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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: Trump Meets with Zelensky and European Leaders; Trump Pauses Meeting to Call Putin; Russia Attacks Ukraine Again as Zelenskyy Visits WH; Mourners Gather in Kyiv for Soldier's Funeral; Ukraine Detects Takeoff of Two Russian Strategic Bombers; Hamas Agrees to Ceasefire Proposal; Massive Israeli Protests as the IDF Readies Gaza Offensive. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 18, 2025 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE AND CNN ANCHOR, QUEST MEANS BUSINESS: A warm welcome to you wherever you are joining us around the

world. I'm Richard Quest. Jim Sciutto is off. And you are about to be briefed.

Quite remarkable scenes today as Donald Trump hosts of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders at the White House and pushes for peace in

Ukraine. Sources telling us at one point Mr. Trump paused the meeting to call Russia's President Putin. And Hamas says it's agreed a new ceasefire

proposal. Israel plans to take over Gaza City.

Now, a warm welcome to you. Extraordinary diplomatic efforts today taking place in Washington to end Russia's war on Ukraine. Only days after that

superpower summit in Alaska, today, this time, the scene was the White House. And there was the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, along with

European leaders, all called together by President Trump.

So, what we've learned in the last hour or two is that at one point Mr. Trump paused that meeting of leaders and went off and called Russian

President Vladimir Putin, and they had a private phone call. And so, the White House summit today brings together the leaders of Ukraine, Italy,

Germany, France, Finland, the U.K., as well as the heads of NATO and the European Union Commission.

It is hard to recall another example of presidents and prime ministers ripping up schedules and rushing to Washington with such urgency. Mr. Trump

focused the entire effort on a trilateral meeting between Moscow, Washington, and Kyiv.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And I think you'll see that President Putin really would like to do something else. I think when we set that up, when

we do, I think it's going to be when, not if.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I think that we had very good conversation with President Trump.

TRUMP: Very good.

ZELENSKYY: And it really was the best one -- or sorry, maybe the best one will be in the future, but it was really good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, the other leaders express similar optimism. Germany in particular highlighting the need for an immediate ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: If we play this well, we could end this and we have to end this. We have to stop the killing. We have to stop

the destruction of Ukraine's infrastructure. It is a terrible war. So, I'm really excited.

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: We are here to work together with you on a just and lasting piece for Ukraine. Stop the

killing.

FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: We'd like to see a ceasefire from the next meeting, which should be a trilateral meeting, wherever it take place.

GIOGIA MELONI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER: If we want to reach peace and if we want to guarantee justice, we have to do it united.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, the talking may have continued, but just look. Russia kept up its attacks on Ukraine where officials say at least 10 people have been

killed, including an infant and two teenagers in a series of attacks. Kristen Holmes is at the White House. Hard to know where to begin. I mean,

quite remarkable, isn't it? I mean, absolutely take your breath away.

But let's -- what is this line about line he stop the meeting to speak to Vladimir Putin. Do we know anything about this?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, and I do want to be very clear that the source I talked to did not tell me whether or not he

called Putin or that Putin called him. So, it was unclear if he stopped the meeting to take a call or if he stopped the meeting to make a call.

Now, of course, we've heard President Trump saying today that he was going to call Vladimir Putin after the meeting that he had called Zelenskyy,

after the meeting with Putin he was going to do the same with Putin.

Of course, as we know, one of the big goals out of all of this is to come away with a plan for a trilateral meeting. Now, they are still meeting

behind closed doors and we didn't expect it to go this long. They've actually moved in the negotiations from the room we all saw them in when

they were sitting at that table to the Oval Office. This was not necessarily on the original schedule, but I was told by a White House

official that President Trump thought it was going well and that they should continue the conversations now in another format.

And we were told that this is a leaders only format, that's who's in the Oval Office right now. So, we'll see what comes out of that. Of course, we

know there are three big items on the agenda. As you noted, one of them being a ceasefire. President Trump had routinely called for a ceasefire,

but after his meeting with Putin in Alaska on Friday, kind of threw that to the side saying instead they should just look at an overall peace

agreement.

[18:05:00]

But as you noted, all of these other European leaders, they were quite adamant that a ceasefire had to happen. Putin continuing the bombing even

after that meeting. And as these European leaders were showing up here at the White House for these talks.

The other part -- the other thing that's on the agenda is land concession. We saw President Trump with Zelenskyy standing at a map that showed which

areas of Ukraine had been taken over by Russia, which were still contested areas. And we know President Trump has continually said that he believes

that Zelenskyy and Ukraine are going to have to give up some territory, things that the Ukrainians and Zelenskyy have balked at.

The last part of this, which is another huge issue that they're going to be talking about today, is those security guarantees. We heard something quite

remarkable from President Trump earlier today when he was asked specifically about the security guarantees and the potential of U.S. boots

on the ground or troops that would be there to help kind of bolster those security guarantees. And he didn't rule it out, which was not something

that we had heard before. He said that, of course, the frontlines would be Europeans because they're the ones who were there, but they were going to

help in any way they can. And again, didn't rule out this idea of actual troop placement. And that was something that was very new.

QUEST: What's fascinating watching afar is the way they are making this up as they go along. As you just said, the meeting went long. They've all

moved to the Oval Office. That is both highly encouraging, but it's also very risky, not only for Zelenskyy, for the Europeans, but also for

President Trump if this doesn't -- you know, if the land for peace, for example, proves to be the biggest stumbling block. What happens then?

HOLMES: Well, of course that's a big question, but I mean, I'll go back to what happened on Friday, which was we were told originally, and the plan

originally was to have a one-on-one with Putin and Trump, and then they would move into this expanded bilateral lunch. The one-on-one never

happened as the plane was landing. They said it would be a three on three meeting, there wouldn't be a one-on-one, and then they pushed through, this

lasted almost three hours and they missed the lunch altogether.

And did that brief -- you know, they called it a press conference. It's not a press conference if you don't take questions, brief statements, and then

they left. So, this has been an evolving situation. And clearly, Trump is following with the same protocol he spent that he had in Alaska, which was,

if this is how the negotiations are going, we're not going to break that to move on to the next thing.

QUEST: Now, Kristen, whilst you and I have been talking, the president has put out something on Truth Social. Yes. Please feel free to look down and

read it. I'll read it while you are looking at it. He says at the conclusions, he says, I called President Putin and began the arrangements

for a meeting at a location to be determined between Presidents Putin and Zelenskyy. After that meeting takes place, we'll have a trilat, which would

be the two presidents plus myself. Again, this was very good early steps for award, blah, blah, blah, and president -- coordinating with Russia. And

you can -- so, let's just go -- let's just -- during the meetings, we discussed security guarantees provided European countries, coordination by

the United States of America. Everybody's very happy about the possibility, right?

So, I don't know whether you've found it so far, but --

HOLMES: I have it here.

QUEST: Thank you.

HOLMES: Yes.

QUEST: I mean, so at this point, it looks like he's saying a bilat between Putin and Zelenskyy followed by a trilat in which he joins in. What do you

make of that? And I realize you are reading this as I am at the same time and trying to work out --

HOLMES: And that's really interesting because that wasn't something that we had heard as a potential for the way that this would play out. I mean,

the way that this has been pitched routinely by President Trump was that there would be a trilat. If they wanted him in the meeting between Putin

and Zelenskyy, he would be there. But the idea was always that there was one more meeting, which was this trilateral meeting.

Now, as you say, it does look as though they're trying to have another meeting this time with Putin and Zelenskyy before they move on to that

trilateral meeting. Of course, obviously, I do want to note that he is confirming our reporting that he left the European leaders to have this

conversation with Putin about that to set this up.

I mean, one thing to keep in mind is that the European leaders and President Trump, really the hard line they wanted out of this was this idea

that they would have a trilateral meeting. You heard President Trump saying that if they got to the trilateral meeting. He believed that they could see

and have an end in sight for this war. Clearly, now, they're kind of breaking this up into steps. Unclear how they got here, and of course,

we're going to be asking our sources now that we're reading this and hearing about this from President Trump as to how they landed at this

meeting between the two of them before the three of them.

[18:10:00]

QUEST: And I'll let you get on with your news gathering. But one -- if you'll indulge me with one last question, we've got a little bit more.

Guarantees will be provided by the very European -- various European countries with a coordination with the United States of America. So, that's

an interesting choice of words there.

HOLMES: Yes, and this is actually more what we had thought originally was going to happen, that the United States would be a backstop in terms of

those security guarantees. It was Trump himself who kind of upped the ante earlier today by not saying anything, not pushing back on the idea of U.S.

troops on the ground and really kind of seemingly, even in the later negotiation period when he came out and went around the table with all the

European leaders, saying that he -- the United States was going to play a big role in the security guarantees. They do seem to be walking that back a

little bit here by saying the coordination with the United States, not that we're providing -- not that the United States is providing anything else

outside of that. I'm sure this is still something that's under consideration.

It was clear though, you know, when we saw these European leaders go around the table today, it was very clear that they had a previous conversation

with the United States or with U.S. officials as to what would happen with those security guarantees, because you could hear the effusive way that

they were specifically thanking President Trump for his engagement on the security guarantees. So, there had clearly been some back channeling

conversation in which Trump and the White House had put forward that they were likely going to give more than they had originally said in terms of

those guarantees.

QUEST: I'm grateful. Thank you. Thank you for bearing with us. It's a -- as it's all happening in real-time. I'm grateful you.

HOLMES: Thank you for pointing out the Truth Social.

QUEST: Oh, you know. Hey, well, a quick question. Quick question. How carefully do you think this was written? Looking at the detail and knowing

how sometimes he writes just straight from the hip. Do you think this was sort of crafted?

HOLMES: I assume so, but I also think that, you know, there wasn't that much time to craft it in terms of putting it together, given that he -- we

know he went from this call with Putin to -- back into the Oval Office to start up negotiations, again, with the European leaders. I will say though,

difference between this term and the first term, more people do have access to President Trump's social media accounts than they had the first time he

was in office.

QUEST: You've got lots of sources that you need to be calling and I shall let you get on with your duties. Thank you very much.

Now, Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow where it is late at night. You are going to now hopefully tell me the Russian side of what's happening, bearing in mind

this call that he took from President Trump -- President Putin that is. And now, we're going to have a bilat followed by a trilat at some point.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's what the U.S. president is hoping for, and that's what he's saying they talked

about. And you're absolutely right, Richard. I am going to give you the Russian side of things. Yuri Ushakov, the senior Kremlin aid, who of course

has been in all the negotiations, he came out and he said that about an hour and a half ago there was indeed this phone call between President

Trump and Russian leader of Vladimir Putin.

A little more detail, the Russians are saying that the call lasted about 40 minutes. I'll read you some of the notes that came out from Yuri Ushakov.

He said, telephone conversation between Putin and Trump took place an hour and a half ago. Trump informed Putin about the talks with Zelenskyy and the

leaders of European countries. We've heard that of course.

In addition, the presidents of Russia and the United States expressed support for direct negotiations between the delegations of Russia and

Ukraine, not necessarily speaking about a trilateral meeting there yet, but of course, that's something that could also be in the cards as far as the

Russians are concerned as well.

The Russian president also warmly thanked the American leader for the hospitality during the meeting in Alaska. So, clearly, a good phone

conversation. The Russians are saying it was a good phone conversation. Clearly, things are moving forward at the very least to a possible meeting

between the Ukrainians and the Russians, possibly even on the top level, between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with the involvement of

Donald Trump as well.

So, certainly, there does appear to have been some sort of movement, at the very least, at the Russians, Richard, throughout the better part of the day

were really taking a back seat, waiting to see how things would play out. Some of the things, of course, that have been interesting is that Vladimir

Putin the past days at least, said that he was sort of warming up to the idea of those security guarantees for Ukraine as well, Richard.

QUEST: But, Fred, you know this better than anyone. We're at that stage of talks about talks about talks. If we strip away the froth of talks about

talks about talks, underneath that is, if you will, the gravel man of the issue, which will not shift, which is ceasefire, land, and guarantees, and

that's going to -- you know, whichever way we slice this cake, that's going to come back.

[18:15:00]

PLEITGEN: Yes, that's going to come back and that's going to remain difficult. I think the guarantees is probably the easiest part of it.

They'll probably come to some sort of a conclusion as far as that that is concerned about what sort of possible troops there would be on the ground,

whether or not a more capable Ukrainian military, for instance, would be on the ground.

We have heard some talk from the spokeswoman for Russia's foreign ministry saying that Russia will not accept NATO troops on Ukrainian soil. However,

it's unclear how the Kremlin actually stands on that because they've been fairly silent on the issue. And all we've heard from Vladimir Putin is that

he understands that Ukraine needs security guarantees.

Certainly, the territorial issue is by far the most complicated one because, of course, the Ukrainian constitution does not allow for the

country to just give up territory. It'd be very difficult pill to swallow for the Ukrainians. Certainly, that also seems to be the most difficult

issue at hand for all the leaders because it's the one that we've heard the least about publicly where things stand on that issue. Richard.

QUEST: I'm grateful. Thank you very much. Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. And so, to the place that where it's all about. Ben Wedeman. It must feel very

strange, Ben. Everybody's talking about negotiations and land and this, that, and the other, and you are actually in the place where everybody's

talking about tonight. What will they be making of this idea, do you think? And I'm just throwing this at you. It's only just happened of Zelenskyy and

Putin at some point meeting directly.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Richard, at this moment, we're sending out feelers to find out what sort of reaction there

is to some bilateral meeting between Trump and -- rather Zelenskyy and Putin, which seems rather far-fetched at the moment, but certainly, people

have become accustomed since President Trump came to office on the 20th of January to surprises.

And it has been a very short-term for the president so far, but definitely full of surprises. So, they're basically bracing for the next shock coming

from the White House. And as they watch these events unfold in Washington keep in mind there's a different reality here on the ground in Ukraine that

while there may be photo opportunities and meetings in the White House, here, there's a war going on, and every day people are being killed. Loss

and grief have become a daily routine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN (voice-over): The young widow tries to keep a brave face at a funeral like so many funerals before. Friends and loved ones come to mourn,

yet another life cut down in its prime. David Chichkan, a popular Kyiv artist, joined the Army last year. Earlier this month, he was killed by a

Russian drone on the eastern front. His mother gets one last look at her son.

Demitro (ph) was in David's unit. He always wanted Ukraine to have agency, he tells me, for it to be free, independent, for it to choose its own path

to decide where to go and what to be.

This funeral comes on the day when Zelenskyy goes to the White House under pressure from Trump who overnight posted on social media that the Ukrainian

leader can end the war almost immediately if he wants to.

It's just some kind of fatal coincidence, Olexandra (ph) says, that today there is this great farewell and at the same time our president is clearly

being pressured into something in Washington.

The very land David died defending may now be on the negotiating table. A cold reality not lost on filmmaker Sashko.

SASHKO, FILMMAKER: You can't trade, you know, lives of Ukrainian people, our lands, and our values just for Donald Trump's desire to make business

as usual with the Russians.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): For now, the business as usual is more death and destruction. Overnight, drone and missile strikes killed at least 10

people.

WEDEMAN: And so, yet another funeral comes to an end, and despite all that diplomacy that is perhaps going on, there is no end in sight to this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN (on camera): But people are watching the diplomacy really glued to their television sets and their computers and their phones as these events

unfold in Washington. The question is, all this optimistic diplomatic talk we are hearing, will it be translated into reality, into some sort of final

end to this war into reality? We don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. Richard.

[18:20:00]

QUEST: Ben, it's late at night and I suspect there's many more hours work ahead of you. Thank you, sir, for joining us.

With me now, Leslie Vinjamuri, president and chief executive of Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Right. So, we have now -- you may not -- in the

last 20 minutes or so, the president -- President Trump spoke to President Putin, and there's going to be a -- or the hope is for a bilateral between

Zelenskyy and Putin, which would follow on with a trilateral where President Trump join them. How risky is all of this without a ceasefire in

place before it all kicks off?

LESLIE VINJAMURI, PRESIDENT AND CEO, CHICAGO COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Well, everything right now is a question of alternatives. Absolutely it's

been made very clear by Zelenskyy, by the range of the extraordinary number of European leaders who have turned up to Washington that that ceasefire is

critical. It's obviously critical. Russia has continued its attacks, as we've just heard and as we continue to see.

But in the absence of that, should there be talks -- given where we are now, right, given that Alaska summit has taken place, whether people wanted

it or not, it's taken place. Should there be talks? I would say yes.

QUEST: Right.

VINJAMURI: Clearly, that push for a ceasefire is still critical and there are so many questions. I think that the key thing is there should be talks,

but nothing should be given away without very clear conditions. And without Ukraine being in the room and being on side.

QUEST: Right. But let me jump in on this, because the one thing that's not clear to me is the -- is how far President Trump can, in a sense, ignore,

not deliberately, but choose -- you know, if the Europeans back Zelenskyy on things like land and on all the other issues, can President Trump

withstand that sort of we are not -- we don't agree with you and does he have to meet them halfway or can he just -- I mean, of course he can, but

is it -- is he likely to just wipe his hands of the whole affair and sort of side with Putin?

VINJAMURI: I don't think so. The thing that we just cannot see our way through is when President Trump is going to use his leverage, use America's

power, its coercive machine to require something of Vladimir Putin. But do I think that Donald Trump is going to just walk away, completely abandon

Ukraine and Europe? We all thought he might in the run up to his inauguration, but it's pretty clear that that is actually not the direction

that President Trump is going.

There's a far -- there's a big distance between, you know, making that land deal that Russia wants and, you know, something in between that and what

Zelenskyy wants and it, everything sort of sits in that messy middle. How it unfolds it, right now, we have very little to go on.

What we can see is that Zelenskyy is making an effort, right? He's saying, we will purchase arms, 100 billion. We will work with you to build, to co-

produce drones. Their offers being made. Zelenskyy is giving something. But yes, he's got a -- he needs that ceasefire and Europeans want it as well.

QUEST: Back to this idea of the land, because it strikes me that all the rest is -- you know, as Fred Pleitgen said, the easy bits for security

guarantees in a sense, the ceasefires is significant because it halts the killing, but it's the land, that's going to be the bit, and I wonder --

let's assume Crimea and parts of Donbas, where Russia already has control. But can you see any scenario where Russia -- where the Europeans and

Zelenskyy agree to hand over land that Russia doesn't already control?

VINJAMURI: Well, two things. The first is, there's a difference between legal recognition handing that land over, and (INAUDIBLE). That's actually

a major, not a minor point. The second thing is, I don't agree. It's not just -- land is not the overwhelming issue, it's a very important fact, but

those security guarantees are everything. If you assume that Vladimir Putin might -- and people disagree on this, right? Does he have wider ambitions?

If he does, then those security and guarantees are actually absolutely everything.

[18:25:00]

The idea that Europeans would have troops in Ukraine is intolerable probably to Vladimir Putin. They would likely become targets. The idea that

the United States, under this president, would put people in Ukraine is even extraordinary to complicate, he's -- to contemplate, Trump has said

that he's -- that it's not off the record. But this is actually the security guarantees, the deterrence, the ability of the United States with

its European allies to deter future aggression is absolutely critical. It's not only about land, although that's clearly very important.

QUEST: I'm so grateful. Thank you. Giving us the wider perspective. We'll talk more about this, because every twist and turn has another million and

one avenues that we need to consider. Thank you for your time this evening.

It is "The Brief." We're briefing you on a lot of events. We'll have more after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Just to tell you -- in fact, news just in, Ukraine's air force says it's detected the takeoff of two Russian strategic bombers. No idea why or

where, except the country's air force has warned of an ongoing drone attack and ballistic missile threat in certain areas. The Defense and Security

Department president at the Center for Strategic and International Cities, CSIS, is Seth Jones. Seth is with me.

Now, the reason I mention this in advance to talking to you is because it goes to the heart of what our previous guest was talking about. She said

the security guarantees are not bagatelle, as perhaps I had thought, but are actually core to the whole thing. Now, I need you to describe to me

what that means in reality. Who does what?

SETH JONES, PRESIDENT, CSIS DEFENSE AND SECURITY DEPARTMENT AND COMMISSIONER, AFGHANISTAN WAR COMMISSION: Well, I do think the security

guarantees are critical. Territory is certainly critical as well. But here's the reality, Russia has been interested in Ukraine for now over a

decade. It took Crimea with first little green men, then pushed forces into the Donetsk 2014, and then a full-scale invasion in 2022.

So, as part of that, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said that he considers Ukraine part of Russian territory historically, culturally, linguistically.

And so, I think if you're in Ukraine right now, and frankly, if you're anywhere else in NATO's eastern flank, you have very deep-seated concerns

about Russian ambitions.

[18:30:00]

So, where security guarantees then matter is you want to prevent another invasion of -- by the Russians into Ukraine if there's some sort of deal.

QUEST: Right. OK. So, let me -- forgive me a sec. Let me push you hard on this because, you know, there's a million miles difference between us

talking in airy fairy terms about security guarantees and the nitty-gritty of what's involved with it, which is either you send troops or the European

send troops, the U.S. does logistics and coordination, as the president says. And ultimately, the message is, if you trespass, we will fight.

JONES: Yes, or there could be something short of that, which is that the U.S. and the Europeans are willing to continue to provide not just weapons

to Ukraine and various types of weapons, fighter aircraft, air defense systems, long-range strike munitions, but also what the U.S. has been doing

that people often forget, which is the intelligence packages for the Ukrainians to strike Russian targets.

So, the security guarantees could be something along the lines of Article 5 or something just short of that in NATO's -- NATO Article 5 or a decision

ad infinitum to provide weapons and other kinds of assistance to the Ukrainians.

QUEST: But, Seth, isn't this exactly the sort of mismatch fudge that gets everybody into trouble further down the road? You know an article -- when

is Article 5not Article 5, when it's a security guarantee for Ukraine cobbled together with the Europeans with some undefined formal role or

unformal role from the United States?

JONES: Well, look, this is where the specifics are going to matter, but I think, you know, part of this is if you look at the pain that the Russians

have felt even in 2025, they've got over a million casualties now in the war. They have they have only gained less than 1 percent of territory over

the last 16 months in their initiative. So, from an offensive standpoint, they really haven't gained much over the last 16 months.

So, I think part of the question is, as Moscow looks at this from a cost benefit calculation, is whatever the U.S. and the Europeans are willing to

give to Ukraine going to make it more difficult to take territory in the long run. And if so, that is something of a deterrent for Moscow. And what

it probably does is it puts us something closer to a North Korea, South Korea demilitarized zone, which is where neither side actually agrees to an

end of the war, but we have essentially a freezing of it.

QUEST: Seth, very grateful for you this evening. It's so complicated to follow it through. And I'm -- and you made sense or you helped us

understand exactly where we might be on that. Thank you, sir, for joining us tonight.

It is "The Brief." In a moment, I'll brief you with the Ukrainian member of Parliament and his reaction to a potential deal. This whole business of

land. What do the Ukrainians actually think? How far are they prepared to go when the core question is, will you give up land?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

QUEST: Welcome back. It's "The Brief." I'm Richard Quest. And the international headlines that we are watching today. And if you're in Asia,

you are waking up to this morning.

President Trump says he has begun arranging a meeting between Vladimir Putin of Russia and Zelenskyy of Ukraine. Mr. Trump says he discussed the

matter in a phone call with Moscow at the same time he was hosting European leaders at the White House. Mr. Trump added a trilateral meeting, including

himself would follow.

Hamas has accepted a ceasefire plan from Qatar and Egypt. It follows mediators pushing to renew talks as Israel prepares for major assault in

Gaza City. A deal calls for the release of 10 living hostages and 18 bodies in exchange for more than 200 Palestinian prisoners. Sources say it's very

similar to the last ceasefire deal brokered by the U.S. the envoy, Steve Witkoff, which Israel accepted.

Hurricane Erin is back to a category 4 storm after exploding in strength over the weekend. In only 24 hours the storm grew from a category 1 to a 5.

It's expected to bring heavy rain and winds to islands off the U.S. coast in Bermuda. And Puerto Rico is now cleaning up from Erin after it caused

flash floods and power outages.

And now, to an extraordinary turn to the White House only six months after the disastrous meeting with Mr. Trump. President Zelenskyy was in the

office a few hours ago. And today, chalk and cheese. So much more cordial. President Trump was also now meeting leaders of the other European

countries as well as the heads of NATO and the European Commission.

The Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, described the group like a team of superheroes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDER STUBB, FINNISH PRESIDENT: I think the fact that we are around this table today is very much symbolic in the sense that it's Team Europe

and Team United States helping Ukraine. And the progress that we're looking out of this meeting is about the security guarantees, which are a big part

of this. And then of course, moving towards the process with the trilateral meeting with you and President Putin and President Zelenskyy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, any potential deal ultimately involves land swaps, according to the U.S. president. A political suicide for Ukraine's president in so

many ways. After all, if you think of the number of soldiers who have died defending Ukraine the idea is deeply unpopular with the Ukrainian people

who have sacrificed so much, and as we are reporting tonight, continue to suffer and die.

The Gallup poll however shows most Ukrainians want a negotiated end to the war, even if they don't think it'll happen anytime soon. So, every

politician in Ukraine recognizes the balancing that has to take place between the reality of bringing a war to an end and the unpleasantness of

what that might involve.

Oleksiy Goncharenko is a member of the Ukrainian parliament, and I asked him whether he and Ukrainians could accept the deal swapping land for

peace.

[18:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OLEKSIY GONCHARENKO, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: It depends what does it mean. Accept what? Accept actual control of Russia over these

territories? It is the fact, unfortunately. And without support of our lives, with this level of support we have today, we can't kick off Russians

from these territories.

To accept juridically and to recognize it as Russian, never it will happen. It is absolutely unacceptable for us. So, that's absolutely different

things.

QUEST: All right. But you know, you're a politician and you're a realist. If Donald Trump says the best deal that we can give you is, this handover

Crimea, that's already gone and all those other areas, you know, it's this or you're on your own or whatever the Europeans want to do, we'll sell you

arms, whatever, but that's about it? Is that something the Ukrainian people will say to your president, we'd rather have that than hand over the land?

GONCHARENKO: I think the scenario you are think speaking about is just impossible, because just up just to Ukrainian people, what to do with

territories, first of all, and Trump said it many times and others, and I hope today -- video footage of today's meeting was really inspiring. The

whole Europe, all the whole west, the biggest countries of the west were sitting together with the leadership of American president, but with a firm

position. And they were speaking about security guarantees for Ukraine, about ceasefire, and Trump was not arguing with them.

I think that the situation when let us use salami tactics to Ukraine, let us cut it piece by piece and give it to Russia, it's unacceptable both for

Europe and the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Still to come on "The Brief," new developments in the Middle East, Hamas has agreed to a new ceasefire proposal. Now, mediators are pushing to

renew talks. We'll understand the details in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

QUEST: Now, to the Middle East where Hamas says it is agreed to a new ceasefire proposal as mediators are pushing to renew talks out of a major

Israeli assault on Gaza City. According to an Egyptian official, it includes the suspension of military operations for 60 days, a prisoner

swap, and what may be a pathway towards a comprehensive deal. Israeli officials are now telling us they require the release of all hostages,

Hamas complete disarm, and total control over Gaza.

[18:45:00]

Aaron David Miller is our CNN Global Affairs Analyst, former Middle East negotiator for the U.S. State Department now. All right. Hamas is --

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST AND SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL PEACE: Hey, Richard. How are you?

QUEST: Good, good, good. Hopefully, you're going to help me understand this. Hamas is -- Hamas has agreed this arguably for the reason that they

know Israel is about to launch a massive assault on Gaza City. Therefore go -- you better do this before things get a great deal worse for you.

MILLER: Yes. I mean, I think that's a reasonable read, Richard. I mean, the starvation issue, the turning Israel into an international pariah. They

can only get so much mileage out of that. And frankly, their bottom line now is survival. Not as an insurgency presumably, or even as a military

organization, but to remain the dominant political force in Gaza with a capacity to influence through intimidation and (INAUDIBLE) what goes on

there. They do not want or need another to do with Israelis, frankly, a major comprehensive military operation to enter Gaza City. The Israelis are

operating on the fringes now.

So, I think, yes. I think there's a reasonable chance, reasonable chance -- this is Israel, Hamas after all, that you could end up with another partial

deal, even though the Israelis say they don't want it.

QUEST: All right. But the difference between the deal that this Hamas seems to have accepted in Israel now asking for all hostages, complete

disarmament, and total control over Gaza, well, you know, that's not going to happen. I mean, that's -- Hamas is never going to go for that. So, you

are really talking about some cobbled together scheme, but that doesn't forestall Israel's planning against the whole of Gaza City.

MILLER: No, it doesn't. In fact, you're not -- if this went through, two months of a ceasefire, release of 10 hostages, live hostages, half those

who are no longer alive and some agreement on getting more humanitarian assistance to the long-suffering population of Gaza also is part of the

deal, plus 150 Palestinian prisoners. Roughly, what's that? That's 15 Palestinian prisoners for every live hostage.

No, that doesn't in the slightest stop the prime minister, Netanyahu, from considering the option of mounting continued pressure if not a

comprehensive operation against Gaza City. And it poses the core question, Richard, from normal humans, you and I presumably, to agree that the war

has ended in Gaza, you need an answer to three questions, who or what's going to control Gaza? Who or what's going to be the security monitor

architect to ensure Hamas doesn't resurge? And who or what is going to deal with the galactic prospects of reconstructing Gaza? And what happens to the

2 million Gazans, a million of them children who are still there? Those three questions are unanswerable now.

The Israeli government does not want to answer them, and the Trump administration, frankly, preoccupied with other matters, bigger plays,

right? Ukraine, Zelenskyy, the Europeans is not focused on this issue.

QUEST: Aaron, we'll leave it there because obviously there's so much happening elsewhere in the world tonight, but you've raised all those who

or what questions. We will come back to you on a future occasion for some answers to them. Thank you, sir. Very grateful. Thank you.

MILLER: For sure, Richard. Thanks for having me.

QUEST: Thank you. Thank you. Now, it's "The Brief." We continue. It's -- if you're in Europe, it's tonight. If you're in Asia, a very good morning

to you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:00]

QUEST: Well, things are moving fast. President Trump says preparations are now getting underway for a meeting between President Zelenskyy and

President Putin. A possible peace deal between the two countries that'll -- that's known as the bilateral, then you'll have the trilateral, which was

the Trump will attend.

He's hailing this meeting today with Zelenskyy and the Europeans where the future guarantees were discussed and sources are saying that he -- actually

we don't need sources. President Trump has told everybody that at one point he left the meeting to speak to Mr. Putin on the phone, a conversation, we

understand, that lasted around 40 minutes.

Michael Kimmage is the author of "Collisions: The Origins of the War in Ukraine and the Global Instability." With me now. Michael, this is -- first

of all, they're making it up as they go along, which is highly unusual in international diplomacy because nobody wants to be on the wrong end of the

decision if it turns turtle. And this is high risk strategy for everyone involved, isn't it?

MICHAEL KIMMAGE, AUTHOR, "COLLISIONS" AND FELLOW, THE GERMAN MARSHALL FUND: It is indeed. And what's remarkable and to me unsustainable is that at the

moment President Trump seems to be all things to all people. He's meeting with Putin and welcoming him with open arms and seeming to come to some

kind of agreement. He's speaking about security commitments to Ukraine. He's praising European leaders for supporting Ukraine. There are no details

of what's happening. It's all promises, and the promises on the surface contradict each other. So, you just wonder how long President Trump can

juggle all these balls.

QUEST: Right, because all he wants, as he will happily admit, and rightly so by the way, is the fighting to stop, the killing to end. And he says

this again and again and again, but there's a lack of sophistry in terms of the peace deal that has to be done and the land that has to be given, and

it is not a real estate transaction as one person put it to me.

KIMMAGE: No, absolutely. I mean, I think from the European-Ukrainian perspective, there's just a need to contain and control Russia, that's

paramount, and that's not going to be done with words. That's going to be done on the ground and with deeds.

And, you know, from a U.S. perspective, it's got stick. I mean, affirmations of peace are well and good, but what's the process, what's the

structure that's going to get it all to stick? And the low level of detail is very, very worrisome here.

QUEST: Right. But when push comes to shove, now the Europeans and their arrival in Washington is a show of support, a show of force. If it comes to

Mr. President, President Trump, we cannot accept this land part and Putin says, I cannot accept not having it, where does President Trump fall down?

Which side does he come down on, I should say?

KIMMAGE: I find it impossible to predict. It's almost a game at the moment as to who can be the last one to disappoint President Trump, but it is

going to be somebody. Because these parties are all very, very far from one another. And, you know, the rapid shifts and turns from the White House are

just startling here. But who's going to be the last one standing? Very, very difficult to say.

QUEST: Well, yes, you say that, but as we listen to the Europeans who are almost Uriah Heep-ish in their unctuousness to be nice to the president, do

you think that they have an ability to say no? I'm sorry, Mr. President, we are not going for this. And if that means a rupture with our relationship

with you, so be it.

KIMMAGE: I think at a certain point they may have to. I mean, for Europe to compromise and the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine

after supporting Ukraine and the way that Europe has for the last three and a half years is just I think not possible.

[18:55:00]

And for Ukraine, it's categorically not possible to compromise on these questions of territory. Zelenskyy has been very polite to Trump, very

admiring. He wore a suit and all of that, but he's not changing his tune on that point.

So, the rupture may well be coming and perhaps it's a rupture that Trump can live with. I mean, Trump can live with tension, or perhaps it will

break the transatlantic relationship, but I don't think that what we're living through at the moment where everybody seems a party to a kind of

fantasy diplomacy, I don't think it's sustainable.

QUEST: Michael, I'm very grateful that you've -- I mean, you poured a bucket of cold water on us tonight, but I think that was necessary. But

bearing in mind everything else that we've had, and it's good to see you, sir. Thank you very much indeed for so doing.

KIMMAGE: Great to see you.

QUEST: And we look forward to walk cold water from you in the future. And I thank you for your company. If you are starting your day in Asia or

finishing it in Europe and the Middle East, wherever you are, you are now briefed for the hours ahead.

I'm Richard Quest in New York. You've been watching "The Brief" with Jim Sciutto. Because the news never stops and neither do we. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:00]

END