"As you mark this important day, know the United States respects your fight, honors your sacrifices, and believes in your future as an independent nation," U.S. President Donald Trump said in a letter of support to Ukraine.

The deal will make it easier to establish Ukrainian defense companies in Canada and provide Kyiv "with modern weapons and military equipment in the long term," Defense Minister Denys Shmyhal said.

The joint operation "took the occupiers by surprise" and cost Russia "about a company of personnel," Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) announced on Independence Day.

"When we come to a stage when you have to sign documents, we would need a very clear understanding by everybody that the person who is signing is legitimate, and ... Mr. Zelensky is not," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

Ukrainian troops have liberated the villages of Zelenyi Hai, Mykhailivka, and Volodymyrivka, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi reported on Aug. 24.

"I told (Putin) I'm not happy about it," Trump claimed a day after a Russian missile hit an American electronics plant in western Ukraine.

Russia's top military and political officials joined Putin in the closed city of Sarov, which houses the Russian Federal Nuclear Center, on Aug. 22.

The military aspect of the guarantees will involve weapons deliveries, financial support, intelligence sharing, and joint military exercises and trainings, a Presidential Office source told the news outlet Suspilne.

Ukrainian anti-aircraft gunners shot down a Russian Orlan drone carrying two first-person-view (FPV) drones under its wings, the 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade reported.

"How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?" Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told NBC News on Aug. 22.

"Viktor, I do not like hearing about this — I am very angry about it. Tell Slovakia you are my great friend," Trump wrote in response to a complaint about the strikes from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The attack allegedly hit the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery, which has previously been targeted in Ukrainian drone strikes.

The plan would require countries that have signed security agreements with Ukraine to deliberate and respond quickly in the event of another Russian attack following a peace agreement. It would not include NATO membership for Ukraine.

Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, illegally occupied by Russia since 2014, is roughly 26 times smaller than Texas.

"Oh, this is such a stupid media narrative that they're coming here tomorrow because Trump is going to bully Zelensky into a bad deal," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told CBS.