Key events
Morning opening: Growing frustration over Putin’s refusal to move on Ukraine
Jakub Krupa
Europe looks on with growing frustration as the US-led peace efforts in Ukraine show little tangible progress amid continuing attacks, even as Russia – the aggressor – receives a warm and increasingly public embrace from China.
Europe ministers of EU countries are meeting in Copenhagen this morning, so we should get the latest EU line on this.
The US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said last night that “all options are on the table” as Russia’s Vladimir Putin “has done the opposite of following through on what he indicated he wanted to do” in the weeks since his summit with the US president, Donald Trump.
“As a matter of fact, he has in a despicable, despicable manner increased the bombing campaign,” he told Fox News.
His comments indicate growing frustration within the US administration with the lack of progress on Ukraine. But we are yet to hear from Trump himself.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Putin is diplomatically active in China, meeting Xi and India’s Modi for closed talks.
On Tuesday, Putin hailed the “unprecedented level” of Russian-Chinese friendship to Xi, and socialised with Modi, who went above and beyond by posting on his social media a picture of the pair sitting in a limousine together and praising the Russian leader for “always insightful” conversation.
They discussed “the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine,” Modi said, but it remains unlikely, if unclear, whether their way of getting to the outcome is anywhere near Europe’s preferred scenario.
Let’s see what the day brings us. I will bring you all the key updates here.
It’s Tuesday, 2 September 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
