MOSCOW, August 19. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has met with Vladimir Zelensky and his European allies, India and China are deepening ties, and the US and South Korea are conducting joint military exercises. These stories topped Tuesday's headlines across Russia.

 

Vedomosti: Trump, Zelensky and his allies discuss situation in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump held a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky on August 18. Later, he had a separate session in the White House with Kiev’s allies. The talks were attended by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb.

The US leader told Zelensky that the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska was encouraging. He expressed hope about the possibility of a trilateral meeting for further progress. According to Trump, he believes that Putin seeks peace and the settlement must be long-lasting but, while both the parties to the conflict and the entire world aspire for peace, it is impossible to predict the timeframe of its achievement.

Trump vowed to provide Ukraine with substantial assistance in the security sphere without providing any details. In turn, Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army is in need of re-arming and he welcomes plans to supply Kiev with weapons.

Trump does not endorse Russia’s position and will not defend it as his own, said Director of the Center for North American Studies at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations Victoria Zhuravleva. The US president has the stance of a neutral intermediary, his task is to hear out the positions of both sides and find common ground. At a meeting with the European leaders, he will hear out their disagreements and wishes, will relate Putin’s proposals at the Alaska summit and suggest a compromise. According to the expert, this will be an "intermediate meeting," where Russia’s stance is unlikely to be fully accepted. One should not expect Trump to give in to the Europeans - he perceives his position as balanced and will stand up for it, Zhuravleva concluded.

The so-called European trio, Merz, Macron and Starmer, have wagered on collective diplomacy and, accordingly, on a "coordinated and unshakable position of the united European front," noted Vladislav Belov, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe. According to the Europeans, any peace talks must be conducted with Ukraine’s participation. Eurodiplomacy’s maximal goal is to insist on suspending potential "Alaska peace initiatives," including territorial concessions. However, the European leaders’ position is fragile and unstable due to Trump’s penchant for improvisation and his readiness to discuss either freezing the frontline or de facto recognizing Crimea and abandoning Ukraine’s accession to NATO. As a result, the course of the negotiations depends on a single person and not on "Europe’s systemic strength," the expert concluded.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Washington’s policy drives New Delhi closer to Beijing

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has arrived in New Delhi. He held talks with National Security Advisor of India Ajit Doval on the issue of the border in the Himalayas which for decades has been the cause of tensions between the two neighbors. A conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planned. It is expected that the sides will take a significant step toward each other. Modi’s upcoming visit to China for a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) slated for August 31 - September 1 in Tianjin will serve the same purpose.

Beijing’s Global Times provided a detailed commentary on Wang’s visit. It cites the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman who likens India to an elephant and China to a dragon, who can coexist peacefully. Especially since, according to the Chinese diplomat, both India and China are the countries of the Global South.

Meanwhile, Long Xingchun, a professor at the School of International Relations of Sichuan International Studies University, noted that the recent improvement in China-India relations stemmed from a meeting between the two countries’ leaders at the BRICS summit in Kazan late last year. Still, he stressed that much remains to be done for full normalization. Beyond easing border tensions, he said, direct passenger flights should be restored and tourist visa procedures simplified. Progress is possible, he added, pointing out that at the end of July India began issuing tourist visas to Chinese citizens for the first time in five years.

On the other hand, according to the Washington Post, none other than the US president himself is impacting the shifts in India’s foreign policy course. Retired Indian diplomats who met with Trump's top adviser on India, Ricky Gill, pointed out to him what frustrates India in the US’ actions. First of all, Trump had called India a "dead" economy and punished New Delhi with additional tariffs for buying Russian oil. Secondly, the Indians resent the fact that Trump keeps claiming credit for resolving the country’s recent military confrontation with Pakistan.

 

Izvestia: What is behind joint South Korea-US military exercises

The situation on the Korean peninsula remains tense, despite the more flexible stance of South Korea’s new leadership. Amid ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, the United States and its Asian allies are once again focusing on military coordination. The Ulchi Freedom Shield drills, which began on August 18, show that Seoul remains one of Washington's key partners in the strategic confrontation with China. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), for its part, condemned the drills and is ready to give a firm response. More than 18,000 South Korean soldiers are involved in the exercise.

According to military expert Dmitry Kornev, North Korea today possesses nuclear weapons and delivery systems that can strike the entire territory of South Korea.

"In the event of a possible conflict, they can use these arms. Therefore, one of the methods of counteraction is the use of American Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems, which South Korea operates," the expert believes. "The South Korean military needs to practice the detection of ballistic missiles and their interception. Such a scenario cannot be overlooked and must be rehearsed," Kornev added.

North Korea is a small country that has been thoroughly studied from space. South Korea collects a lot of intelligence about it, and most likely, it knows in detail the location of Pyongyang's nuclear facilities. According to military expert Vadim Kozyulin, plans for a preemptive strike against them have already been developed.

"The militaries on both sides are preparing for all possible outcomes, including the most improbable scenarios," he told Izvestia. "During such large-scale exercises as the current ones, with the participation of 18,000 South Korean troops alone, a nuclear strike can also be simulated. This is indeed a cause for concern for North Korea," the expert explained.

According to Kozyulin, sometimes such large-scale drills escalate into actual combat operations. That is why it is quite possible that the North Korean military is now on high alert.

"South Korea is in the sights of North Korean artillery, and Seoul is located close to the border, within range of shelling," the expert added. "Certainly, Seoul will proceed with caution, but much depends on the country's leadership and its strategy," Kozyulin concluded.

 

Kommersant: Russian oil deliveries to Hungary, Slovakia halted

The pumping of Russian oil via the southern branch of the Druzhba pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia has been temporarily suspended following an attack by Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles on an electrical substation.

Analysts estimate August deliveries to these countries at around 150,000 barrels per day or 60% of their overall oil consumption. Short-term interruptions can be covered by reserves but once the supplies run out, Hungarian and Slovak oil refineries may face shortages.

According to a Kommersant source, it is not difficult to secure alternative volumes on the market but their cost is the main issue. The process of finding another supplier may take several days, while the extent of the damage remains unclear and deliveries via Druzhba may resume shortly, the source added.

Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, noted that a line section or a pumping station may have been affected. According to him, repairing a line section may take several days while restoring a pumping station will require more time. Even with lowered pressure in the pipeline, oil deliveries may continue, though at reduced volume, the expert noted.

He reiterated that reserve capacities are available at oil refining plants, which allow them to operate for several weeks amid disrupted supplies.

 

Vedomosti: China buys record volumes of LNG in June 2025

In June 2025, China overtook Japan in terms of LNG import volumes (5.44 million tons), just as it did in May 2025 (with imports at 5.31 million tons). Japan was the world’s largest LNG buyer from December through April. China’s largest LNG supplier is Russia. In April, due to a trade war with the US which lasted until mid-May (suspended until November 10), Beijing completely halted purchases of US LNG, resuming imports in May.

China also receives pipeline gas from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Myanmar. According to Sergey Lukonin, head of the Sector of Economy and Politics of China at the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, it is quite possible that in May and June, when record-high LNG volumes were purchased, China was buying raw materials for future use. "Had additional restrictions over Ukraine been imposed on Russia, as the largest LNG supplier, LNG prices would have spiked," Lukonin believes. He also does not rule out that these volumes were linked to traditional preparations for the winter season. Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, added that energy consumption in China traditionally surges by July-August, prompting higher LNG purchases, so further record-breaking imports are quite possible.

Recently, China has become increasingly sensitive to LNG prices, Sergey Kaufman, an analyst at Finam Group, noted. According to him, during high price periods, the country resells part of the purchased volumes, while when prices ease, it boosts imports. Rising imports by China in July may be linked to the price factor: during that month, LNG prices declined after a temporary surge in June triggered by a short-lived conflict between Israel and Iran.

Yushkov emphasized that China’s oil refining volumes exceed its domestic consumption. "This is why they remain one of the world’s largest crude oil importers. It is refined, and petroleum products are exported to markets in Southeast Asia, Africa and even Latin America, where fuel and lubricants are in short supply," the expert explained.

TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews