US President Donald Trump said Friday he would meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in one week in Alaska, and suggested that an eventual deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine could involve swapping territory.The Kremlin later confirmed the summit, calling the location “quite logical.””The presidents themselves will undoubtedly focus on discussing options for achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said in a statement posted on Telegram.Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.Putin held consultations Friday with the leaders of China and India ahead of the summit with Trump, who has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough.”The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska,” Trump said on his Truth Social site.He said earlier at the White House that “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details.- Trump invited to Russia -Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit would bring peace any closer.Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.He has also ruled out holding talks with Volodymyr Zelensky at this stage, a meeting the Ukrainian president says is necessary to make headway on a deal.At talks in Istanbul last month, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance — calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it controls and to renounce Western military support.The Alaska summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump’s first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.The Kremlin’s Ushakov said that Trump had been invited to visit Russia.”Looking ahead, it is natural to hope that the next meeting between the presidents will be held on Russian territory. A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the US president,” Ushakov said.- Witkoff visit -The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had updated Chinese President Xi Jinping on “the main results of his conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who visited Moscow earlier this week.Xi expressed support for a “long-term” solution to the conflict, the Kremlin said.China’s Xinhua state news agency quoted Xi as having told Putin: “China is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations, and promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, economic and military ties since the start of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.Putin also spoke by phone to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after both countries condemned new US tariffs over New Delhi’s oil purchases from Russia.Xi and Modi have both tried to tout their own peace initiatives for Ukraine, though they have gained little traction.Putin, a former KGB agent who has ruled Russia for more than 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a “final phase” of negotiations on ending the conflict.In his regular evening address on Thursday, Zelensky said “it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations.”Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said Friday that families with children would be evacuated from 19 more villages in the region’s east, where Russian forces have been advancing.The villages, home to hundreds of people, are all within about 20 miles (30 kilometers) of the front line.

US astronaut Jim Lovell, the commander of the Apollo 13 Moon mission which nearly ended in disaster in 1970 after a mid-flight explosion, has died at the age of 97, NASA announced Friday. The former Navy pilot, who was portrayed by actor Tom Hanks in the 1995 movie “Apollo 13,” died in a Chicago suburb on Thursday, the US space agency said in a statement. The astronaut’s “life and work inspired millions of people across the decades,” NASA said, praising his “character and steadfast courage.”Lovell travelled to the Moon twice but never walked on the lunar surface.Yet he is considered one of the greats of the US space program after rescuing a mission that teetered on the brink of disaster as the world watched in suspense far below.”There are people who dare, who dream, and who lead others to the places we would not go on our own,” Hanks said in an Instagram post. “Jim Lovell, who for a long while had gone farther into space and for longer than any other person of our planet, was that kind of guy.”- ‘Houston, we’ve had a problem’ -Launched on April 11, 1970 — nine months after Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon — Apollo 13 was intended to be humanity’s third lunar landing. The plan was that Lovell would walk on the Moon.The mission, which was also crewed by astronauts Jack Swigert and Fred Haise, was already considered fairly routine.Then an oxygen tank exploded on the way there.The disaster prompted Swigert to famously tell mission control: “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” Lovell then repeated the phrase, which is slightly different to the one used in the Ron Howard movie, according to NASA.The three astronauts and crew on the ground scrambled to find a solution. The United States followed the chaotic odyssey from the ground, fearing that the country could lose its first astronauts in space.Around 200,000 miles from Earth, the crew was forced to shelter in their Lunar Module, slingshot around the Moon and rapidly return to Earth.The composed leadership of Lovell — who was nicknamed “Smilin’ Jim” — and the ingenuity of the NASA team on the ground managed to get the crew safely back home.Lovell was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but never returned to space.- ‘Our Hero’ -Born on March 25, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio, Lovell worked as a Navy pilot before joining NASA.He was one of three astronauts who became the first people to orbit the Moon during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. The mission also took the famous image “Earthrise,” in which the blue planet peeks out from beyond the Moon.Lovell’s family said they were “enormously proud of his amazing life and career,” according to a statement released by NASA.”But, to all of us, he was Dad, Granddad, and the Leader of our family. Most importantly, he was our Hero,” the statement added.”We will miss his unshakeable optimism, his sense of humor, and the way he made each of us feel we could do the impossible.”

US President Donald Trump said Friday he would meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in one week in Alaska, and suggested that an eventual deal between Moscow and Kyiv to end the war in Ukraine could involve swapping territory.Tens of thousands of people have been killed since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with millions forced to flee their homes.Putin held consultations Friday with the leaders of China and India ahead of the summit with Trump, who has spent his first months in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine without making a breakthrough.”The highly anticipated meeting between myself, as President of the United States of America, and President Vladimir Putin, of Russia, will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska,” Trump said on his Truth Social site.He said earlier at the White House that “there’ll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both” Ukraine and Russia, without providing further details.The Kremlin did not immediately confirm the date or location for the talks.Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether a summit would bring peace any closer.Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire.He has also ruled out holding talks with Volodymyr Zelensky at this stage, a meeting the Ukrainian president says is necessary to make headway on a deal.At talks in Istanbul last month, Russian negotiators outlined hardline territorial demands for halting its advance — calling for Kyiv to withdraw from some territory it controls and to renounce Western military support.The Alaska summit would be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021.Trump and Putin last sat together in 2019 at a G20 summit meeting in Japan during Trump’s first term. They have spoken by telephone several times since January.- Witkoff visit -The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had updated Chinese President Xi Jinping on “the main results of his conversation” with US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who visited Moscow earlier this week.Xi expressed support for a “long-term” solution to the conflict, the Kremlin said.China’s Xinhua state news agency quoted Xi as having told Putin: “China is glad to see Russia and the United States maintain contact, improve their relations, and promote a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.”Moscow and Beijing have deepened political, economic and military ties since the start of Russia’s offensive in Ukraine.Putin also spoke by phone to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after both countries condemned new US tariffs over New Delhi’s oil purchases from Russia.Xi and Modi have both tried to tout their own peace initiatives for Ukraine, though they have gained little traction.Putin, a former KGB agent who has ruled Russia for more than 25 years, said in June that he was ready to meet Zelensky, but only during a “final phase” of negotiations on ending the conflict.In his regular evening address on Thursday, Zelensky said “it is only fair that Ukraine should be a participant in the negotiations.”Donetsk governor Vadym Filashkin said Friday that families with children would be evacuated from 19 more villages in the region’s east, where Russian forces have been advancing.The villages, home to hundreds of people, are all within about 20 miles (30 kilometers) of the front line.