Sirpa Maenpaa

Трамп созвонился с Путиным Президенты России и США Владимир Путин и Дональд Трамп провели телефонный разговор, американский лидер проинформировал коллегу об итогах переговоров с... РИА Новости, 19.08.2025

Kremlin may provide more information, but initial readout from Putin adviser Ushakov is spare and not cause for optimism: "The presidents discussed the idea to study the possibility of raising the level of Moscow and Kyiv representatives in talks." ria.ru/20250819/raz...

Interesting details in Trump's readout of his call with Putin: He's now aiming for a meeting between Zelensky and Putin, followed by a crowning "trilat" he will attend.
And he delegates Vance, Rubio and Witkoff to deal with Kyiv and Moscow—but not Kellogg. truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

Outline emerges of Putin's offer to end his war in Ukraine Sources say their knowledge of the offer was mostly based on discussions between leaders.

Outline emerges of Putin's offer to end his war in Ukraine reut.rs/4oKCsyW

#UPDATE US President Donald Trump has ruled out an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after his summit with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska and said a direct peace agreement would end the war.

PayPal, WhatsApp, Grammarly — 10 global companies you didn't know have Ukrainian roots It's a fact little known around the world: Some of the biggest names in tech were founded by Ukrainian-born entrepreneurs, including PayPal, WhatsApp, and Grammarly. These companies, now headquartere...

Here are 10 of the world's most recognizable tech companies founded or co-founded by Ukrainians.

How Finland’s Golf-Loving President Got Trump to Hear Him Out on Russia “He’s a very good player,” President Trump said of Alexander Stubb, who warned after the two played a round at Trump’s club that Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be trusted.

President Trump and Finnish President Alexander Stubb have formed an unexpected bond, exchanging texts and calls at odd hours.

The peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, signed in Washington, is a defeat for Russia in the South Caucasus - Russian propagandist Dugin.

🇺🇦 Zelensky has indicated Ukraine may agree to end the war by freeze the front lines where they are, - The Telegraph

What do you think? 👀

Unresolved property issues haunt stalled Cyprus peace process Decades-old property disputes stemming from Cyprus's unresolved division are stirring tensions on the island, threatening to derail fragile progress in United Nations-led reconciliation attempts.

Unresolved property issues haunt stalled Cyprus peace process reut.rs/40TgM9r

Ukraine and Russia have agreed to hold a leader's summit in Türkiye, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.

He said that before attending a summit,technical issues related to the ceasefire should be resolved,as President Zelenskyy&Putin have different preconditions to it.

🇺🇦 The Ukrainian delegation has proposed holding a meeting between the leaders of Ukraine and Russia by the end of August.

It is necessary to first discuss the settlement agreement before the leaders of Russia and Ukraine could meet, Medinsky said.

Ukraine has agreed to consider the Russian Federation's proposal on online working groups, Medinsky said.

RUSSIA'S MEDINSKY SAYS WE HAVE PROPOSED UKRAINE TO ESTABLISH THREE WORKING GROUPS TO WORK ONLINE

As a Finn I find ambition level ”matching Finland” both interesting and confusing. Having worked parts of my life with Finland’s development cooperation, I understand the reference of achieving real support to development in host country. But I’m not sure we are model of using soft power influence.

We call such ideas social innovations. Both my (now adult) children were wrapped in the beautiful contents of these boxes when born. toolbox.finland.fi/finland-in-s...

Explainer on prisoner swaps.

Description of the historical context of Korean armistice, mentioned as one of options for ending war in Ukraine. (You can check The Insider in Wikipedia, credible enough to share)

Collecting pieces from Istanbul. Bright side: they agreed valuable humanitarian conf build measures. Hosts say delegations were calm and went for lunch. They suggested to meet again.

Maybe they can continue talking CBMs while fighting. Even preparing ceasefire just in case, as details take time?

The Russian memorandum of demands is still a complete surrender. As we all knew, Russia dare not submit it before the meeting, because it's as far from compeomise or peace as it's possible to be, and that would have upset Putin.

Here's the English translation:

Key provisions of the Russian memorandum on the "Ukrainian settlement",handed over to #Ukraine by the Russian delegation during the negotiations in Istanbul

Same old stuff -give 4regions to Russia,don't get any Western weapons,limit the number of🇺🇦 Defense Forces, sanctions removed,no reparations⤵️

Head of Ukraine's delegation and Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov (L) speaks at a press conference at the Ciragan Palace in Istanbul, on June 2, 2025 after talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations

Vladimir Medinsky (3rd from L), head of the Russian delegation, gives a statement to the press after talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations in Istanbul, on June 2, 2025

#UPDATE Ukraine and Russia agreed to another large-scale prisoner exchange at talks in Istanbul on Monday, but failed to make a breakthrough on an immediate halt to the fighting ➡️ u.afp.com/SGoE

Fascinating story on arms control from efforts of ending war as means of policy, through decades of arms control negotiations, to possible limitations near an eventual Russia-Ukraine ceasefire line.

(In spring Renata Dwan talked in CMI seminar of links btw arms control & mediation. Start by this.)

China forms new global mediation group with dozens of countries Dozens of countries have joined China in establishing an international mediation-based dispute resolution group.

Quite something. Looks like China is ready to step up and start building its position as a global ordering power.

Officials from US, UK, France, Germany to attend Ukraine-Russia peace talks, Kellogg says Security advisors from the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany will attend planned peace talks between Ukraine and Russia on June 2, U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg,...

⚡️Officials from US, UK, France, Germany to attend Ukraine-Russia peace talks, Kellogg says.

Exclusive: Putin, for Ukraine peace, wants a pledge to halt NATO enlargement, sources say President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, according to three Russian sources with knowledge of the negotiations.

President Vladimir Putin's conditions for ending the war in Ukraine include a demand that Western leaders pledge in writing to stop enlarging NATO eastwards and lift a chunk of sanctions on Russia, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations reut.rs/4kfD3WF

The meeting between Presidents Zelenskyy,Trump, &Putin may take place in Geneva,US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said

In an interview with Fox News,Kellogg said that such a meeting would become possible when Russia hands over its peace memorandum, adding that Ukraine has already done it

US Senators Call for Return of Kidnapped Ukrainian Children Before Any Deal

Bipartisan group introduces what experts describe as ‘essential step’ towards returning Ukrainian kids and ensuring that Putin is not allowed to hold children in violation of Geneva Conventions 👇🏻

kyivpost.com/post/53051

Tips for understanding what a ceasefire agreement contains. Temporary cf or armistice ending war - use of concepts varies.
- Read chapter 4 on contents of cf agr in UN guidance peacemaker.un.org/en/documents...
- Read a cf agr from UN, Uppsala or Edinburgh peace agreement database.
- Ask your fav AI