Here are the key events on day 1,260 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Here is how things stand on Thursday, August 7:
Fighting
- Russian artillery shelling on a car belonging to Ukraine’s state emergency services killed three people, including an emergency worker, and injured four others in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Nikopol, the regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said.
- Dozens of Russian drones attacked a gas pumping station in southern Ukraine, part of an LNG imports scheme from the United States and Azerbaijan, Ukraine’s Ministry of Energy said.
- Russia struck a gas facility in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Ukraine’s gas reserves are now at their lowest in 12 years, with storage facilities currently less than a third full, according to analysis firm ExPro.
Ceasefire
- US President Donald Trump said his envoy Steve Witkoff made “great progress” in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Trump added that he updated some of Washington’s allies in Europe after the meeting.
- Witkoff held about three hours of talks with Putin in the Kremlin on Wednesday, two days before the expiry of a deadline set by Trump for Russia to agree to peace in Ukraine or face new sanctions.
- The US has a better understanding of the conditions under which Moscow would be prepared to end its war in Ukraine after the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, adding that the key elements of any agreement would involve territory.
- Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said talks between Putin and Witkoff were “useful and constructive”. He said Moscow had received certain “signals” from Trump and had sent messages in return.
- President Zelenskyy said he had discussed Witkoff’s visit to Moscow with Trump and that he had reiterated Ukraine’s support for a just peace and its continued determination to defend itself.
- Zelenskyy added that it seemed Russia was “more inclined to a ceasefire” following Witkoff’s meeting. “The pressure on them works. But the main thing is that they do not deceive us in the details – neither us nor the US,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly address.
- Trump could meet Putin as soon as next week, a White House official said, as the US continued preparations to impose secondary sanctions, including potentially on China, to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine.
- Trump said he could announce further tariffs on China, similar to the 25 percent duties announced earlier on India, over its purchases of Russian oil.
Military aid
- Ukraine’s Defence Minister Denys Shmyhal thanked the US for approving more than $200m in deals to supply arms to Ukraine, which will be funded by Kyiv’s allies. The partner-funded packages will provide technical support for howitzers and logistical services, he wrote on X.
Regional developments
- Germany’s coalition government plans to cut state benefits for newly arrived Ukrainian refugees, which could result in 100 euros ($116) less per month per refugee, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a draft law.
- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte discussed with Lithuania’s foreign minister the subject of Russian military drone violations of Lithuanian airspace, a NATO spokesperson said.
