Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,283

On Saturday, August 30th, 2018, here is how things are going.

Fighting

• Authorities raised the death toll from the attack from 25 to 24 after a massive Russian drone and missile attack in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Thursday.

Weapons

• According to the Pentagon, the US Department of State has approved the potential sale of Ukraine’s Patriot air defense system support and related equipment for an estimated $ 179.1 million.

Peace talks

The US warned Moscow to take economic measures if the conflict continues, blaming the US for its continued use of deadly missile and drone strikes on Ukraine.
• Yulia Svyrydenko, the prime minister of Ukraine, stated to the UNSC that “Russia continues to choose killing over ending the war” as a result of its continued attacks.
• Moscow’s deputy UN ambassador, Dmitry Polyanskiy, stated that it was willing to hold a summit with Ukraine “provided there is thorough prior preparation for such a meeting and the substantive content of it, otherwise it would simply not have any meaning.”
• In the event of a truce with Russia, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged allies to raise the issue of security guarantees for Ukraine to the level of leaders. In response, EU defense ministers have pledged to train Kyiv’s troops on Ukrainian soil.
• The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, said that the EU’s top diplomats at the Copenhagen summit “strongly support” expanding the bloc’s military training program to include Ukraine.
• President Zelenskyy added that US President Donald Trump should also be a part of the discussions and that he anticipated continuing discussions with European leaders next week regarding “NATO-like” commitments to protect Ukraine.
• Invoking a 1994 agreement whereby Kyiv agreed to give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees that proved insufficient to deter Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian leader added that he wanted the country’s allies to ratify any security guarantees through their parliaments.
• By making Kyiv a “strategic provocateur” on Russia’s borders, according to Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, proposals for security guarantees for Ukraine would increase the likelihood of Moscow and the West engaging in conflict.
• The best security guarantee for Ukraine, according to Estonia’s defense minister, would be NATO membership.

Regional security

• Following a meeting between Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron, Germany and France have discussed ways to work together more closely on security, including developing a missile early-warning system.

diplomacy and politics

• Andriy Yermak, the head of the Ukrainian president’s cabinet, met with Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy, to discuss the need to pressure Moscow to achieve peace.
• After criticizing President Trump’s envoy and Ukraine negotiator Steve Witkoff, US Vice President JD Vance criticized what he called “journalistic malpractice” by German-owned US news outlet Politico. According to Vance, “It’s a foreign influence operation that’s meant to harm the administration and one of our most powerful members.”
• President Putin spoke with China’s top official Xinhua news agency in a written interview about “discriminatory” sanctions on global trade, which “hodily hinder the world’s socioeconomic development.” Putin will spend four days in China, which the Kremlin describes as “unprecedented,” from Sunday through Wednesday.