What we learned from the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, briefly explained
This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here. Welcome to The Logoff: A short-notice meeting at the White House today brought President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and seven other European leaders together to discuss the […]
President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on August 18, 2025. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
This story appeared in The Logoff, a daily newsletter that helps you stay informed about the Trump administration without letting political news take over your life. Subscribe here.
Welcome to The Logoff: A short-notice meeting at the White House today brought President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and seven other European leaders together to discuss the Russian war in Ukraine — but revealed little about whether a peace deal will be possible.
What happened? Two major topics of discussion were the possibility of a ceasefire and security guarantees for Ukraine. Trump said the US would provide Ukraine with “very good protection” from Russia as part of a potential peace deal; though the specifics of such an arrangement are still unclear, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte described it as a “breakthrough.”
The other big result of the meeting is the promise of another meeting — this time, a trilateral discussion between Trump, Zelenskyy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin, which Trump has pushed to arrange, and Zelenskyy today signaled he would be open to.
The meeting also went more smoothly than Trump’s February conversation with Zelenskyy, which devolved into Trump and Vice President JD Vance both haranguing the Ukrainian leader.
Who attended? The meeting featured a remarkable assemblage of European leaders who gathered to show support for Zelenskyy, underscoring the war’s broader significance to the continent. In addition to Trump and Zelenskyy, the leaders of Finland, France, Germany, Italy, and the UK were in the room, as were Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president.
What’s the context? Today’s meeting follows Trump’s Friday summit with Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, which ended abruptly with little announced progress. Over the weekend, however, Trump indicated his support for a Putin plan that would require Ukraine to cede territory as a condition for ending the war, as well as backed off his previous insistence on an immediate ceasefire.
What’s next? A trilateral meeting between Trump, Putin, and Zelenskyy now seems more likely. Such a meeting could build on discussions over the past two weeks and bring Putin and Zelenskyy face-to-face — but it’s unclear whether Putin is even interested in ending a war when he believes his troops are still winning on the battlefield.
And with that, it’s time to log off…
If you haven’t read the latest edition of Vox Book Club, I highly recommend it — my colleague Kelsi Trinidad rounded up a list of excellent book recommendations from the Vox staff, and you can read them all here. And whether it’s a book from the list or something you were already reading, I hope you’re able to spend some time logged off with a good book this evening — we’ll see you back here tomorrow!
<img src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/mark-carney-at-an-election-campaign-even-with-supporters.jpg?id=60032092&width=1200&height=600&coordinates=0%2C64%2C0%2C64"/><br/><br/><p>With the <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/federal-election" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">federal election</a> on Monday, April 28, 2025, you might be wondering who to vote for.</p><p>There are a few major reasons why <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/mark-carney" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Mark Carney</a> wants you to vote Liberal.</p><p>Carney and the Liberals are campaigning on key issues like affordability, crime, U.S. tariffs, and more.</p><p>Here's what you need to know about the Liberal Party's promises if you're trying to decide who to vote for. For the Conservatives, NDP, Bloc Québécois, PPC and Greens, check out <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/who-to-vote-for" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">MTL Blog's election hub</a>.</p><h3>Tax cuts for the middle class</h3><br/><p>The <a href="https://liberal.ca/liberals-launch-2025-campaign-with-middle-class-tax-cut/" target="_blank">Liberals promise a middle-class tax cut</a> to help Canadians keep more of what they earn.</p><p>Carney plans for this middle-class tax cut to save two-income families up to $825 a year by reducing the marginal tax rate on the lowest tax bracket by 1 percentage point.</p><p>More than 22 million Canadians will benefit from this tax cut. Middle-income and low-income Canadians will benefit the most, saving up to $412 per person in 2025.</p><p>The Liberals want this tax cut to "put more money back in the pockets of Canadian workers and families" to ensure people can save and spend on what matters most, especially groceries.</p><h3>Fighting crime</h3><br/><p>The <a href="https://liberal.ca/mark-carneys-liberals-release-plan-to-fight-crime-protect-canadians-and-build-safer-communities/" target="_blank">Liberals promise to fight crime, protect Canadians, and build safer communities</a>.</p><p>Carney's plan includes bringing criminal gangs to justice, stopping illegal guns and drugs coming in from the U.S., and building safer communities.</p><p>To keep assault-style guns off the streets while respecting hunting and sport shooting traditions in Canada, the Liberals will:</p><ul><li>re-implement a gun-buyback program for assault-style firearms</li><li>automatically revoke gun licenses for individuals convicted of violent offences, including intimate partner violence offences</li><li>legislate a requirement for the RCMP to classify new firearm models entering the market</li><li>increase funding to forensic and ballistics laboratories to better track down guns used in crimes</li><li>toughen oversight of firearms licensing and strengthen the enforcement of yellow and red flag requirements</li></ul><p>The Liberals plan to strengthen law enforcement and the justice system to fight organized crime by recruiting and training RCMP and CBSA officers, investing in first responders, cracking down on sexual violence and intimate partner violence, fighting hate crime, and more.</p><p>Also, Carney wants to toughen the Criminal Code and make bail laws stricter for violent and organized crime, home invasions, car thefts, and human trafficking. That includes repeat offenders.</p><h3>Affordable housing</h3><br/><p>The <a href="https://liberal.ca/mark-carneys-liberals-unveil-canadas-most-ambitious-housing-plan-since-the-second-world-war/" target="_blank">Liberals promise to solve the housing crisis</a> in Canada by building more affordable homes, improving the housing market, and more.</p><p>Carney's housing plan will create Build Canada Homes to get the federal government back into home building.</p><p>The government will act as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands, provide over $25 billion in financing to innovative prefabricated home builders in Canada, and provide $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable home builders.</p><p>It will also make the housing market work better by catalyzing private capital, cutting red tape, and lowering the cost of homebuilding.</p><p>The Liberals plan to double the pace of construction to almost 500,000 new homes each year.</p><p>Carney also wants to <a href="https://liberal.ca/liberal-housing-plan-will-build-more-homes-using-canadian-lumber/" target="_blank">fund home retrofits and lower utility bills</a> to make it easier for low-income and middle-income households to adopt energy efficiency upgrades.</p><p>All of these measures will build on the elimination of the GST for first-time homebuyers on homes at or under $1 million that the Liberals already introduced.</p><h3>Taking on Trump's tariffs</h3><br/><p>The <a href="https://liberal.ca/liberals-to-protect-canadian-auto-workers-and-stand-up-against-tariffs/" target="_blank">Liberals promise to stand up to Donald Trump's tariffs</a> by supporting Canadian auto workers, diversifying Canadian trade and strengthening Canada's food sector.</p><p>To help the auto industry fight against U.S. tariffs, the Liberal Party wants to:</p><ul><li>create a $2 billion Strategic Response Fund to boost competitiveness, protect manufacturing jobs, and build a fortified Canadian supply chain</li><li>build an "All-in-Canada" network for auto manufacturing to build more car parts in Canada and limit parts from crossing the border during production</li><li>maximize Canada's steel, aluminum, and critical minerals</li><li>leverage government funding to prioritize Canadian-built vehicles</li></ul><p>Carney's plan to diversify <a href="https://liberal.ca/mark-carneys-liberals-announce-plan-to-diversify-canadian-trade-by-improving-canadas-trade-enabling-infrastructure/" target="_blank">trade</a> will:</p><ul><li>put $5 billion into a new Trade Diversification Corridor Fund to build the infrastructure that will create one Canadian economy and move trade away from the U.S.</li><li>authorize Canadian ports to cooperate to maximize efficiencies</li><li>strengthen the security of ports to stop the flow of drugs, illegal guns and stolen automobiles</li></ul><p>To support <a href="https://liberal.ca/liberals-release-plan-to-protect-canadian-agrifood-workers-and-build-a-stronger-agrifood-sector/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">food and agriculture</a> industries in Canada, the Liberals want to:</p><ul><li>protect Canada's commitment to supply management and supply-managed sectors</li><li>permanently double the revenue protection for farmers under the AgriStability Program in case of significant revenue drops caused by tariffs, extreme weather events, and other external impacts</li><li>build more domestic processing capacity</li><li>increase support for farmers, ranchers, and producers with an additional $30 million in the AgriMarketing Program</li><li>increase the help for farmers and ranchers to buy new, more efficient farm equipment with a $30 million top-up to the Agriculture Clean Technology Program</li><li>double the loan guarantee limit of the Canadian Agricultural Loans Act program and expand terms</li></ul><h3>Support for workers</h3><br/><p>The <a href="https://liberal.ca/mark-carneys-liberals-announce-plan-to-train-skilled-workers-for-strong-careers/" target="_blank">Liberals promise to help workers</a> by offering new benefits and grants.</p><p>There is a plan for a new upskilling and training benefit for workers in the middle of their careers who need to access new skills training for career stability and success.</p><p>It will provide up to $15,000 for workers in priority sectors (including manufacturing, health care, construction, AI and technology).</p><p>Also, the Liberals plan to <a href="https://liberal.ca/mark-carneys-liberals-to-cover-costs-of-apprenticeship-training-for-skilled-trades-workers/" target="_blank">cover apprenticeship training costs</a> and create more training opportunities in the skilled trades.</p><p>Carney wants to provide an Apprenticeship Grant of up to $8,000 for registered apprentices to "remove a key financial barrier to skills training."</p><p>This plan also includes:</p><ul><li>increasing access to union-led training initiatives by doubling the funding of the Union Training and Innovation Program</li><li>keeping the Apprenticeship Service program to support employers in hiring new apprentices in Red Seal trades</li><li>increasing labour mobility for skilled tradespeople between provinces and territories by breaking down internal trade barriers</li><li>expanding the Labour Mobility Tax Deduction so workers who travel more than 120 kilometres from home to a job site can deduct more of their expenses, and "significantly increasing" the tax deduction limit</li></ul><h3>Protecting nature</h3><br/><p>The <a href="https://liberal.ca/mark-carneys-liberals-to-protect-canadas-nature-biodiversity-and-water/" target="_blank">Liberals promise to protect Canada's nature</a>, biodiversity, and water.</p><p>Carney wants to conserve nature and biodiversity by creating at least 10 new national parks and marine conservation areas, and 15 new urban parks.</p><p>This plan also includes making access to national parks and historic sites free this summer.</p><p>Liberals want to support Indigenous stewardship by establishing a new Arctic Indigenous Guardians program, funding Indigenous-led conservation and protection projects, and enshrining First Nations' right to water into law.</p><p>Also, the Liberals will implement nature-based climate solutions that also support community resilience, clean up and protect wildlife in and around coastal waters, and champion nature conservation internationally.</p><p class=""><em>Looking for more election information? Here's why federal party leaders want you to vote <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/why-vote-conservative-pierre-poilievre-2025-federal-election" target="_blank">Conservative</a>, <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/why-vote-ndp-jagmeet-singh-2025-federal-election" target="_blank">NDP</a>, <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/why-vote-blanchet-bloc-quebecois-2025-federal-election">Bloc Québécois</a>, <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/ppc-why-vote-maxime-bernier-2025-election">PPC</a> and <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/why-vote-green-may-pedneault-2025-federal-election" target="_blank">Green</a>.</em></p><p><em><em>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.narcity.com/why-vote-liberals-mark-carney-2025-federal-election">Narcity</a>.</em></em></p>
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