Putin summons senior officials to discuss peace talks

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has summoned senior leadership for a meeting to discuss the progress of the talks ahead of his meeting with US President Donald Trump in Alaska.

Source: Kremlin-aligned Russian news agency Interfax; video by the Kremlin

Details: Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Putin "held a meeting at the highest level with members of Russia's senior leadership, as well as representatives of the government and presidential administration".

The Kremlin released images from the beginning of the meeting. They show Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, former defence minister Sergei Shoigu, current Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, General Staff Chief Valery Gerasimov, and other senior officials.

Putin said before the meeting that he would inform them about "the negotiation process on the Ukrainian crisis [as the Russian propaganda machine calls the war against Ukraine – ed.], how the negotiations are going in a bilateral format with the Ukrainian delegation".

"And the second thing to be discussed is our current stage with the US administration, which is taking very active and sincere measures to stop the fighting and reach agreements that are interesting for all parties to the conflict," Putin said.

Background: Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s foreign policy advisor, has reported that the meeting between Trump and Putin is scheduled for 11:30 on 15 August (22:30 Kyiv time). Five other Russian representatives will fly to the US with Putin.

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