Key Points

In a post on Telegram, the Russian Defence Ministry said, "According to available information received through several channels, the Kyiv regime is preparing a provocation to foil the Russian-American talks scheduled for 15 August 2025."

The ministry asserted that with this objective, the security service of Ukraine has sent a group of foreign journalists to Kharkiv's Chuguev, which is under the control of Kyiv, under the pretext of doing "reports on the residents of the city in the frontline zone."

The defence ministry also claimed that the Ukrainian forces will carry out the strikes on the city and blame it on Russia.

"Immediately ahead of the summit on Friday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine plan a provocative strike using UAVs and missiles against one of the densely populated residential quarters or a hospital with a large number of civilian casualties, which will have to be immediately recorded by the foreign Western journalists," said the Russian Defence Ministry.

As a result, the ministry said that the Russian forces "will be considered fully responsible for the strikes and civilian casualties."

"This will create a negative media background and conditions for disrupting Russian-American cooperation on settling the conflict in Ukraine," the statement read.

It further claimed that there may also be provocations in other settlements controlled by Ukraine.

This comes as Trump and Putin are set to meet on August 15 in Alaska, focusing on achieving a long-term peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Announcing the meeting, Trump posted on Truth Social, "The highly anticipated meeting between me and Putin will take place next Friday, August 15, 2025, in the Great State of Alaska. Further details to follow."

Following the upcoming Alaska summit, Moscow expects the next meeting between Putin and Trump to be held in Russia, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said on Saturday.

"If we look ahead, then, naturally, we should aim for the next meeting between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to take place on Russian territory," Ushakov was quoted by Russian state-run news agency TASS as saying.

"A corresponding invitation has already been sent to the US President," he added.

- IANS