S&P downgrades Russia's rating closer to debt default.

Trump said he and Putin plan to discuss territorial exchanges in Ukraine, but Kyiv itself must make the decision. "But I'm not here to negotiate for Ukraine," the U.S. president said.

The Kyiv Independent visited the front-line city of Kramatorsk in Donetsk Oblast to hear from its residents what they think about the prospects of land swaps between Ukraine and Russia ahead of the Trump-Putin meeting in Alaska.

"The enemy struck civilian infrastructure in the central part of Sumy," Governor Oleh Hryhorov said.

The corps claimed that Ukrainian units are operating inside the city, and civilians can move about, though travel within Pokrovsk remains heavily restricted. It is still possible to reach the city, the statement added.

Russian officials have not named the cause of the explosion, but preliminary accounts reported by Russian media point to possible safety violations in the workshop.

"This is a Russian tactic before any negotiations," Alina Alekseeva, the deputy head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, told the Kyiv Independent.

The Elysee Palace described the dialogue between the two leaders as "close and constant," but did not provide a specific date or location for the follow-up meeting.

Beka Museum urged immediate action, highlighting Russian President Vladimir Putin's role in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children and other atrocities committed under his rule.

The issue concerns refugees who have lived in the country since Aug. 16, 2023, under the Uniting for Ukraine program, devised by the Biden administration to allow Ukrainians to stay in the country on humanitarian parole.

EU ministers could reportedly agree in early September to open the first negotiating cluster with Moldova, a key legal step toward membership, ahead of the country's Sept. 28 parliamentary elections.