🇺🇸🇷🇺 Trump says he’ll meet Putin in Alaska next week

The plan, which Putin presented to Trump’s foreign envoy Steve Witkoff in a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday, would require Ukraine to cede the eastern Donbas region — the majority of which is currently occupied by Russia — as well as Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/08/politics/trump-putin-meeting

🇺🇦🇷🇺🇺🇸Zelensky:

Any decisions against us, any decisions without Ukraine are simultaneously decisions against peace. They will bring nothing. These are dead decisions; they will never work.

🇺🇸🕊 Trump: "As President, my highest aspiration is to bring peace and stability to the world. Today's signing follows our success with India and Pakistan... the Congo and Rwanda... Also, just recently, Thailand and Cambodia... We've saved a lot of lives."

🔗 Rapid Response 47

🇺🇸🇦🇲🤝🇦🇿 Leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shake hands and sign deal at White House peace summit

The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan shook hands Friday at a White House peace summit before signing an agreement aimed at ending decades of conflict.

The two countries in the South Caucasus signed agreements with each other and the U.S. that will reopen key transportation routes while allowing the U.S. to seize on Russia’s declining influence in the region. The deal includes an agreement that will create a major transit corridor to be named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity, the White House said.

https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-white-house-armenia-azerbaijan-069379e9c4a058c96af38afbf4684829

🇮🇱 The Telegraph has posted a photo of Jeffrey Epstein on his private jet in 2019.

This photo, may be one of the last taken of the financier, shows him wearing an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sweatshirt, The Telegraph reports

📝: But Republican pundits said Epstein was a Chinese agent.

🔗 Insider Paper

🇮🇳❌🇺🇸 India doubles down:

After President Trump doubles tariffs on India to 50% due to their purchases of Russian oil, Prime Minister Modi responds.

He thanks Putin "for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine" and reviewed progress on their "bilateral agenda."

Modi says he will be hosting Putin in India later this year.

🔗 Kobeissi Letter

🇺🇦❌🇷🇺🇺🇸 Ukraine, European nations propose plan to U.S. for Putin negotiations

European nations and Ukraine have responded to the 'Russian plan' for a ceasefire with a counterproposal that they believe should form the basis for future negotiations between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin

The Wall Street Journal reported the information, citing two informed European officials.

The proposal from Kyiv and its allies requires a mandatory ceasefire before any other steps are taken, and any "exchange of territories" would only be on a reciprocal basis – meaning if Ukraine withdraws its troops from some regions, Russia must withdraw its troops from others.

🔗 https://www.wsj.com/world/ukraine-and-europe-counter-putins-cease-fire-proposal-6a16133c

🇷🇴🇨🇩🇨🇩🇷🇼 How 300 Romanian Mercenaries Faced 8,000 Rebels in Congo

In January 2025, 300 Romanian mercenaries were encircled in the city of Goma, DRC. For years, they faced off thousands of rebel fighters and Rwandan military personnel. Eventually, the ROMEOs were corned, and had no other choice but to lay down their weapons. This is their story, from beginning to end, with exclusive footage you haven't seen anywhere online.

🔗 https://youtu.be/gkfKkcsVEQg

🇺🇦⚔️🇷🇺 The Ukrainian Army attempted to open up another front by invading the Bryansk Oblast but the incursion was thwarted by Russian border guards, writes Russian Telegram channel, Military Correspondent.

Early in the morning of August 9th, Ukrainian troops attacked in the direction of Brahlov and a skirmish ensued in the village of Manev.

The Russians had been suspecting the intention of Kiev to launch an incursion similar to the previous ones in Belgorod and Kursk oblasts. For the past two weeks, the number of strikes against various targets in Bryansk Oblast increased.

On August 2nd, Ukraine bombed a border crossing in Bryansk close to the area where incursion was attempted. On August 3rd, a bridge over the Tsata river that was mined by Ukrainian saboteurs was blown up using an FPV drone.

Unfazed by recent defeats and losses in the Donbas, Kharkov and Zaporozhzhia, Ukrainian leadership is prepared to commit the little reserves they have left on another Kursk-type adventure which, if successful, will not offer any leverage over Moscow to agree to give up its conquests.

@CIG_telegram

🇺🇸🇷🇺🌍 US and Russia Are Competing for Influence in Africa

Russia and the United States are vying for influence in West Africa, where Moscow has strengthened its partnerships and is looking to expand, according to a think tank report.

Analysis by the Critical Threats Project at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) outlined how Russia is filling a vacuum left by former colonizers, France and capitalizing on recent conflicts and autocratic regimes that mirror Moscow's.

Russia has strengthened partnerships with the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso, and is now looking to the coastal country of Togo for Atlantic port access to aid its logistics network from its landlocked allies, the CTP said.

But this greater Russian influence in Togo threatens the U.S. partnership with the country, which, along with its neighbors, is looking to do deals with both Moscow and Washington.

https://www.newsweek.com/russia-africa-us-influence-map-2109007