1. The Institute for the Study of War’s 18 August Campaign Assessment:
The Kremlin did not publicly commit to a bilateral or trilateral leader-level meeting, contrary to US President Donald Trump's announcement following the August 18 multilateral summit.
Western leaders reaffirmed the importance of strong security guarantees for Ukraine to ensure a just and lasting peace at the August 18 summit.
Western leaders expressed support for a ceasefire that may follow a possible future trilateral meeting between Trump, Zelensky, and Putin.
Russian forces conducted long-range strikes against Ukrainian rear areas that resulted in civilian casualties ahead of the August 18 White House meetings.
Russian budgetary constraints are forcing Russia to employ alternative mechanisms to fund enlistment bonus payments and recruit soldiers for its war in Ukraine.
Russian forces are struggling to exploit the infiltration in the Dobropillya direction in the face of continued Ukrainian counterattacks.
A Russian service member recently murdered a Ukrainian woman in the Pokrovsk direction in clear violation of international law.
Ukrainian forces recently advanced near Dobropillya. Russian forces recently advanced near Lyman, Toretsk, and Pokrovsk. (Source: understandingwar.org)
2. Bloomberg:
US and European officials will immediately work on providing Ukraine with robust security guarantees to open a path for a landmark meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to people familiar with the matter.
The guarantees will center on bolstering Ukraine’s military forces and capabilities without any limitations, such as restrictions on its troop numbers, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations. The aim is to avoid Russia demanding restrictions on the size of Kyiv’s military as part of a future agreement to end the war.
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