US special envoy Steve Witkoff meets Putin in Moscow as Russia strikes Ukrainian gas facility – Europe live | Europe

Key events

We are getting a bit more detail on the Russian strike on Ukrainian gas facilities overnight (11:59), via Reuters.

Ukraine’s energy ministry said in a statement that the attacked station was used as part of a route connecting Greek liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals with Ukrainian gas storage facilities via the Transbalkan gas pipeline.

It noted that it had already been used to deliver LNG from the US and test volumes of Azerbaijani gas.

“This is a Russian strike purely against civilian infrastructure, deliberately targeting the energy sector and, at the same time, relations with Azerbaijan, the United States and partners in Europe, as well as the normal lives of Ukrainians and all Europeans,” the ministry said.

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Updated at 07.36 EDT

Russia arrests man accussed of passing satellite secrets to US

In other events that happened just before the talks between Witkoff and Putin, a man accused of passing Russian satellite secrets to the United States has been arrested for suspected treason and placed in pre-trial detention, a court in the Russian city of Kaliningrad said on Wednesday.

Reuters said the suspect was only identified by a single letter, with the court saying he was a former employee of a company producing electronic engines for space satellites.

It said he was suspected of collecting and storing information about the firm’s technology on behalf of US intelligence services between July 2021 and December 2023.

The agency noted that the man could face a potential sentence of life imprisonment.

ShareRussia strikes Ukrainian gas facility overnight, hours before talks

Hours before the meeting, Russia has struck a gas facility in Ukraine’s Odesa region, with president Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying it was an attempt to undermine Ukrainian preparations for winter, Reuters reported.

“This was a deliberate blow to our preparations for the heating season, absolutely cynical, like every Russian blow to the energy sector,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram.

Ukraine has faced a serious gas shortage since a series of devastating Russian missile strikes this year, which significantly reduced domestic gas production.

The Russian defence ministry confirmed the attacks on gas transportation facilities in Ukraine, the Tass state news agency reported.

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Updated at 07.34 EDT

US special envoy Steve Witkoff meets Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin

We are getting first pictures from inside the Kremlin showing Russia’s Putin welcoming Witkoff for their talks.

Earlier today, Witkoff also went for a walk through Zaryadye Park near the Kremlin with Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president’s envoy for investment and economic cooperation, AP reported pointing to footage aired by Tass.

Russian president Vladimir Putin welcomes US president Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/ReutersShare

Updated at 05.33 EDT

US special envoy Witkoff meets Russia’s Putin – reports

Nawrocki will take part in a number of ceremonial appointments throughout the day. I will keep an eye on this.

But let’s go back to Russia and Ukraine, as Interfax is now reporting that – as expected (8:59) – Russian president Vladimir Putin is meeting US special envoy Steve Witkoff for their crunch talks ahead of this Friday’s Trump deadline to end the war in Ukraine.

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Nawrocki also outlines more areas where he is likely to clash with the government, as he calls for a radical overhaul of the judiciary to “restore the rule of law”.

Poland’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, speaks to parliament members after being sworn in during the inauguration ceremony in Warsaw, Poland. Photograph: Czarek Sokołowski/AP

He says he will be ready to block appointments of judges he does not see fit to perform their roles, saying they are “not gods, but meant to serve” the nation,

He says he will create a council dedicated to repairing Poland’s constitutional order, and start work on a refreshed constitution to be adopted by 2030.

He ends his speech shouting:

May God bless Poland, long live Poland.

And that’s it.

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Updated at 05.17 EDT

‘No to illegal migration, no to euro,’ Nawrocki outlines his presidency in punchy speech

Nawrocki’s punchy opening paragraphs give us a taster of what lies ahead.

“The free choice of a free nation has brought me before you today – despite the campaign of propaganda, lies, political theater, and the contempt I encountered on the road to the office of president.

And I forgave … as a Christian … I forgive all that contempt.”

He then swiftly turns against Tusk’s government – although not naming him – saying:

“These elections … sent a strong message – a message from the sovereign people to the entire political class … that things cannot continue to be governed in this way. That Poland should not look the way it does today.”

He outlines his manifesto saying his presidency will say “no to illegal migration, yes to Polish złoty, no to joining the euro,” and that he will block any attempt to raise the retirement age.

But he declares he will be “the voice of the nation”, and will seek to operate “across” existing political divides.

He says he wants Poland that is “part of the EU, but not becomes the EU” and wants Poland to stay sovereign. He stresses he will not agree to any further transfer of competences to the EU.

He also makes a pointed reference to Poland’s most important alliances, including with the US.

There is a White House delegation of US officials in attendance, led by the US small business administrator, Kelly Loeffler, who Nawrocki’s aides said presented Nawrocki with a personal gift from Trump.

(Also, worth noting, that Nawrocki is wearing his trademark Trump-inspired red tie.)

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Updated at 05.18 EDT

Karol Nawrocki sworn in as Poland’s president

Nawrocki has just made his oath of office.

“Assuming, by the will of the nation, the office of president of the Republic of Poland, I do solemnly swear to be faithful to the provisions of the constitution; I pledge that I shall steadfastly safeguard the dignity of the nation, the independence and security of the state, and also that the good of the homeland and the prosperity of its citizens shall forever remain my supreme obligation.”

He ends with the optional religious reference: “And so help me God.”

He is now formally the president of Poland.

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Updated at 04.22 EDT

The swearing in ceremony of the next Polish president, Karol Nawrocki, is about to get under way.

I will follow Nawrocki’s inaugural speech to bring you the key lines, before we pivot back to Ukraine.

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Updated at 04.13 EDT

The last two months since the presidential election in Poland were dominated by repeated allegations of irregularities in counting the votes, raised by some supporters of the defeated liberal candidate Rafał Trzaskowski.

Responding to thousands of electoral protests from Trzaskowski’s supporters, orchestrated by some of his political allies but not openly supported by the candidate, the state prosecutor launched an investigation that discovered minor counting errors, but confirmed they did not materially alter the outcome of the election.

But with the emotions running high, today’s inauguration will be a difficult political moment for the ruling pro-European coalition government, led by former European Council president Donald Tusk.

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk attends a cabinet ministers meeting in Warsaw. Photograph: Adam Burakowski/East News/Shutterstock

In a punchy video posted on his social media channels this morning, Tusk addressed “all Poles for whom today is a sad and disappointing day”, saying he knows “very well how you feel”.

“We all believed that honesty, goodness, and love would triumph. And what has happened puts that belief to a serious test. You hoped that 10 years of embarrassment, sadness, and fear for our homeland would come to a definitive end today. Instead, to the old fears, new ones have been added.”

But he urged his supporters to “persist,” “not lose faith” and regroup ahead of the 2027 parliamentary election.

“Let’s do everything we can to make sure that in two years there are even more of us. And let today only strengthen our resolve. Because our white-and-red hearts are truly unconquerable.”

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Updated at 04.07 EDT

In his farewell TV address last night, outgoing president Duda trumpeted his successes as the country’s president, saying he fought against the impossibilism of political rivals and at the end of his 10 years in office leaves Poland as “a completely different country: stronger, safer, taken more seriously abroad, and serving its citizens better.”

Poland’s outgoing president Andrzej Duda meets with president-elect Karol Nawrocki at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland. Photograph: Kacper Pempel/Reuters

But he also leaves behind a deeply divisive legacy.

Boasting some achievements in foreign and defence policy by strengthening Poland’s role within Nato, maintaining a strong alliance with the US under Trump, and playing a critical role in helping Ukraine since the full-scale invasion in 2022, he repeatedly sparked major controversy at home by closely aligning himself with his party, the populist-right Law and Justice, including on the much-criticised reforms of the judiciary that sparked a rule of law crisis in relations with the EU.

Despite that, Duda came top in last month’s trust ratings by CBOS, ahead of his successor Karol Nawrocki, with a separate poll showing that 54% viewed his presidency positively and 40% negatively. He is only the second Polish president after 1989 to complete two terms in office.

At just 53, Duda is still believed to be harbouring political ambitions, with speculations about his future further fuelled by his declaration that he has no intention to retire from frontline politics.

He is seen as a potential candidate to be the country’s next prime minister leading a hypothetical coalition of the populist-right PiS and libertarian far-right Konfederacja after the 2027 parliamentary election.

In his book, published today to coincide with the last day in the office, he repeatedly criticised Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk and pointedly praised Konfederacja’s leader Sławomir Mentzen as “a patriot and a statesman – and that is impressive,” which will only fuel rumours about his future intentions.

Polish President Andrzej Duda gives a statement to media last year. Photograph: Kuba Stężycki/ReutersShareKarol Nawrocki set to become Poland’s next president

Over in Poland, the inauguration ceremony of the country’s new president, Karol Nawrocki, will start in just under an hour at 10am local time (9am London).

The plenary hall before the swearing-in ceremony of the new Polish president in Warsaw, Poland. Photograph: Paweł Supernak/EPA

42-year-old Nawrocki narrowly won the presidential election in June, defying the polls and beating the Oxford-educated liberal Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski who was widely regarded as the clear favourite to replace the conservative incumbent Andrzej Duda stepping down after two terms.

A historian with a controversial past, he has little experience in frontline politics after serving as the head of the Polish Institute of National Remembrance, a state research institute with public prosecution powers investigating historical crimes against Poland.

Backed by the populist-right opposition Law and Justice party which ruled Poland between 2015 and 2023, Nawrocki ran a campaign under Trumpesque slogan “Poland first, Poles first.” He also secured Donald Trump’s endorsement after an unexpected White House visit just weeks before the decisive vote.

Marek Magierowski, former aide to the outgoing president Duda and Poland’s former US ambassador, said in a blog post that Nawrocki’s links with the US could “help keep both countries aligned in the contest against Russia”.

Karol Nawrocki of Poland and Donald Trump at The White House. Photograph: The Whitehouse/X

Domestically, however, Nawrocki’s presidency is likely to pose a major challenge for Poland’s pro-European coalition government run by former European Council president Donald Tusk.

While the role of the Polish president is largely ceremonial, it carries some influence over foreign and defence policy and a critical power to veto new legislation. This can only be overturned with a majority of three-fifths in parliament, which the current government does not have.

Nawrocki is expected to play an active role in domestic politics to directly challenge growingly unpopular Tusk, with the incoming president’s aides saying he will put forward his first legislative proposals already later this week.

Aleks Szczerbiak, an expert on east and central European politics at the University of Sussex, said in his blog that Nawrocki’s win “represents a huge blow to the Tusk government’s plans to re-set its reform agenda.”

“The government can now expect continued resistance from a hostile President for the remainder of its term until the next parliamentary election, scheduled for autumn 2027, making it very hard for it to push forward with its policy agenda,” he wrote in a recent analysis.

Nawrocki’s presidency could also mark a shift in Poland’s position on Ukraine, as he previously repeatedly spoke about the difficult history between the two nations and declared his opposition to Ukrainian membership in Nato.

He will deliver his inaugural address as part of the swearing in ceremony, and I will bring you all the key lines.

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Updated at 03.19 EDT

Morning opening: Showdown

US special envoy Steve Witkoff has arrived to Moscow for talks with Russia, possibly with the country’s president Vladimir Putin, ahead of this Friday’s deadline set by Donald Trump for ending the war in Ukraine.

A motorcade, reportedly transporting US president Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, leaves Vnukovo Airport in Moscow, Russia. Photograph: Yulia Morozova/Reuters

After landing, Witkoff was met by presidential special representative Kirill Dmitriev, but the Kremlin previously had said that a direct meeting between the US envoy and Putin was “possible.”

Trump said last night that the outcome of the talks would inform his next steps and whether he moves ahead with the proposed sanctions and secondary tariffs against Russia and its trading partners, including India.

“We’re going to see what happens,” he told reporters. “We’ll make that determination at that time.”

Elsewhere, nationalist historian Karol Nawrocki will be inaugurated as the next president of Poland, marking the beginning of a new, likely turbulent, chapter for the country’s pro-European government led by former European Council president Donald Tusk.

I will bring you all the key updates here.

It’s Wednesday, 6 August 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.

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