Thought of the Day
It takes both the sun and the rain to make a beautiful rainbow.
August 20th 2025
Summer celebrations meet closed beaches and warnings on US East Coast due to Hurricane Erin
By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — From Florida to New England, people trying to enjoy the last hurrahs of summer along the coast were met with rip current warnings, closed beaches and in some cases already treacherous waves as Hurricane Erin inched closer Wednesday.
While forecasters remain confident that the center of the monster storm will stay far offshore, the outer edges are expected to bring high winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents into Friday. Life-threatening surf and 100 mph (155 kph) winds will lash the East Coast, National Weather Service forecasters warned Wednesday.
New York City closed its beaches to swimming on Wednesday and Thursday, and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered three state beaches on Long Island to prohibit swimming through Thursday. Several New Jersey beaches also will be temporarily off-limits, while some towns in Delaware have cut off ocean access.
Off Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet (3 meters) later this week. But the biggest threat is along the barrier islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, where evacuations have been ordered.
Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm, with its tropical storm winds stretching 265 miles (426 kilometers) from its core. Forecasters expect it will grow larger in size as it moves through the Atlantic and curls north.
On Tuesday it lashed the Turks and Caicos Islands, where government services were suspended and residents were ordered to stay home, along with parts of the Bahamas before its expected turn toward Bermuda.
Tropical storm watches were issued for Virginia and North Carolina as well as Bermuda.
Erin lost some strength from previous days and was a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds around 100 mph (155 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was about 400 miles (644 kilometers) south-southeast of North Carolina’s Cape Hatteras.
On the Outer Banks, Erin’s storm surge could swamp roads with waves of 15 feet (4.6 meters). Mandatory evacuations were ordered on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands. More than 1,800 people had left Ocracoke by ferry since Monday.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warned coastal residents to be prepared to evacuate and declared a state of emergency Tuesday. Bulldozers shored up the dunes, and trucks from the local power company on Ocracoke were on hand to respond to downed wires.
Some side roads already saw some flooding on Hatteras, and the owners of a pier removed a few planks, hoping the storm surge would pass through without tearing it up.
Most residents decided to stay even though memories are still fresh of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, when 7 feet (2.1 meters) of water swamped Ocracoke, county commissioner Randal Mathews said.
Tom Newsom, who runs fishing charters on Hatteras, said has lived there almost 40 years and never evacuated. He was not going to this time either.
Comparing this hurricane to others he has seen, he called this one a “nor’easter on steroids.”
The Outer Banks’ thin stretch of low-lying barrier islands jutting into the Atlantic are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges. There are concerns that parts of the main highway could be washed out, leaving some routes impassible for days. And dozens of beach homes already worn down from chronic beach erosion and the loss of protective dunes could be at risk, said David Hallac, superintendent of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore.
Farther south, no evacuations were ordered but some beach access points were closed with water levels up to 3 feet (1 meter) over normal high tides expected for several days.
Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms fueled by warmer oceans. Two years ago Hurricane Lee grew with surprising speed while barreling offshore through the Atlantic, unleashing violent storms and rip currents.
___
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, South Carolina; Gary Robertson in Raleigh, North Carolina; Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Leah Willingham in Boston; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; and Julie Walker in New York contributed.
Wet Nose Wednesday: Meet Candytuft and Billie!
Hey there! I’m Candytuft, a purr-fessional career cat looking for my dream forever home office! I may seem a bit shy at first, but I promise I’m working on developing my interpersonal skills. Think of me as that quiet, ambitious intern who just needs the right opportunity to shine. I enjoy gentle pets and have a special talent for making any space feel more professional and calm. In my career path, I’m seeking a human who understands that sometimes networking means quietly observing and strategically choosing when to engage. I love crunchy snacks during my work breaks and have a soft spot for cozy spaces where I can plan my next big move. Let’s schedule an interview – I promise I’ll bring my A-game and maybe a few whiskers of charm! How did I get here? Transferred from Pender County Animal Shelter. ~My adoption fee is $65.00~
Meet Candytuft
Hey there! I’m Billie, and let me tell you, I’m one resilient and spirited pup! I’ve got an incredible zest for life. I absolutely love going on walks and spreading joy wherever I go – my friends here say I’m a total clown who’s always loose and wiggly! I’m a friendly girl who adores getting pets and attention. My playful personality shines through, and I’m always ready to bring smiles to everyone around me. I may have had a tough start, but I’m proof that with a little love and care, anything is possible. I’m looking for a family who will appreciate my spirit, enjoy my goofy antics, and give me lots of cuddles and adventures. Are you ready to welcome a fun-loving, determined pup like me into your life? Let’s make some memories together! I’m full grown at ~64 lbs. How did I get here? Adopted & returned when my owners no longer had time for me. ~My adoption fee is $120.00.~
Meet Billie!
Stuffed Bell Peppers
This recipe is a delicious way to get protein, veggies and starch all in one go! These reheat very well, so they’re also great for meal prepping as the weeks get busier near summer’s end.
Ingredients
- 4-6 bell peppers
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 lb. ground beef (or substitute of your choice)
- 1 white onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 2 tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
1. Preheat oven and prep peppers
Preheat oven to 375 degrees f. Cut peppers in half and take out seeds and stems. Then, add about a cup and a half of water to a 9×13 baking dish and place the peppers with their skin-side down in the baking dish and cover with foil. Bake them for 20 minutes to soften them before adding filling.
2. Prep filling
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion until translucent, then add garlic cloves and cook for about another minute. Add ground beef and cook thoroughly until browned.
3. Jazz it up
Add tomato paste, cooked rice, diced tomatoes and spices to the filling mixture and cook for about 5 more minutes until the liquids have reduced.
4. Stuff the peppers
Stuff the filling mixture into the pepper halves and cook for about 10 minutes. Then, sprinkle cheddar cheese on top of the peppers and cook for about 5-7 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
5. Serve it hot
Serve right away and enjoy this fabulous all-in-one meal.
Palantir, Nvidia and other AI stars dim as Wall Street pulls further from its records
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street faded on Tuesday following drops for Nvidia and other stars that have been riding the mania surrounding artificial-intelligence technology.
The S&P 500 fell 0.6% for a third straight loss, though it remains near its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10 points, or less than 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite slumped 1.5%.
The heaviest weight on the market was Nvidia, whose chips are powering much of the move into AI. It sank 3.5%.
Another AI darling, Palantir Technologies, dropped 9.4% for the largest loss in the S&P 500. It’s seen bets build up sharply that its stock price will drop, according to S3 Partners. Only Meta Platforms has seen a bigger increase this year in what’s called “short interest,” where traders essentially bet a stock’s price will fall. Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, sank 2.1%.
Criticism has been rising that stock prices across Wall Street have shot too high, too fast since hitting a bottom in April and have become too expensive. Palantir’s stock came into Tuesday with a tremendous gain of 130% for the year so far.
One way companies can make their stock prices look less expensive is to deliver growth in profits. Palo Alto Networks rose 3.1% after reporting earnings and revenue for the latest quarter that topped analysts’ expectations. The cybersecurity company also gave forecasts for profit and revenue in its upcoming fiscal year that were above Wall Street’s.
Home Depot’s gain of 3.2%, meanwhile, was the biggest reason the Dow did better than other indexes. The retailer reported results for the latest quarter that were a bit short of what analysts expected, but it delivered growth in revenue and stood by its prior forecasts for revenue and profit over the full year.
Other big retailers will give their latest profit updates in coming days. Lowe’s and Target are on deck for Wednesday, while Walmart and Ross Stores will report on Thursday.
The week’s headliner for Wall Street is likely arriving on Friday. That’s when the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, will give a highly anticipated speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The setting has been home to big policy announcements from the Fed in the past, and the hope on Wall Street is that Powell may hint that cuts to interest rates are coming soon.
The Fed has kept its main interest rate steady this year, primarily because of the fear of the possibility that President Donald Trump’s tariffs could push inflation higher. But a surprisingly weak report on job growth across the country may be superseding that.
Traders on Wall Street widely expect the Fed to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September in order to give the economy a boost. Treasury yields have come down notably in the bond market as a result, and they eased on Tuesday.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.30% from 4.34% late Monday.
Strategists at Bank of America warn that Powell may not sound as inclined to cut interest rates as the market is expecting. He could remain non-committal and discuss the possibility of a worst-case scenario for the economy called “stagflation.” The Fed has no good tool to fix that situation, where the economy stagnates at the same time as inflation remains high.
On Wall Street, Viking Therapeutics tumbled 42.1% after the biopharmaceutical company released results from a clinical trial of an oral tablet that could treat obesity and other metabolic disorders.
Tegna rose 4.3% after Nexstar Media Group said it will buy the owner of 64 television stations across the country for $22 per share in cash. Nexstar, which owns the CW and local television broadcasters of its own, added 0.7%.
All told, the S&P 500 fell 37.78 points to 6,411.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 10.45 to 44,922.27, and the Nasdaq composite fell 314.82 to 21,314.95.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe after falling modestly in Asia.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slipped 0.4% as market heavyweight SoftBank Group Corp. fell 4% after it announced it was taking a $2 billion stake in U.S. chip maker Intel.
Intel climbed 7%. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also confirmed in an interview on CNBC that the Trump administration may take an ownership stake in Intel.
___
This story has been corrected to reflect the correct year-to-date change in Palantir’s stock price.
___
AP Business Writers Matt Ott and Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
Hurricane Erin forecast to churn up dangerous swells and winds from Florida to New England
By ALLEN G. BREED and JOHN SEEWER Associated Press
RODANTHE, N.C. (AP) — Hurricane Erin chugged slowly toward the eastern U.S. coast Tuesday, stirring up treacherous waves that already have forced dozens of beach rescues days before the biggest storm surges are expected.
While forecasters remain confident the center of the monster storm will remain far offshore, the outer edges are likely to bring damaging tropical-force winds, large swells and life-threatening rip currents.
Warnings about rip currents have been posted from Florida to the New England coast, but the biggest threat is along the barrier islands of North Carolina’s Outer Banks where evacuations have been ordered.
Off the coast of Massachusetts, Nantucket Island could see waves of more than 10 feet (3 meters) later this week. In New Jersey, towns are closing some beaches to swimming.
“Enjoy the shore, enjoy this beautiful weather but stay out of the water,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday.
Erin has become an unusually large and deceptively worrisome storm while moving through the Caribbean, with its tropical storm winds stretching 200 miles (320 kilometers) from its core. Forecasters expect it will grow larger in size as it moves through the Atlantic and curls north.
It continued to lash the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday, where government services were suspended a day earlier and residents were ordered to stay home, along with parts of the Bahamas before it’s expected to turn toward Bermuda and the U.S.
By Tuesday, Erin had lost some strength from previous days and dropped to a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (170 kph), the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. It was about 650 miles (1,050 kilometers) southwest of Bermuda.
Rough ocean conditions already have been seen along the U.S. coast — at least 60 swimmers were rescued from rip currents Monday at Wrightsville Beach, near Wilmington, North Carolina.
The biggest swells along the East Coast are expected to develop Wednesday and last into Thursday.
Two years ago, Hurricane Lee grew with surprising speed while barreling offshore through the Atlantic, unleashing violent storms and rip currents up and down the seaboard.
Climate scientists say Atlantic hurricanes are now much more likely to rapidly intensify into powerful and catastrophic storms fueled by warmer oceans.
On North Carolina’s Outer Banks, local leaders said Erin’s storm surge could swamp roads with waves of 15 feet (4.6 meters). Mandatory evacuations were ordered on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands, and more than 1,800 people had left Ocracoke by ferry since Monday.
Bulldozers were busy shoring up the dunes, and on Hatteras, the owners of a pier removed a few planks, hoping the storm surge will pass through without tearing up the structure.
Holly Andrzejewski, who just bought a bed-and-breakfast on Hatteras Island with her husband, said they spent the last few days bringing in all the outdoor furniture and making sure there were generators, extra water and flashlights.
“It’s just one of those things where you know this is always a possibility and it could happen, and you just make the best out of it. Otherwise you wouldn’t live at the beach,” she said.
The Outer Banks’ thin stretch of low-lying barrier islands that jut into the Atlantic Ocean are increasingly vulnerable to storm surges. There are concerns that several days of heavy surf, high winds and waves could wash out parts of the main highway, leaving some routes impassible for days.
___
Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press journalists Ben Finley in Norfolk, Virginia; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Leah Willingham in Boston; Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama; and Julie Walker in New York contributed to this report.
Hurricane Erin’s massive waves threaten to isolate North Carolina’s Outer Banks
By JEFFREY COLLINS Associated Press
There’s a popular T-shirt on Hatteras Island along the North Carolina Outer Banks that says: “One road on. One road off (sometimes)” — poking fun at the constant battle between Mother Nature and a thin ribbon of pavement connecting the narrow barrier island to the rest of the world.
Mother Nature is probably going to win this week. Hurricane Erin is forecast to stay hundreds of miles offshore but is still sending waves 20 feet (6 meters) or greater crashing over vulnerable sand dunes on the islands.
Officials have ordered evacuations of Hatteras and Ocracoke islands even without a hurricane warning because that tiny ribbon of highway called N.C. 12 will likely be torn up and washed out in several places, isolating villages for days or weeks.
The 3,500 or so Outer Bankers who live there have handled isolation before. But most of the tens of thousands of vacationers have not.
“We haven’t seen waves of that size in a while and the vulnerable spots have only gotten weaker in the past five years,” said Reide Corbett, executive director of the Coastal Studies Institute, a group of several universities that study the Outer Banks.
The Outer Banks are defined by water
In a basic sense, they are sand dunes that were tall enough to stay above the ocean level when many of the Earth’s glaciers melted 20,000 years ago.
The barrier islands in some places are as far as 30 miles (48 kilometers) off mainland North Carolina. To the east is the vast Atlantic Ocean. To the west is the Pamlico Sound.
“Water, water everywhere. That really resonates on the Outer Banks,” Corbett said.
The most built-up and populated part of the Outer Banks are in the north around Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills, which aren’t under the evacuation order. South of the Oregon Inlet, scoured out by a 1846 hurricane, is Hatteras Island, where the only connection to the mainland is N.C. 12. South of there is Ocracoke Island, accessible only by boat or plane.
The first highways to reach the area were built more than 60 years ago. And the Outer Banks started booming, as it went from quaint fishing villages to what it is now, dotted with 6,000-square-foot (550-square-meter) vacation homes on stilts.
Maintaining the highway is arduous
On a nice day, what look like snowplows and street sweeper brushes wait on the side of N.C. 12 to scoop and sweep away the constantly blowing sand.
When the storms come, water from the ocean or the sound punch through the sand dunes and wash tons of sand and debris on the road. In more extreme cases, storms can break up the pavement or even create new inlets that require temporary bridges.
The N.C. Department of Transportation spent more than $1 million a year on regular maintenance to keep N.C. 12 open during the 2010s. It also spent about $50 million over the decade on repairs after storms.
But the state estimates Dare County, which includes most of the Outer Banks, brings in $2 billion in tourism revenue a year. So the cycle of clean up and repair continues.
The repairs take time. Hurricane Isabel in 2003 and Hurricane Irene in 2011 both cut inlets into Hatteras Island and ferries were needed for two months. It can still take days to reopen N.C. 12 after more routine Nor’easters.
The erosion is constant
It’s not just storms that impact the island. As the planet warms and polar ice melts, rising ocean levels threaten the Outer Banks. In a place where most of the land is only a few feet above sea level, every inch of sand counts.
In the town of Rodanthe, which sticks the farthest out into the Atlantic, the churning ocean has swallowed up more than a dozen homes since 2020. Officials think at least two unoccupied houses are likely to be lost if the waves from Erin are as strong as predicted.
The Outer Banks are still home
Shelli Miller Gates waited tables on the Outer Banks to earn money as a college student in the late 1970s. She remembers houses with no air conditioning, televisions or phones. And she adored it.
“I love the water. I love the wildness of it. It’s the way I want to live my life,” the respiratory therapist said.
It’s a lifestyle embraced by many. The area’s shorthand “OBX” shows up in many places as a source of pride, including the first three letters on license plates issued by the state.
The isolation contributes to a sense of community. Gates has seen people band together countless times when their connection to the outside world is severed. And there is always the allure of getting to live someplace where others just get to visit.
“There’s things everywhere. There’s earthquakes and blizzards and floods. Look at the poor people out in western North Carolina,” Gates said. “There are so many things that can happen to you. I feel like you have to find the place that feels like home.”
___
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
___
This story has been updated to correct a word in the final quote from “lizards” to “blizzards.”
Easy Tzatziki
This super simple tzatziki is the perfect way to add a hint of freshness to a meal, or it can serve as a fabulous dip on its own. It’s the perfect snack to savor the last few weeks of summer.
Ingredients
- 1 cucumber
- 1 cup plain greek yogurt
- 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 garlic clove or 1 tbsp. jarred minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. fresh dill
Instructions
1. Prep the veggies/fruit
Finely grate the cucumber and set aside. If using fresh garlic clove, mince that as well. Chop the fresh dill and squeeze the lemon.
2. Make the base
Mix the greek yogurt, lemon juice and olive oil together in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Add veggies and spices
Add the cucumber, garlic and dill to the mixture, then sprinkle with salt.
4. Enjoy
Serve chilled with pita bread, veggies, or any other way you’d like.
August 19th 2025
Thought of the Day
Life is like an onion, you peel off one layer at a time.
Zelenskyy, Trump express hope for trilateral talks with Putin to bring end to Russia-Ukraine war
By JOSH BOAK and SAMYA KULLAB Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump expressed hope that their critical meeting Monday with European leaders at the White House could soon lead to three-party talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to bring an end to his war on Ukraine.
The U.S. president also said he would back European security guarantees for Ukraine as European leaders gathered for the extraordinary White House meeting.
“I think President Putin wants to find an answer, too,” Trump told Zelenskyy and European leaders. “And we’ll see in a certain period of time, not very far from now, a week or two weeks, we’re going to know whether or not we’re going to solve this or is this horrible fighting going to continue.”
Trump stopped short of committing U.S. troops to a collective effort to bolster Ukraine’s security. He said instead that there would be a “NATO-like” security presence and that all those details would be hashed out with EU leaders.
“They want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we’ll help them out with that,” Trump said. “I think its very important to get the deal done.”
Trump’s engagement with Zelenskyy had a strikingly different feel to their last Oval Office meeting in February. It was a disastrous moment that led to Trump abruptly ending talks with the Ukrainian delegation, and temporarily pausing some aid for Kyiv, after he and Vice President JD Vance complained that Zelenskyy had shown insufficient gratitude for U.S. military assistance.
Zelenskyy at the start of the meeting presented a letter from his wife, Olena Zelenska, for Trump’s wife, Melania. The U.S. first lady over the weekend sent a letter to Putin urging him to consider the children impacted by the conflict and bring an end to the brutal 3 1/2 year war.
Trump at one point needled Zelenskyy over Ukraine delaying elections. They had been scheduled for last year but were delayed because of the ongoing Russian invasion. Ukrainian law does not allow presidential elections to be held when martial law is in effect.
Trump joked that a similar circumstance wouldn’t play well in the U.S.
“So let me just say three and a half years from now — so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections, oh, I wonder what the fake news would say,” Trump said.
Zelenskyy faced criticism during his February meeting from a conservative journalist for appearing in the Oval Office in a long sleeve T-shirt. This time he appeared in dark jacket and buttoned-shirt.
Zelenskyy has said his typically less formal attire since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022 is to show solidarity with Ukrainian soldiers.
Monday’s hastily assembled meeting came after Trump met in Alaska on Friday with Putin. Trump has said the onus is now on Zelenskyy to agree to concessions of land that he said could end the war. Russia now controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory.
“If everything works out today, we’ll have a trilat,” Trump said, referring to possible three-way talks among Zelenskyy, Putin and Trump. “We’re going to work with Russia, we’re going to work with Ukraine.”
Trump said he plans to talk to Putin after his meetings with Zelenskyy and European leaders.
Zelenskyy expressed openness to trilateral talks.
After Trump held one-on-one talks with Zelenskyy, the two then gathered with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.
The European leaders were left out of Trump’s summit with Putin. They want to safeguard Ukraine and the continent from any widening aggression from Moscow. Many arrived at the White House with the explicit goal of protecting Ukraine’s interests — a rare show of diplomatic force.
Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Trump suggested that Ukraine could not regain Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, setting off an armed conflict that led to its broader 2022 invasion.
“President Zelenskyy of Ukraine can end the war with Russia almost immediately, if he wants to, or he can continue to fight,” Trump wrote Sunday night on social media. “Remember how it started. No getting back Obama given Crimea (12 years ago, without a shot being fired!), and NO GOING INTO NATO BY UKRAINE. Some things never change!!!”
Zelenskyy responded with his own post late Sunday, saying, “We all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably.” He said that “peace must be lasting,” not as it was after Russia seized Crimea and part of the Donbas in eastern Ukraine eight years ago, and “Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack.”
European heavyweights in Washington
Putin opposes Ukraine joining NATO outright, yet Trump’s team claims the Russian leader is open to Western allies agreeing to defend Ukraine if it comes under attack.
”Clearly there are no easy solutions when talking about ending a war and building peace,” Meloni told reporters. “We have to explore all possible solutions to guarantee peace, to guarantee justice, and to guarantee security for our countries.”
European leaders suggested forging a temporary ceasefire is not off the table. Following his meeting with Putin on Friday, Trump dropped his demand for an immediate ceasefire and said that he would look to secure a final peace settlement between Russia and Ukraine — a sudden shift to a position favored by Putin.
At the start of the meeting with European leaders, the German and French leaders praised Trump for opening a path to peace, but they urged the U.S. president to push Russia for a ceasefire.
“I would like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting,” Merz said.
European leaders are still looking for a concrete details about what U.S. involvement would be toward building a security guarantee for Ukraine.
Still, Rutte, the NATO Secretary-General, called Trump’s commitment to security guarantees “a big step, a breakthrough.”
Zelenskyy outlined what he said his country needed to feel secure, which included a “strong Ukrainian army” through weapons sales and training. The second part, he said, would depend on the outcome of Monday’s talks and what EU countries, NATO and the U.S. would be able to guarantee to the war-torn country.
Trump briefed Zelenskyy and European allies shortly after the Putin meeting. Details from the discussions emerged in a scattershot way that seemed to rankle the U.S. president, who had chosen not to outline any terms when appearing afterward with Putin.
‘A very big move’
European officials confirmed that Trump told them Putin is still seeking control of the entire Donbas region, even though Ukraine controls a meaningful share of it.
Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said the U.S. and its allies could offer Ukraine a NATO-like commitment to defend the country if it came under attack as the possible security guarantee, with details to be worked out.
Zelenskyy came into the talks look to prevent a scenario in which he gets blamed for blocking peace talks by rejecting Putin’s maximalist demand on the Donbas. It is a demand Zelenskyy has said many times he will never accept because it is unconstitutional and could create a launching pad for future Russian attacks.
___
Kullab reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Washington, John Leicester in Le Pecq, France, Illia Novikov in Kyiv and Dasha Litvinova in Tallinn, Estonia and Nicole Winfield in Rome, contributed.