According to CCTV News, on September 12, local time, the Russian Ministry of Defense released a weekly battle report summarizing that in the past week, the Russian army took control of three residential areas in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and attacked Ukrainian military-industrial complex enterprises and transportation services to the Ukrainian army. Energy infrastructure, military airports and other targets. Rosatom issued a statement on the same day saying that a Ukrainian military drone attacked the building where the operating unit of the Smolensk Nuclear Power Plant is located on the 12th. At present, the drone has been intercepted, the attack has not affected the safe operation of the nuclear power plant, and the radiation level in its surrounding areas is also within the normal range.

The Ukrainian state news agency quoted people familiar with the matter as saying, In the early morning of September 12, the Ukrainian National Security Service used drones to attack Primorsk Port, Russia's largest oil shipping port in the Baltic Sea, as well as multiple other oil pumping stations. The port is also a terminal for Russia's Baltic Sea oil pipeline system.The attack caused the port to burn, and oil shipments were forced to be suspended.In addition, the Ukrainian National Security Agency also attacked several pump stations that delivered oil to the Russian port of Uzbekistan.

Image Source: Visual China

Kremlin: Russia-Ukraine negotiations "suspended"

The Kremlin said on September 12 that peace talks between Russia and Ukraine had been "suspended" and that U.S. President Donald Trump wanted to put an end to the three-and-a-half-year conflict.

Kremlin spokesmanPeskov"Our negotiators have the opportunity to communicate through various channels. But for now, it may be more accurate to say'pause '," he told reporters at a briefing.

In response to Russian air threats, NATO announces the deployment of "Sentinel Orient" to defend eastern flank airspace

According to Central TV News, on the 12th, local time, NATO Secretary-General Mark Luther and NATO's European Allied Commander Alexis Grinkovic held a joint press conference at NATO headquarters.

At the conference, Luther said that NATO has discovered that drones have violated the airspace of four countries, and that Russian air activities are increasingly frequent, whether intentional or unintentional, and are extremely dangerous.At the moment, NATO is deploying the Eastern Guard system to strengthen the Eastern Wing defense, which will integrate the military resources of several allies such as Denmark, France, Britain and Germany.

Peskov: Poland's closure of border with Belarus is'overemotional '

On September 12, Russian President Peskov said Poland's closure of the border with Belarus due to joint military exercises by Russia and Belarus was a "emotional exaggeration."Peskov also said earlier that the joint military exercises were not aimed at any third country, but to continue to promote cooperation between the two countries.

The Polish government announced on September 12 that Poland would close all border crossings leading to Belarus from now on because Russia and Belarus began to hold the "West-2025" joint strategic exercise on the same day.

Extended reading

Ukrainian expert: Russia and Ukraine don't want a ceasefire, Trump's thinking is too simple

More than 800 drones pounced on targets in Ukraine, and the top floor of the Ukrainian government building in the center of Kiev caught fire and smoke billowed. From September 6 to 7, 2025 local time, Ukraine claimed to have suffered the largest drone attack by the Russian army since February 2022, and the Ukrainian government building was also attacked and caught fire for the first time. As of the evening of the 7th, this round of air strikes had caused dozens of casualties.

¡°No matter how much news about peace and negotiations is being in the media, the intensity of the fighting has not changed since the first day of the war,¡± Maxim Skripchenko, chairman of the Ukrainian Transatlantic Dialogue Center in Kiev, told China Newsweek.

Map of Skripchenko / Interviewers

Skripchenko is a well-known Ukrainian foreign and security expert who has held leadership positions in several mainstream think tanks in Ukraine, the current chairman of the Ukraine Transatlantic Dialogue Center, and a non-resident researcher for the Carnegie International Peace Foundation¡¯s Russia and Eurasia projects.

The senior Ukrainian policy adviser is not optimistic about the future of Russia¡¯s ¡°War and Peace.¡±He said that not only does the Russian side think it is still in a state of military superiority, but the Ukrainian side ¡°doesn¡¯t actually want a ceasefire, because a ceasefire means it¡¯s more difficult to recover occupied territories by military means,¡± and US President Trump ¡°thinks the matter too simple.¡±

About three weeks have passed since Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska, and the war on the Russia-Ukraine front line has further escalated. TASS news agency stated on September 8 that the Ukrainian army lost more than 4,300 soldiers and more than 300 combat vehicles on the Luhansk front in the past week; Syrsky, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, said that the land recaptured by the Ukrainian army on the Donetsk front since August is more than five times the newly lost land.

On September 7th, local time, Trump told the media at the White House that he was still committed to the rapid realization of peace. He said that he would discuss the peace plan with European leaders again and talk to Putin as soon as possible. However, Trump also hinted that he was "dissatisfied" with Russia's continued air strikes against Ukraine and might reconsider imposing secondary sanctions on Russia.

¡°Trump thinks the matter is too simple.¡±

The U.S.-Russian leaders' summit in Alaska has been around for three weeks, the international community has not seen significant progress in the peace process in Ukraine, the Russian leaders' summit seems still far away, and military operations are still escalating.

by Skripchenko:The problem now is that Ukraine, Russia, and the United States do not understand the same thing about the peace process. For Ukraine, our options are very limited. The international community¡¯s support is not sustainable, the internal agenda of many countries is changing, and Ukrainians are dying on the battlefield. So we must end this war, and end the war must be negotiated. Even in the hours of the start of the war in February 2022, Zelensky also proposed to talk to Putin.

But on the other hand, from the perspective of Russia, the dialogue with Ukraine is useless, because Ukraine is just the backbone of the West, and what Russia wants to through negotiations is not a ceasefire, but a return to the ¡°club of great powers¡±.

Trump made the problem too simple at the beginning. He thought that as long as the two sides were brought to the negotiating table, the war would end. Initially, Ukraine also disagreed with Trump's idea. Our position is that we cannot cease fire unconditionally on the front line unless Ukraine first gets effective security guarantees. But now, Ukraine's attitude is: This is not what we want, but we agree to start at any time.

In this context, Trump wanted to test whether the Russian side was really willing to start peace talks through the Alaska Summit, but Russia never gave in to Trump's idea. Because everyone knows that Trump's influence on Russia is quite limited, if the US really imposes "hard" pressure measures such as secondary sanctions on Russia, it will also damage the US' own economy.

"China News Weekly": Now, Putin invites Zelensky to negotiate in Moscow, and Zelensky invites Putin to negotiate in Kiev. Both of these options are not very acceptable to both parties. So, if the Russian-Ukrainian leaders' summit can still be held, where is the most likely venue?

by Skripchenko:There are a few different options. The best option is Turkey, where you don't need to go through a third country to fly from Russia, and Turkey is in a relatively neutral state. In fact, I think Turkey is the only country that may actually send a "peacekeeping force" to patrol the Russia-Ukraine demilitarized zone after the ceasefire. Of course, neither Russia nor Ukraine are completely satisfied with Turkey, but this may already be the best choice.

However, let¡¯s consider one situation: what would be the form of this meeting if Putin and Zelensky met? If it was just a meeting between the two sides, Turkey was almost the only option, but if it included third parties, such as Trump and even some European leaders, then the consideration of the location would be more complicated. There are also some Middle Eastern countries that could be an alternative. Switzerland is also a possibility, but this means that Putin¡¯s specialization in obtaining transit permits from many EU member states.

¡°Better to get bad security than to continue fighting.¡±

China News Weekly: The security plan is one of the core issues of the negotiations. Most importantly, Trump clearly agrees with Putin¡¯s view that Ukraine cannot join NATO. Will Ukraine and its allies consider changing Trump¡¯s point of view, or will they propose an alternative?

by Skripchenko:NATO's problems are not new. Ukraine's accession to NATO has never been in the scope of discussion by the U.S. government, whether it is the Trump administration, the Biden administration or earlier the Obama administration. The consistent policy of the U.S. government is that NATO does not include Ukraine. Moreover, there are many voices within NATO that oppose Ukraine's accession, and some European countries except the United States will not agree. So this is impossible to achieve in the first place.

What I want to emphasize is that Ukrainian society also lacks interest in joining NATO.If you hold a referendum in Ukraine and ask people if they want to join NATO, most people will answer ¡°yes¡±; but if you ask ¡°do you believe in NATO¡¯s security,¡± most people will answer ¡°no.¡± Everyone knows ¡°Article 5 of NATO,¡± but if you really study it, you will find the text extremely vague, it doesn¡¯t mean NATO member states need to ¡°declarate war¡± for other member states to be invaded.

So when we now say that Ukraine needs security ¡°near NATO Article 5,¡± what we want is a clear guarantee that it is ¡°stronger than NATO Article 5¡±. Ideally, we need an agreement that clearly states that certain concrete actions will take place if Ukraine is attacked again.

The issue of Ukraine's security is probably the most complicated diplomatic debate in the world at present. I don't think any ceasefire agreement since the end of World War II can be compared with this, because Ukraine will not completely obey the words of the President of the United States.

China News Weekly: French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced that 26 mainly European countries have officially pledged to deploy land, sea or air forces to Ukraine as ¡°security forces¡±. Russia has expressed strong opposition to this. Former Secretary General of the European Security Organization (ESO) Mr. Greming said in an interview with the journal that he did not consider the program to be an effective security guarantee.

by Skripchenko:I also don¡¯t think this is an effective option. The army of European nations has no combat experience, limited size, and there is no political consensus within those nations about military deployment. For example, now Macron agrees to send ¡°peacekeepers¡± to Ukraine, but then what? Within five years, a new president will appear in France, and France will most likely choose to withdraw from Ukraine. Even if the French ¡°peacekeepers¡± do not withdraw, will the French army stay there to fight once the Russian-Ukrainian battles start again? They will only withdraw, and then say, ¡°Sorry, our peacekeeping mission has failed.¡±

I think this war has proved to us that the only thing a country can rely on is its own army. That is the core logic of security. For European nations, the most realistic discussion now is to give more financial commitments to Ukraine¡¯s arms procurement, to arm Ukraine as ¡°big pigs.¡±

China News Weekly: What is the bottom line for Ukraine? what kind of security scheme is minimum for Ukraine, but at the same time unacceptable?

by Skripchenko:This is about a war of survival and death, and we cannot accept bad or useless security guarantees. In the end, if the security options on the table are useless, then war is difficult to avoid. In this case, getting the so-called ¡°security guarantee¡± is more terrifying than continuing the war. Because in the current war, Ukraine can still get military and financial support from allies, if we just get a useless ¡°security guarantee¡±, but actually lose external help, the result may be better than continuing to sustain the war.

"The window of opportunity will soon close"

China News Weekly: It sounds like the negotiations on the security plan will last for a long time. So, should Ukraine and Russia discuss a ceasefire first?

by Skripchenko:This has been the position of the Ukrainian government for the past few months. Of course, from the perspective of Ukraine, we don¡¯t really want a ceasefire. A ceasefire means a freeze of conflict, which means we will find it difficult to reclaim territory on the battlefield. But ¡°unconditional ceasefire¡± is Trump¡¯s request to Ukraine, and we can only say, ¡°Well, let¡¯s start with a ceasefire.¡±

U.S. President Trump Information

The Russian side emphasizes that there is a stable front first and then a ceasefire. The Russian side thinks they are moving forward every day, and every move means that Russia¡¯s negotiating position is strengthened. This is to a certain extent a reality, but the war is unpredictable. For example, a few weeks ago, the Russian side proposed to use some of the Russian occupied areas of Sumy state in exchange for Ukrainian controls of Donetsk.

On the one hand, no matter how much international media reports about peace and negotiations, the intensity of the fighting on the front has not changed since the first day of the war.

On the other hand, I received an international relations education in the Soviet era, and I was taught by the same teachers as Russian officials and scholars. So I believe they have learned the same logic that I have learned: "If you don't want your opponent to achieve your goal, you have to delay it to the maximum extent, time is on your side." And that's not the case with American politics, for (US Secretary of State) Rubio, if he can't achieve peace in Ukraine, he may fall out of favor and may leave the political scene very quickly. Therefore, the logic behind the parties' handling of the ceasefire issue is different.

China News Weekly: So the fighting on the Russian front will not stop soon, and the autumn is coming, and the two sides will always launch new large-scale operations in the autumn.

by Skripchenko:As long as the war continues, the Ukrainian army will do everything possible to reclaim the land. But war is unpredictable. In the future, maybe Ukraine will face problems, maybe there will be some form of collapse on Russia's front lines.

For example, Ukraine was the first to use drones on a large scale on the battlefield. We used cheap drones to destroy expensive main battle tanks and even Russian strategic bombers. Now the world is learning from us this tactical approach to completely changing warfare. However, Russia is also learning from us. Now the optical fiber drones they use in large numbers are very difficult to intercept.

China News Weekly: In an interview with this magazine, a Ukrainian policy person said that in the past few months, Ukraine has actually adopted a strategy-respecting Trump, but delaying the peace process until Trump lost his patience with Russia and turned to support Ukraine. This strategy has been successful to some extent, and Trump keeps publicly expressing impatience with Russia. So, should Ukraine continue to maintain this strategy?

by Skripchenko:First of all, my feeling is that the peace process this autumn and winter will be decisive. The window of opportunity will soon close, because the United States will hold mid-term elections at the end of 2026, the Democratic Party is likely to control the House of Representatives, and Trump will be caught in the dilemma of difficult implementation of the decree.

As for the strategy you mentioned, I think the question we need to consider now is: What can Trump's "anger" against Russia bring to Ukraine? For us, at the very least this means continuous intelligence sharing and weapons assistance.

What Ukraine thinks is the most "ideal" situation, of course, is that Trump imposes more severe sanctions on Russia in a rage, forcing Russia to sit at the negotiating table immediately. But as we mentioned earlier, the whole world is closely connected, and how much of its own interests is the US government prepared to sacrifice to achieve this goal? However, for Trump, in a rage, he may indeed say: "I don't care about the economy, I just want Russia to suffer because Russia betrayed my peace plan."

Trump would say, ¡°I¡¯m really tired, I¡¯m tired of all this, I don¡¯t care about your war, I¡¯m still willing to share intelligence with Ukraine and sell weapons, but I¡¯m also going to make an economic deal with Russia.¡±