Oh.

While we haven’t heard from any US officials on the Kremlin meeting just yet, the White House has just announced an additional 25% tariff on India for “directly or indirectly importing Russian … oil.”

The tariff was introduced through a presidential executive order signed, with today’s date, by US president Donald Trump.

The order, posted on the White House’s website, says that:

“I have received additional information from various senior officials on, among other things, the actions of the Government of the Russian Federation with respect to the situation in Ukraine.

After considering this additional information, among other things, I find that the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066 continues and that the actions and policies of the Government of the Russian Federation continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Concluding, it said:

“To deal with the national emergency described in Executive Order 14066, I determine that it is necessary and appropriate to impose an additional ad valorem duty on imports of articles of India, which is directly or indirectly importing Russian Federation oil.”

The Russian rouble and markets held their breath as they awaited the outcome of Putin’s talks with Witkoff, Reuters noted.

“The market is awaiting the outcome of the meeting between Vladimir Putin and Steve Witkoff,” T-Bank’s analysts said.

Many analysts believe that the rouble is overvalued and awaiting a trigger to weaken.

“In the coming days, the currency market will be waiting for news from the visit of the US president’s special representative and clarification of the situation regarding possible US sanctions,” said PSB Bank’s Evgeny Loktykhov.

US envoy Steve Witkoff meets Putin as Trump’s Ukraine deadline approaches

Shaun Walker

in Kyiv

Russian news agencies said the talks between the US special envoy and the Russian president ended after about three hours, and Witkoff’s convoy was seen leaving the Kremlin. There was no immediate statement from either side on how the talks had gone.

The visit is Witkoff’s fifth trip to Moscow in his capacity as Trump’s lead negotiator with the Kremlin, and comes as Trump has begun to talk tough on Russia for the first time since taking over the presidency.

Trump cut short an earlier 50-day deadline to Putin, claiming he saw no desire in the Kremlin to change its behaviour and calling recent strikes that killed civilians in Kyiv “disgusting”. He has now promised to introduce secondary tariffs on countries that import Russian oil if no progress is made by Friday.

After Trump made the threat of further sanctions, the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev claimed the harsh rhetoric could lead to a direct conflict between Russia and the US. In response, Trump ordered two nuclear submarines to be repositioned.

Putin has given little indication that he is ready to make concessions or willing to adjust Russia’s core war aims. However, reports by Bloomberg and the independent Russian news outlet the Bell have suggested that the Kremlin could propose a halt to long-range strikes by both sides as an offering to Trump.

Both Trump and Kyiv have been calling for a full and unconditional ceasefire, to allow negotiations to begin, but a halt to long-range strikes could offer welcome breathing space to both sides.

In the first briefing from the Russian side, the former Russian ambassador to the US and Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters the talks were “useful and constructive.”

He said Russia “received some signals from Trump” and “sent some signals” in response, but did not elaborate on what they were.

He said Putin and Witkoff also discussed the prospects for the development of the “strategic partnership” between the US and Russia.

After just under three hours, Russian news agency Ria is reporting that the meeting between Vladimir Putin and US envoy Steve Witkoff has now concluded.

Let’s wait to see what, if anything, we hear in briefing from both sides of the conversation.

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.

Hours before the meeting, Russia has struck a gas facility in Ukraine’s Odesa region, with the Ukrainian 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.

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.

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) – the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is meeting the US special envoy Steve Witkoff for their crunch talks ahead of this Friday’s Trump deadline to end the war in Ukraine.

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.)

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.

Jakub Krupa

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.

Jakub Krupa

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.

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.”

Jakub Krupa

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.”

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.

Karol Nawrocki set to become Poland's next president

Jakub Krupa

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).

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”.

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.

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.

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.