US air force ‘could police Ukraine's skies’ as 10 European nations 'ready' to send peacekeeping forces & the numbers that show Russia is years from victory

Day 1,274.

Today, as President Donald Trump says the US may provide air support to back a Ukraine peace deal, we assess reports that as many as 10 European countries are considering putting boots on the ground if Russia agrees to end its war. Then we take a step back and try to make sense of the historic past few days. What, if anything, has changed? Then we hear a dispatch Adelie recorded in Ukraine at the funeral of journalist Victoria Roshchyna.

Contributors:

Francis Dearnley (Executive Editor for Audio). @FrancisDearnley on X.

Dominic Nicholls (Associate Editor of Defence). @DomNicholls on X.

Adélie Pojzman-Pontay (Journalist and Producer). @adeliepjz on X.

Content Referenced:

US air force could police Ukraine’s skies to ensure peace (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/08/19/us-air-force-police-ukraine-skies-peace-deal-russia-trump/ 

Ten European countries ‘ready’ to send forces to Ukraine (The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/08/20/ukraine-russia-war-latest-news-trump-peace/ 

‘Nearly two million more casualties’: The numbers that show Russia is years from victory (Roland Oliphant in The Telegraph):

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/08/19/russia-is-years-from-victory-trump-putin/ 

Dance Of The Flamingos: Ukraine’s FP-5 Heavy Cruise Missile (Covert Shores):

http://www.hisutton.com/Ukrainian-FP-15-Flamingo-Cruise-Missile.html

Trump Revokes Security Clearances of 37 Former and Current Officials (New York Times):

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/19/us/politics/trump-security-clearances.html 

‘The Steel Porcupine’ – Russia's campaign of extermination by Benjamin I. Goldhagen:

https://www.thesteelporcupine.com/ 

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