Ukraine: Canada's Carney rules out Russian say on guarantees

US Vice President JD Vance has said that major progress had been made in talks with Russia over ending the war in Ukraine.

"I think the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for the first time in three and a half years of this conflict," Vance told US broadcaster NBC.

He said that Moscow had recognized it would not "be able to install a puppet regime in Kyiv."

"More importantly, they've acknowledged that there is going to be some security guarantee to the territorial integrity of Ukraine," Vance said.

Vance's comments come after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska last week.

Held under the slogan "Pursuing Peace," the Alaska summit has failed to yield any tangible progress on a ceasefire.

Moscow and Kyiv held a prisoner swap on Sunday, including both military personnel and civilians, the latest in a series of such exchanges that began earlier this year.

 "On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned" the Russian Defense Ministry wrote on Telegram, adding that 146 prisoners of war were also returned to Ukraine.

Kyiv confirmed the swap but not the number of people returned, nor the claim from Russia that eight of the returnees were civilians "detained" from the Kursk border region.

Two of the high-profile Ukrainian prisoners returned on Sunday were journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who was abducted in 2022, and former Kherson Mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, "who spent more than three years in captivity," according to an aide of President Zelenskyy.

Prisoner exchanges have been one of the few tangible results of marathon diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine conflict throughout 2025.

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi says Kyiv's forces have recaptured three villages in the eastern Donetsk region from Russian control.

"Our troops have successfully counterattacked and cleared the villages of Mykhailivka, Zelenyi Gai, and Volodymyrivka in the Donetsk region from the enemy," Syrskyi wrote on social media.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has urged an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv for Independence Day celebrations.

"We need a cessation of hostilities. We need a ceasefire. We can call it a ceasefire, a truce, an armistice. That's necessary to stop the killing," Carney told reporters Sunday, speaking alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Carney said it was not for Russia to decide the security guarantees Ukraine seeks from Western allies. "It's not the choice of Russia how the future sovereignty, independence, liberty of Ukraine is guaranteed. It's the choice of Ukraine and the decisions of the partners," he said.

He condemned Moscow's invasion and warned that unchecked aggression could spread. "If Russia's aggression goes unchallenged, it will not stop here," Carney said, adding that NATO views support for Ukraine as part of collective defense.

During his visit, Carney joined Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska in laying a wreath at the memorial wall in Kyiv.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western countries of trying to "block" peace negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

His statement comes after a flurry of diplomatic activity to try to halt the fighting appeared to stall.

"They're just looking for a pretext to block negotiations," Lavrov said in an interview with state TV station Rossiya aired Sunday on Telegram.

He also criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for "obstinately insisting, setting conditions, demanding an immediate meeting at all costs" with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

US President Donald Trump's envoy Keith Kellogg is attending Ukraine's independence celebrations in the capital Kyiv on Sunday.

During the celebrations, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Kellogg the Ukrainian Order of Merit, of the 1st degree.

Kyiv has been keenly courting Trump's support as it seeks to make Russia end its three-and-a-half-year invasion.

Zelenskyy also congratulated his compatriots on Independence Day.

"We are building a Ukraine that will have enough strength and power to live in security and peace," Zelenskyy said, calling for a "just peace."

"What our future will be is up to us alone," he said. "And the world knows this. And the world respects this. It respects Ukraine. It perceives Ukraine as an equal," he said.

The acting governor of Russia's Kursk region, Alexander Khinshtein, has sharply criticized Ukraine for launching a drone attack that Russian officials said targeted the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

"They are a threat to nuclear safety and a violation of all international conventions," Khinshtein wrote on the Telegram messaging app.

Russian authorities said the attack sparked a blaze at the plant but that fire service personnel managed to extinguish it and there were no casualties.

The plant's staff said the attack damaged an auxiliary transformer and led to 50% reduction in the operating capacity at unit three of the plant.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also greeted Ukrainians on their Independence Day, saying that they are fighting for a "free, democratic and independent" country.

"We are with you, for as long as it takes. Because a free Ukraine means a free Europe," von der Leyen wrote on social media. 

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz marked Ukraine's Independence Day on Sunday by stressing Berlin's ongoing support for Kyiv in its defense against Russian military aggression.

"As the country marks Independence Day, we stand firmly by their side — today and in the future," Merz posted on X in German, English and Ukrainian.

He said Ukrainians were "most courageously defending themselves against Russia's attacks."

"They are fighting for our liberal order in Europe, and for a just peace," Merz added.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also expressed hope that the independence celebrations would give the people of Ukraine "new courage to stand up to Russian aggression."

Norway's government said it will contribute approximately 7 billion Norwegian crowns ($696 million, €594 million) for supplying air defense systems to Ukraine.

"Together with Germany, we are now ensuring that Ukraine receives powerful air defense systems," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said in the statement.

It added that Norway and Germany are funding two Patriot systems including missiles.

Furthermore, Norway said it is contributing to the procurement of air defense radars from German manufacturer Hensoldt and air defense systems from Kongsberg.

The Pentagon has been quietly blocking Ukraine from using US-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike targets inside Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.

If true, the move represents a severe limitation on Kyiv's ability to use a powerful weapon in its fight against Moscow’s invasion.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has final say over Kyiv's use of long-range US-made weapons as well as those supplied to Ukraine by European allies that rely on US intelligence and components, the WSJ said.

The news came as US President Donald Trump has grown more frustrated publicly over the three-year-old war and his inability to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.

Trump said on Friday that he would soon make a decision on either slapping Russia with economic sanctions or, alternatively, walking away from the peace process.

Ukraine is celebrating its Independence Day on Sunday, marking its exit from the Soviet Union 34 years ago.

The day also marks three and a half years since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

A day ago, on Saturday, the war-torn nation marked its National Flag Day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a ceremony in Kyiv to mark the occasion.

"This very flag embodies a feeling of deliverance for those we bring back from Russian captivity," Zelenskyy said in a post on X. "When they see the Ukrainian colors, they understand: the evil is over."

The blue-and-yellow flag also represented a symbol of hope for Ukrainians living in territory occupied by the Russians, he said.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Kyiv on Sunday to mark Ukrainian Independence Day. 

"On this Ukrainian Independence Day, and at this critical moment in their nation's history, Canada is stepping up our support and our efforts towards a just and lasting peace for Ukraine," Carney wrote on X as he touched down in the capital.

The visit comes as world leaders push for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.

"On this special day, Ukraine's Independence Day, it is especially important for us to feel the support of our friends. And Canada has always stood by us," Andriy Yermak, the chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

Carney is also set to travel to Poland, Germany, and Latvia from August 25 to 27, 2025, meeting German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin.

Russia said a fire broke out Sunday at a Russian nuclear power plant after its military downed a Ukrainian drone.

The "device detonated" upon impact at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant in western Russia, sparking a blaze, officials said.

The plant is near the Russia-Ukraine border and sits to the west of Kursk city.

Authorities said that the fire was put out and there were no casualties.

"The radiation background at the industrial site of the Kursk NPP and the surrounding area has not changed and corresponds to natural levels," the plant wrote on Telegram.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned of the dangers of fighting around nuclear plants since Russia launched its full-scall invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Today, we are reporting on the Ukrainian drone attacks overnight targeting several Russian power and energy facilities, which Russian officials said sparked a fire at the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

They added that the blaze was extinguished by fire crews and there were no casualties.

As fighting between Russia and Ukraine continues, the Pentagon has reportedly been quietly blocking Kyiv from using US-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to strike targets inside Russia.

Meanwhile, war-ravaged Ukraine is celebrating its Independence Day on Sunday, August 24.