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Zelenskyy presses for pain
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that the Ukraine war must be made “painful enough” to push Russia to peace talks, speaking at a news conference following a Coalition of the Willing summit in Kyiv.
“Ukraine war must be made 'painful enough' to push Russia to peace talks”
Zelenskyy put Russia’s spending on the continuing war at about €330 billion ($385 billion) compared with €130 billion ($152 billion) by Ukraine, while adding that Ukraine has a deficit of some €27 billion ($31.5 billion).
He argued the war should be “painful” to pressure the Russian public to push President Vladimir Putin toward negotiations, and said Ukraine needs the same competitive number (of drones), not money, because Russia has two times more money for today.
Zelenskyy also said Russia is trying to block Ukraine’s Black Sea corridor but has not imposed a total blockade, adding that “three to four ships a day enter and leave Greater Odesa” despite attacks on port infrastructure.
He said several options are being considered to keep the grain corridor open, including talks with "Russians" and strengthening air defenses along the route, and that Ukraine would receive new military and energy aid packages following the summit.
CIA trip and strike pause
U.S. media reports said CIA director John Ratcliffe visited Moscow on Tuesday, August 25, with Reuters and other outlets noting that neither the U.S. government nor the Kremlin officially confirmed the trip.
The Financial Times reported that Washington asked Ukraine, which agreed, not to attack the Russian capital, St. Petersburg, or other northern areas of Russia on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to allow the travel of a high-ranking American official.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters that he had "no information on that" when asked at his daily press briefing about the CIA chief’s Moscow visit.
DW reported that Ratcliffe is on a visit in Moscow on Tuesday (08/25/2026) according to reports by CBS and Axios, while the Washington or Moscow governments have not confirmed the information.
The same DW account said the U.S. military aircraft took off from Latvia toward Moscow’s Vnukovo airport earlier on Tuesday, according to Flightradar24 data.
Zimmerman and stalled talks
Several reports linked the Ratcliffe trip to the possible release of American Charles Zimmerman, who was sentenced in January to five years in prison in Russia for illegal possession and trafficking of weapons.
“amid rumors of a possible release of American Charles Zimmerman”
France 24 said the trip was amid rumors of a possible release of American Charles Zimmerman, and it described that Russian Telegram channels said Putin signed two secret decrees that could be related to Zimmerman’s amnesty.
El Mundo reported that a meeting with Vladimir Putin was not confirmed, while it said Meduza and iStories had detected that Putin signed two classified decrees and that one could be a pardon for Zimmerman.
El Mundo also said the CIA has participated in discussions with Russia about the release of several Americans still detained in Russian prisons, and it cited a possible warning message to Putin alongside the detainee-release angle.
In parallel, Anadolu Ajansı reported that Zelenskyy said Ukraine would receive air defense systems and funding for drone production following the Coalition of the Willing summit, with air defense remaining a priority as the war continues.