Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,271

On Monday, August 18, 2018, this is how things are going.

diplomacy and politics

The leaders of several European nations made it known that they would travel to the White House on Monday to meet with US President Donald Trump to discuss ending Russia’s conflict with Ukraine.
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Alexander Stubb, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will be with Zelenskyy.
• At a summit with Trump in Alaska on Friday, White House envoy Steve Witkoff claimed on Sunday that Vladimir Putin had agreed to “robust security guarantees” for Ukraine that would “change the game.”
• Zelenskyy applauded Witkoff’s announcement, calling it “historical decision” that the US is “ready to participate in security guarantees for Ukraine.” He added, however, that “Europe’s participation must be a part of the guarantees.”
• On Monday, Macron stated that European leaders would be asked “in what ways” Washington would participate in the security guarantees. There is only one state, according to Macron, who would propose a capitulation for peace.
• Von der Leyen expressed his satisfaction with the US’s proposal as an offer of security guarantees akin to NATO, noting that “the coalition of the willing, including the European Union, is ready to do its share.”
• Maria Zakharova, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Macron’s capitulation claims were an “absolute lie” in a statement shared on Telegram on Sunday.
• In an apparent reference to the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhia, and Crimea, Witkoff said in an interview with CNN that Russia had “made some concessions” in relation to “all five of those regions.”
• Trump said he was aiming for a peace deal without a prior ceasefire, but that a ceasefire is “is not off the table” and that “what we ultimately are aiming for is the end of this war.” Rubio made the statement on NBC.
• Trump simply stated, “BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA,” in a post on his Truth Social platform on Sunday morning. Without going into more detail, STAY TUNED!

Fighting

• In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Ukrainian Governor Vadym Filashkin claimed five people were killed and four were hurt by Russian forces in the Donetsk region of the country. According to Filashkin, two people were killed in Raiske, two more were killed in Sviatohorivka, and one more was killed in Kostiantynivka.
• In a post on Telegram on Sunday, Russian governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that four people were hurt in a Ukrainian drone attack on a commercial facility in the village of Rakitnoye in the country’s Belgorod region.
• In a single day, Ukrainian forces used 111 drones and 52 munitions to attack 13 locations across Belgorod, according to a report from Russia’s state-run TASS news agency on Sunday.
• Russian forces also destroyed four aerial bombs and 300 drones in the first day, according to a report from TASS on Sunday.
• The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ General Staff claimed that Ukrainian forces had detained and occupied the Russian city of Pokrovsk. The General Staff added in a post on Telegram on Sunday that Ukrainian forces had advanced by 1 km (0. 6 miles) in the Sumy region’s Yablunivka region.