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Europe
European Council
August 19, 2025 The EU Treaty puts representing the bloc externally on matters of common foreign affairs and security policy squarely in the hands of the Council president. Costa and his team worked through the peak holiday period to ink joint statements from the EU capitals backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity and Europe’s role in negotiations. As the official representative of the EU’s heads of government, leaders might object if they perceive Costa as sleepwalking through a Commission power-grab. Costa, a former Portuguese prime minister, has been reluctant to meet Trump, especially in person, telling journalists there’s no reason to make the pilgrimage to Washington or Mar-a-Lago when he can just pick up the telephone. The Socialist, who is still refining his English skills, likely has little to gain from quality time with Trump and needs to stay on the good side of powerful conservatives if he wants a second 2.5-year term. (Source: Politico - U.S.)
European Union
August 19, 2025 7:10 am CET EU ambassadors convened in Coreper at 1 a.m. for a quick debrief. Just 12 hours later, their top bosses are set to log on for a virtual EUCO at 1 p.m. CET. (Source: Politico - U.S.)
Ukraine
August 20, 2025 The United States and most of Europe would prefer to avoid a physical entanglement in the conflict. Thus far, NATO’s member states have provided tens of billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine. They have also trained Ukrainian troops on how to wage modern warfare. However, putting boots on the ground as part of a security guarantee is a wholly different matter - and something that many NATO nations have expressed deep reticence about. Meanwhile, the European Union is preparing another sanctions package against Russia. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
United Kingdom
Tuesday 19 August 2025 19:42 BST Sir Keir Starmer has led a follow-up meeting to the White House gathering with 30 international leaders to discuss the next steps for ensuring Ukraine’s security. The United Kingdom has taken a leading role in shaping European proposals. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spearheaded the creation of a ’coalition of the willing’, a group of allies prepared to go further than financial and weapons support. Under this plan, international reassurance forces could be deployed in Ukraine „after a ceasefire or peace deal”, helping to deter renewed Russian attacks and to provide reassurance that Kyiv is not left to stand alone. The plan was discussed in a virtual meeting today attended by more than 30 international leaders. The virtual meeting, co-chaired by Sir Keir, also discussed possible further sanctions on Russia. The European Union’s existing training mission for Ukrainian troops will also continue in the years ahead. Moscow has dismissed Western plans for security guarantees. The Russian foreign ministry yesterday reiterated its opposition to the deployment of Nato or Nato-affiliated troops in Ukraine, warning that such a move would be seen as a direct threat to Russia’s security. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)
(Tuesday), August 19, 2025 5:13 pm A new book about Prince Andrew, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York by Lownie was published in the UK by Murdoch’s publishing company, HarperCollins, in around 60,000 copies. Entitled was released in the UK last Thursday, with extracts serialised in the Daily Mail depicting Prince Andrew as arrogant, self-serving, and in denial about his links to Epstein, the disgraced financier and convicted paedophile who died in a New York prison in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. The book claims that the Duke of York was a useful idiot to Esptein, who gave him respectability, access to political leaders, and business opportunities. The book also claims that while the Royal Family banned the Duke and Duchess of Sussex from mixing personal business with working on behalf of the monarch, Andrew was doing it for at least 25 years. While Andrew was still in the Royal Navy and undertaking official engagements on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II, he was in business or working closely with Margaret Thatcher’s son Mark in Azerbaijan in the mid-1990s, and stayed there on extended periods of leave. Later, Andrew became the UK’s special representative for trade and investment. His frequent trips to the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and the Gulf states were often official visits, but according to the book, there were private trips too, and some mixing both, in breach of royal travel rules. Claims about Trump’s wife Melania and her relationship with Epstein will be deleted from future editions of the book. It comes after Melania threatened to sue former president Biden’s son, Hunter, for $1bn after he claimed Epstein introduced her to Trump. It also follows Trump’s threat to sue Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal for $10bn over claims that he wrote a bawdy birthday card to Epstein containing the outline of a naked woman. In the US, the book is self-published by Mr Lownie. (Source: The i Paper - United Kingdom)
'Europe'
19th August 2025 A geopolitical pantomime. The leaders of Ukraine’s European allies remain utterly dependent on America’s protection. Following President Trump’s Alaska summit with Russian president Putin on Friday, they got to spend a few hours on Monday acting like world statesmen in the East Room. And they did so in front of The Donald himself. It was quite a performance on the part of British prime minister Keir Starmer, French president Macron, German chancellor Friedrich Merz and a few others. In between offering praise and thanks to Trump for his efforts to end the war in Ukraine, they talked of the importance of maintaining European security, and of the necessity, in Starmer’s words, of achieving a ‘lasting peace’. The leaders promise to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes. They’ve drawn up plans to form a so-called coalition of the willing to defend the future borders of Europe’s eastern-most nation. Over the course of the past three-and-a-half years of war, they haven’t exactly rallied to Ukraine’s side. Yes, they’ve sent arms, but only reluctantly and slowly. And the financial aid they’ve wired to Kyiv may be in the billions. But it’s been dwarfed by the amount they’re still spending on Russian fossil fuels. Last year, EU member states spent €21.9 billion on Russian oil and gas while allocating just €18.7 billion to Ukraine in financial aid. The key objective of their trip to the White House was to beg America to continue to shoulder the burden of Europe’s defence – as it has done for decades, even after the end of the Cold War. That’s why Monday’s discussion between Trump and Ukraine’s allies seemed to focus so much on the so-called security guarantees the US could offer Ukraine after the war’s end. They were desperate for the US to continue to play a key role in deterring ’future Russian aggression’, to continue to play its decades-long role of ’Europe’s protector. The original aim of NATO, that archetypal Cold War institution, was to keep the Americans in Europe and the Soviet Union out, to paraphrase its first secretary general, Lord Ismay. It seems the aim of Europe in a potential postwar Ukraine is similar – to keep the US invested in Europe’s protection while deterring an irredentist Kremlin. Europe’s leaders know Trump is understandably desperate to bring an end to the war. They know, too, especially after Friday’s summit with Putin, that the US is prepared to give ground to Russia, whatever the cost to Ukraine. On Friday afternoon in Anchorage, Alaska, there was open talk of ‘land swaps’, as if Trump and Putin were negotiating a real-estate deal rather than carving up a sovereign nation. Putin wants Ukraine to give up the Donbas region in its entirety, even the parts Russia has not won on the battlefield. ’Europe’s leaders seemingly did not dare broach this issue at the White House summit. In the interests of preserving the semblance of Western unity, indeed in the interests of keeping Trump onside, they buried the very real points of contention and animosity between Ukraine and Russia beneath platitudes and pleasantries. The result was a summit lacking in real substance. A summit that didn’t set potential negotiations between the US, Ukraine and Russia back, but didn’t advance them either. Before entertaining Europe’s leaders, Trump called Putin for a catch-up. After they had departed, Trump called the Russian leader again to give him an update. It was a telling moment. Europe was treated as a child to be placated and patronised, while the grown-ups got on with the serious business of geopolitics. This was a hastily arranged summit designed to showcase Europe’s power and influence. Instead, it exposed the opposite. (Source: Spiked - United Kingdom)
by Black, associate editor of Spiked.
Africa
Nigeria
August 20, 2025 The death toll from a shooting at a mosque in northwestern Nigeria has risen to 50. Gunmen stormed the mosque in the town of Unguwan Mantau, in Katsina state, during morning prayers yesterday. Such attacks are common in Nigeria’s northwestern and north-central regions, where local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. Separate from the conflict between farming and herding communities, Nigeria is battling to contain Boko Haram insurgents in the northeast, where some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than 2 million displaced, according to the United Nations. (Source: ABCNews - U.S.)
Asia
Israel
20/08/2025 - 20:10 Israel has entered the first stages of its planned assault on Gaza City after a clash with Hamas and already has a hold on the outskirts of the city, Israeli military spokesman Defrin told today. (Source: France 24)
20/08/2025 - 13:54 GMT+2 Israel to call up 60,000 reservists ahead of new military operation in Gaza City. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said today that the Defence Minister Katz has approved plans to begin a new phase of operations in one of Gaza's most densely populated areas, and that it would also lengthen the service of an additional 20,000 reservists currently part of its forces. Israeli troops are already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabaliya neighbourhoods of Gaza City to prepare the groundwork for the expanded operation. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has consistently said the main objectives of the war are to secure the release of the remaining hostages and ensure Hamas and other militants can never again threaten Israel. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
North America
United States
20 August 2025 Director of National Intelligence Gabbard sent out an email to Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) employees yesterday announcing the launch of 'ODNI 2.0,' the culmination of a months-long effort to reduce redundancies and cut costs, including employees. This will reduce ODNI by over 40 percent by the end of the fiscal year 2025 and save taxpayers over $700 million per year, an ODNI press release announcing the shift says. ODNI oversees 18 separate intelligence arms of the U.S. government, serving as a hub designed to connect them. When Gabbard took over the agency, it had between 1,850 - 2,000 staff. Some officials noted how the reforms will target the 'deep state'. The layoffs would be effective by September 30, 2025. Artificial Intelligence and how foreign actors can deploy the technology is an area of interest for the agency. Fighting insurgents abroad, like isis, is now less of a focus. Other disciplines, like the ODNI's Foreign Malign Influence Center (FMIC), are being shut down altogether. The National Intelligence University (NIU) will merge with the National Defense University (NDU) into a joint program now overseen by Secretary of Defense Hegseth instead of the ODNI. Sen. Cotton, the chair of the Senate's intelligence committee, recently put forward a proposal that would limit the number of ODNI staff to 650. (Source: Daily Mail - United Kingdom)
Tuesday 19 August 2025 19:12 BST Like unruly schoolchildren. New pics of Trump holding court in Oval Office branded ‘embarrassing’ as ’world’ leaders - his European counterparts on chairs opposite him - sit around his desk. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom) /Photo/
(19 August 2025) Why Oval Office map has played crucial role in Trump's view of Ukraine war? (Source: BBC – United Kingdom)
August 19, 2025, 12:35 PM After the Trump Ukraine Summit what was actually agreed to? Nearly all the big questions remain unanswered. During his Oval Office meeting with Zelensky yesterday, Trump twice declined to rule out sending in U.S. troops to ensure Ukraine’s security as part of a final peace deal. Today, he once again ruled out having U.S. troops participate in any Ukraine peacekeeping force. He said that Washington could potentially provide air support. He suggested that Britain and France could take the lead in backstopping Ukraine’s sovereignty after any eventual peace deal. The Russian Foreign Ministry rejected outright the idea of any NATO troops in Ukraine to shield the country from renewed Russian aggression. It’s also unclear what is meant by the notion of “Article 5-like” security guarantees for Ukraine that Trump envoy Witkoff said Putin had agreed to at the Alaska summit. Article 5 is NATO’s mutual-defense clause; without the involvement of the trans-Atlantic alliance, there is no formal mechanism to bind any ’coalition of the willing’ to come to Ukraine’s future defense. Ukraine isn’t a member of NATO. The apparent condition that Trump conceded after his Alaska meeting with Russian President Putin about Ukraine never joining the alliance also raises questions about just how to guarantee the long-term security of Ukraine. What good are these security guarantees when Ukraine watched the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the 2015 Minsk accords be shredded by all signatories? Trump reportedly interrupted his follow-on meeting with European leaders late Monday to speak with Putin about a meeting with Zelensky. Yet it remains unclear if Russia - which has refused previous entreaties from Kyiv - would agree to such a meeting, and if so, where it would be held and what the agenda might be. Would Ukraine be able to countenance surrendering Crimea? The eastern Ukrainian territories collectively known as the Donbas are trickier; some parts, such as Donetsk, are still battlegrounds and have not yet become Russian enclaves, with industries, as well as a future hope for natural gas extraction. Hiving off the entirety of eastern Ukraine to appease Russia would leave Ukraine smaller, but also with a hungry neighbor poised to use its new acquisitions as a launchpad for future land grabs.Ukraine’s constitution bars the cession of national territory unless such a move is ratified by a nationwide referendum. What would a U.S.-brokered agreement that legitimized the forcible redrawing of national borders do to the international system? The United States, at least beginning in the 20th century, used to be firmly opposed to wars of annexation. But then, prior U.S. administrations didn’t openly entertain the idea of annexing Greenland, reclaiming the Panama Canal, or forcibly making Canada the 51st state. So that rules-based order might be dead already. What would any peace deal do about reparations and war reconstruction? The United Nations already tabulates Russia’s damage to Ukraine at $524 billion and counting. Europe, the United States, and a few other countries still hold nearly $300 billion of frozen Russian Central Bank assets, which ’could be used to pay for part of the reconstruction’. The staggering Russian economy is hardly in a position to underwrite Ukraine’s recovery, even if the Kremlin agreed to do so. That would likely leave the bill on Ukraine and its European neighbors. What happens if all this diplomacy comes to naught? Trump has previously said he would walk away from the Ukraine peace process if he can’t force an agreement. If Ukraine can’t abide national amputation, or if security guarantees don’t materialize, or if Russian peace overtures prove hollow after all, both sides may be back to the trenches by the autumn. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)
By Johnson, a staff writer at Foreign Policy covering geoeconomics and energy.
19.08.2025 US Secretary of State Rubio will head US-Ukraine-Europe security guarantee commission with Ukrainian and European officials to develop comprehensive security guarantees for Ukraine, potentially featuring American air power. Ukrainian and European national security advisers will join discussions to formulate an arrangement within the coming days. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
August 19, 2025 America’s coming crash. Will Washington’s debt addiction spark the next global crisis? (Source: Foreign Affairs – U.S.)
Tuesday 19 August 2025 07:46, UK Key takeaways from White House talks between Trump, Zelenskyy and EU leaders. Security guarantees: The US leader said that there would be some form of security guarantees for Ukraine, but did not reveal whether this would involve US troops. Mr Trump said Mr Putin agreed that Russia would accept security guarantees for Ukraine. He added: ’I think that the European nations are going to take a lot of the burden. We're going to help them, and we're going to make it very secure.’ "When we speak about security guarantees, we speak about the whole security of the European continent,’ French President Macron said. No ceasefire needed for peace deal: For the past six months, a ceasefire has been Mr Trump's priority, but after meeting Mr Putin in Alaska,suddenly it's not. Mr Putin wants a settlement first, ceasefire later. Ukraine and Europe want a ceasefire first, then a deal. Mr Trump said there did not need to be a ceasefire in Ukraine, because a peace deal could be worked out while Ukraine and Russia are at war. But German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said "we would all like to see a ceasefire". Trilateral meeting: The US president said that there will be a trilateral meeting between himself, Mr Putin and Zelenskyy. The latter said he was ready for such a meeting and Mr Trump confirmed that Mr Putin was as well. Mr Macron said that while a trilateral meeting is important, a quadrilateral summit would also need to take place after. Exchanges of territory: "We also need to discuss the possible exchanges of territory," the US president said ahead of the multilateral talks. He said such exchanges would need to take into consideration the current line of contact. This comes after Mr Putin has reportedly made demands to take control of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine during the Alaska summit with Mr Trump as a condition for ending the war. Zelenskyy previously ruled out handing any territory to Moscow. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)
19 August 2025 - 07:00 Trump administration revoked more than 6,000 student visas, state department says. (Source: TimesLive - South Africa)
(19 August 2025) 06:44 “I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself. Again, this was a very good, early step,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He acknowledged a time and location for a gathering had not been set, adding that US Vice President Vance, Secretary of State Rubio and special envoy Witkoff would work to coordinate the possible meeting. Multiple European officials said that they expected another virtual meeting with Trump as soon today to discuss the particulars of security guarantees they could collectively offer to Kyiv. In Washington, the leaders spent the afternoon praising each other and underscoring their unity. 'During the meeting we discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine, which Guarantees would be provided by the various European Countries, with a coordination with the United States of America,' Trump said. 'Ukraine proposed buying $100 billion in American weapons and another $50 billion deal to produce drones with Ukrainian companies, with financing provided by Europe', the Financial Times reported yesterday. Trump publicly said he had convinced Putin that allowing allied security deals would be necessary for a peace deal, and indicated that 'he was interested in continuing to sell Kyiv weapons'. Zelenskiy cited a program to provide Patriot air defense batteries — 'paid for by European allies' — to the country. (Source: Luxembourg Times / Bloomberg - U.S.)
(19 August 2025) 06:34 After speaking with the European leaders, Trump called Putin, then said a summit between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders was being set up, with European leaders saying that could come within two to three weeks. A separate meeting with Trump joining them would follow afterward. For now, the leaders agreed to continue conversations to first hammer out security guarantees and leave the discussion about territories in the Donbas with Russia for later. After Trump and Putin spoke, Kremlin aide Ushakov said the two discussed the idea of raising the level of Russian and Ukrainian representatives taking part in direct talks. There was no commitment to Putin’s participation. (Source: Luxembourg Times / Bloomberg - U.S.)
NATO
20.08.2025 NATO's top military officials reiterated their commitment to supporting Ukraine during a meeting of the alliance’s chiefs of defense in Brussels. Dragone, NATO’s Military Committee chair described the gathering as a great, candid discussion and highlighted an update on the security environment delivered by the alliance’s new Supreme Allied Commander Europe. On Ukraine, Dragone said the alliance confirmed its support, stressing that the priority remains a just, credible and durable peace. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
South America
Venezuela
Aug. 19, 2025 US deploys warships near Venezuela (Source: Korea Herald - South Korea)
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