opposition and criticism from both longtime allies and domestic opponents. At a news conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced that the Israeli military would expand its campaign to include central Gaza in addition to Gaza City. Netanyahu told reporters, “Dismantling the two remaining Hamas strongholds in Gaza City and the central camps — this is the best way to end the war.” Isabel Kershner and Aaron Boxerman report for the New York Times.

At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Friday, U.N. ambassadors criticized Israel’s plan to “take control” of Gaza City, with the UK, France, and others warning the plan risked “violating international humanitarian law.” China called it “collective punishment” of people in Gaza, while Russia warned against a “reckless intensification of hostilities.” In response, U.S. Ambassador Dorothy Shea accused fellow Security Council members of “actively prolonging the war by spreading lies about Israel” and “handing propaganda victories to terrorists.” Amy Walker reports for BBC News; Tal Shalev, Dana Karni, Abeer Salman, Catherine Nicholls, Mohammed Tawfeeq, and Helen Regan report for CNN.

Australia will recognize a Palestinian state at next month’s U.N. General Assembly, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today. Separately, New Zealand is considering recognizing a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today, adding that the cabinet would make a formal decision by next month. Kirsty Needham, Lucy Craymer and Christine Chen report for Reuters.

Trump spoke with Netanyahu yesterday, where both leaders discussed Israel’s plans for taking control of Gaza and efforts to secure a hostage release. Tyler Pager reports for the New York Times.

White House special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Qatar’s prime minister in Spain on Saturday. The meeting focused on a plan to end the war in Gaza and release all remaining hostages held by Hamas, sources told Axios. The meeting followed Israel’s minister for strategic affairs informing an Israeli Security Cabinet meeting on Thursday that Washington will present an “End Game” proposal for the war in Gaza in the coming weeks, according to a cabinet minister. Barak Ravid reports. "

"President Trump is planning to speak with Russian leader Vladimir Putin Friday in Alaska. The meeting was reportedly requested by Putin, and is ostensibly about the future of Putin’s Ukraine invasion. However, the talks do not yet feature anyone from Ukraine, as French President Emmanuel Macron objected on social media Saturday, citing the support of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

In Alaska, Putin is likely to bring up a lopsided Russian ceasefire proposal pitched last week to U.S. officials in Moscow. The plan “would require that Ukraine hand over eastern Ukraine, a region known as the Donbas, without Russia’s committing to much other than to stop fighting,” the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday. “The offer, which Putin conveyed Wednesday to U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow, set off a diplomatic scramble to obtain further clarity on details of the proposal.” (More on that in the next item.)

Why Russia might seek a Ukrainian withdrawal from Donetsk: “Conceding to such a demand would force Ukraine to abandon its ‘fortress belt,’ the main fortified defensive line in Donetsk Oblast since 2014—with no guarantee that fighting will not resume,” ISW said Saturday. “The fortress belt is a significant obstacle to Russia's current path of advance westward,” they noted. 

Europe pitched a counter-prosal to U.S. officials on Saturday, and it “includes demands that a cease-fire take place before any other steps are taken,” the Journalreported separately on Sunday. “It also says that territory can be exchanged only in a reciprocal manner—meaning that if Ukraine pulls out of some regions, Russia must withdraw from others.” As well, potential NATO membership for Ukraine cannot be removed from discussions, as Russian officials have insisted.  

Second opinion: “Russia remains unwilling to compromise on its long-standing war aims of preventing Ukraine from joining NATO, regime change in Ukraine in favor of a pro-Russian proxy government, and Ukraine's demilitarization—all of which would ensure Ukraine's full capitulation,” ISW analysts warned Sunday. Russia will also “very likely violate and weaponize any future ceasefire agreements in Ukraine while blaming Ukraine for the violations as it repeatedly did in Spring 2025,” they added. 

One recent speedbump: Trump’s inexperienced Russian envoy, real estate billionaire Steve Witkoff, misinterpreted withdrawal terms presented by his Russian counterparts during talks last week at the Kremlin regarding the future of Vladimir Putin’s Ukraine invasion, European officials said this weekend.

Witkoff mistook Russia’s insistence that Ukrainians leave their own Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions and initially thought instead that Putin volunteered to “peacefully withdraw” Russian troops from the latter two regions, Germany’s Bildreported this weekend. The Wall Street Journal confirmed Witkoff’s misrepresentation. Witkoff also misunderstood a Russian ceasefire regarding energy infrastructure and long-range strikes, European officials told Bild.

Expert reax: “This is deeply damaging incompetence,” former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul wrote on social media. “Witkoff should finally start taking a notetaker from the U.S. embassy for future meetings. That’s how professional diplomacy works.”"

"European leaders are planning to meet with Trump before his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, European officials say. The goals are to reaffirm what Europe views as red lines, including stressing that a ceasefire must be the first step in a deal; that territorial exchanges must be reciprocal and be based on current frontlines; and securing a long-term security guarantee for Ukraine. European leaders also plan to make a renewed push to persuade Trump that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European heads of government should be present at the U.S.-Russia summit. Bojan Pancevski and Alexander Ward report for the Wall Street Journal.

Trump said yesterday he expects Putin to attend Friday’s meeting with specific proposals for a deal to end the war in Ukraine — which he will then forward onto Zelenskyy with a recommendation to either make peace or “keep fighting.” Dave Lawler reports for Axios.

"Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled that ceasefire efforts in Gaza are now centered on a comprehensive deal that would see all remaining hostages released at once rather than in stages. Mediators Egypt and Qatar are said to be working on a new framework proposing the release of all hostages in one go in exchange for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, Arab officials say. The news comes as a Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt yesterday for talks with officials over ways to stop the war and deliver aid, a Hamas official said. Natalie Melzer reports for AP News; Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.

In a joint statement yesterday, foreign ministers from 27 countries urged Israel to grant immediate permanent access for the U.N. and other humanitarian groups to deliver a “flood of aid into Gaza,” warning that swift action is needed to stop and reverse a “famine … unfolding before our eyes.” The statement from countries including the UK and Canada also urged Israel to end the use of deadly force at aid distribution sites. Abbie Cheeseman and Siham Shamalakh report for the Washington Post."

‌Now, the president will get that chance. Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, however, Trump seemed intent on lowering expectations for Friday's summit. He called it a "feel-out" meeting. He suggested that he would know whether or not he would be able to reach a deal with the Russian leader "probably in the first two minutes". And if not?

‌"I may leave and say good luck, and that'll be the end," he said. "I may say this is not going to be settled."

‌Trump has been all over the map on the Ukraine conflict since returning to office. He harangued Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in February and later suspended military aid and intelligence sharingwith the war-torn nation.

‌In recent months, Trump's expressed frustration with Putin's intransigence - he appeared poised to impose new sanctions on Russia last week before backing away. Now he's hosting the Russian president on American soil and talking about Ukraine ceding land for peace.

‌All this has left Zelensky and America's European allies scrambling. They held a conference call with Trump earlier today, perhaps hoping that, as some of the last voices in the president's ear before he departs, they could ensure that he doesn't strike a deal with Putin that Ukraine won't - or can't - accept.

‌Given the stakes of this meeting, it is remarkable how up in the air all of this is. The summit came together in a matter of days. Many details are yet to be made public. Those of us heading to Alaska have no idea if we will even see Trump and Putin together after they talk.

‌The takeaway: Leader-level summits are typically a well-choreographed dance where little is left to chance. But that's not how this president operates."

"Tension is growing between Netanyahu’s government and the head of the country’s military, Eyal Zamir, who pushed back against a plan to take over Gaza City in a security cabinet meeting last week. Zamir, who expressed concern about troop exhaustion and personnel shortages if the plan proceeds, was overruled as the cabinet voted in favor of the plan. Yesterday, far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Zamir should be ousted unless he severs links to a group of former generals who are allegedly advising him. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Israel Katz has also clashed with Zamir over recent military chief of staff appointments. Anat Paled reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Over 100 organizations have signed a joint letter calling on Israel to halt the “weaponization of aid” in Gaza. Humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Médecins Sans Frontières, report they are increasingly being denied permission to deliver aid unless they adhere to stricter Israeli regulations. The letter warns that groups risk being banned if they are deemed to “delegitimize” the state of Israel or fail to provide detailed information about their Palestinian staff. James Chater reports for BBC News.

The head of Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, met with Lebanese leaders yesterday in Beirut, amid growing pressure for Hezbollah, Tehran’s most powerful regional ally, to disarm. Ali Larijani became the highest-ranking Iranian official to visit Beirut since Lebanon’s government last week endorsed a U.S.-backed plan to dismantle Hezbollah’s weapons by the end of the year. The plan, which Hezbollah has rejected, came after weeks of U.S. shuttle diplomacy aimed at enforcing a ceasefire deal signed last year with Israel, ending Lebanon’s deadliest conflict in decades. Euan Ward reports for the New York Times."

"Israel is in talks with several countries about taking in Palestinians displaced by the war in Gaza, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A senior Israeli official told CNN that the countries involved are South Sudan, Somaliland, Ethiopia, Libya, and Indonesia, and that they are looking for “significant financial and international compensation” in exchange for taking in Gazans. Earlier this week, South Sudan rejected a report that it was in discussions about the resettlement of Palestinians. Tal Shalev, Irene Nasser, Kathleen Magramo, Nadeen Ebrahim, and Eugenia Yosef report for CNN.

Israeli forces demolished houses in eastern areas of Gaza City overnight into yesterday, killing at least 11 people in aerial and tank fire, local health authorities said. The territory’s Hamas-run health ministry also said that four more people died of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza in the past 24 hours. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters.

Israel’s Netanyahu has “gone too far” and “lost the plot,” New Zealand’s conservative Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Wednesday, describing Israel’s planned occupation of Gaza City as “utterly unacceptable.” Helen Regan reports for CNN.

Syria’s pro-government forces committed systematic and widespread crimes against civilians during the violence against Syria’s Alawite communities along the Mediterranean coast in March, according to a report published by the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic yesterday. The report found no evidence that the country’s new government orchestrated the attacks, however. Sudarsan Raghavan reports for the Wall Street Journal.

Turkey will provide weapons, military equipment, and logistical support to Syria under a newly signed defense cooperation agreement, Turkish Defense Ministry officials announced yesterday. Suzan Fraser reports for AP News."

Kyiv, Ukraine – The Alaska summit between United States President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was a masterclass in how a former intelligence officer uses his skills of manipulation on a self-centred narcissist.

That’s the impression a Kyiv-based political analyst who has closely followed the war with Russia got, they told Al Jazeera, after watching the interaction between Trump and Putin during their summit on Friday, which broke no ground in stopping Europe’s hottest war since 1945.

Putin “worked [Trump] well”, said the analyst who requested anonymity, referring to the years Putin spent as a Soviet spy in East Germany recruiting informants.

On the tarmac at Elmendorf-Richardson, a Cold War-era airbase outside Alaska’s capital, Anchorage, Putin greeted Trump with a “good morning, dear neighbour,” referring to Alaska’s proximity to northeastern Russia.

Trump literally rolled out a red carpet for Putin, gave him a long handshake and a ride in “The Beast”, the presidential limousine – and Putin beamed from the backseat.

During a brief news conference, Putin kept thanking Trump, repeating and rephrasing what the American president had said about the talks, Ukraine and a possible peace settlement.

Putin flattered Trump, including by backing the US leader’s assertions – such as his claim that he could have prevented the Russian-Ukrainian war had he won the 2020 presidential vote instead of Joe Biden.

“Today, President Trump was saying that had he been president back then, there would be no war, and I’m quite sure that it would indeed be so,” the smiling Putin told reporters after the talks. “I can confirm that.”

And it was Putin’s manipulation masterfully disguised as saccharine flattery that ended the talks with Trump’s conclusion that “there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” Kucherenko said.

“He fed the narcissist with whatever one needs to feed a narcissist into manipulating him – endless quotes, the endless ‘how the American president said’, endless appellations to the topics [Trump] is interested in,” said the analyst, who has authored analytical reports on Russia’s military and has addressed the US Congress in a hearing on the war.

Putin’s remarks at the news conference after the talks lasted for eight minutes and included a lecture on when czarist Russia owned Alaska and how the Soviet and US militaries partnered during World War II.

He spoke more than twice as long as Trump, who talked for only three minutes and admitted that the talks resulted in an agreement to hold more talks.

“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway. So there’s no deal until there’s a deal,” the US president said.

Trump and Putin also refused to take questions.

As a result, the summit ended with “nothing concrete”, Kucherenko said, as Putin said the “root causes” of the war should be addressed before any ceasefire or real steps towards a peace settlement are made.

“In order to make the [future peace] settlement lasting and long term, we need to eliminate all the primary roots, the primary causes of that conflict, and we’ve said it multiple times, to consider all legitimate concerns of Russia,” Putin said.

“Root causes” is Putin’s code for rejecting Ukraine’s existence outside Moscow’s political shadow and denying its very sovereignty.