Yermak meets with US envoy Witkoff, France and Germany pledge air defenses for Ukraine - Friday brief
RBC-Ukraine collage
The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, met with US Special Representative Steve Witkoff. Meanwhile, France and Germany promised Ukraine more air defense systems.
Read more about what happened on Friday, August 29.
Ukraine’s Presidential Office head holds talks with Witkoff in US: First details
Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian Presidential Office, met in New York with US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, according to Yermak's post on X.
"The key priority is to push forward real diplomacy and ensure the implementation of all the agreements reached at the Washington summit. We are coordinating our efforts," Yermak said.
After the meeting, the head of the Presidential Administration also noted that the US is not forcing Ukraine to cede its territories to Russia in exchange for peace. There is no pressure from Washington.
He said he discussed security guarantees for Ukraine with Witkoff. The US special envoy confirmed that his country is prepared to provide direct guarantees to Ukraine, similar to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty.
France and Germany to provide Ukraine with more air defense systems
France and Germany will provide Ukraine with more air defense systems and will cooperate more closely in the security sphere, according to The Guardian and AFP.
According to reports, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron made a statement following the 25th Franco-German Council of Ministers in Toulon.
The joint statement includes a commitment to start a strategic dialogue on nuclear deterrence and broader coordination of the two countries’ security policies.
Trump reportedly backs Putin idea of Chinese peacekeepers in Ukraine
US President Donald Trump allegedly supported for the first time the idea of Chinese peacekeepers in Ukraine, which had been advanced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the White House says this is not true.
Sources told the agecy that Trump allegedly supported the idea of deploying Chinese peacekeepers in Ukraine. Last week, during a meeting at the White House with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he proposed sending Chinese soldiers to Ukraine to monitor a neutral zone along the 1,300-kilometer front line of Ukraine.
According to the sources, European leaders rejected this plan, as did the President of Ukraine. Earlier, Zelenskyy and Europe indicated that China provides the Russian regime with critically important support in the war.
The White House, for its part, said this is not true. Trump, they said, did not propose Chinese peacekeepers for Ukraine.
Kuybyshev Refinery in Russia's Samara suspends operations after drone attack, media reports
In the Russian city of Samara, drones attacked the Kuybyshev Oil Refinery on August 28. As a result, the refinery suspended its operations, ASTRA informs.
According to reports, the facility was attacked by at least 29 drones.
Local authorities did not confirm the attack on the refinery, stating that the attack had been repelled and the fire was quickly extinguished, without specifying what exactly had burned.
According to ASTRA’s sources in the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, the massive attack caused at least seven fire outbreaks at the plant. As of August 28, the facility had completely suspended its operations.
