By STEFANIE DAZIO and LORNE COOK, Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday arrived in Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and virtual meetings with other European and U.S. leaders ahead of a planned summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this week.

Merz has convened a series of virtual meetings for Wednesday in an attempt to have the voice of European and Ukraine’s leaders heard ahead of the summit in Alaska, where Trump and Putin are expected to discuss a path toward ending Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, front right, is welcomed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, left, upon arrival in the garden of the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025 to join a video conference of European leaders with the US President on the Ukraine war. (John MacDougall/Pool Photo via AP)

Zelenskyy and the Europeans have been sidelined from that summit. German government spokesperson Steffen Meyer said the intention of Wednesday’s meetings was to “make clear the position of the Europeans.”

Zelenskyy is due to meet with European leaders first, in preparation for a virtual call with Trump and Vice President JD Vance about an hour later. A call between leaders of countries involved in the “coalition of the willing” — those who are prepared to help police any future peace agreement between Moscow and Kyiv — will take place last.

The Ukrainian leader on Wednesday said his government has had over 30 conversations with partners ahead of the summit in Alaska, but reiterated his doubt that Putin would negotiate in good faith.

Writing on his official Telegram channel, Zelenskyy said there was “currently no sign that the Russians are preparing to end the war,” and urged Ukraine’s partners in the United States and Europe to coordinate efforts and “force Russia to peace.”

“Pressure must be applied on Russia for an honest peace. We must take the experience of Ukraine and our partners to prevent deception by Russia,” Zelenskyy said.

The stakes for Europe

Trump has said he wants to see whether Putin is serious about ending the war, now in its fourth year, describing Friday’s summit as “a feel-out meeting” where he can assess the Russian leader’s intentions.

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Yet Trump has disappointed allies in Europe by saying Ukraine will have to give up some Russian-held territory. He has also said Russia must accept land swaps, although it was unclear what Putin might be expected to surrender.

European allies have pushed for Ukraine’s involvement in any peace talks, fearful that discussions that exclude Kyiv could otherwise favor Moscow.

Trump on Monday ducked repeated chances to say that he would push for Zelenskyy to take part in his discussions with Putin, and was dismissive of Zelenskyy and his need to be part of an effort to seek peace. Trump said that following Friday’s summit, a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian leaders could be arranged, or that it could also be a meeting with “Putin and Zelenskyy and me.”

The Europeans and Ukraine are wary that Putin, who has waged the biggest land war in Europe since 1945 and used Russia’s energy might to try to intimidate the European Union, might secure favorable concessions and set the outlines of a peace deal without them.

The overarching fear of many European countries is that Putin will set his sights on one of them next if he wins in Ukraine.

Land concessions a non-starter for Kyiv

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that Putin wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the Donetsk region that it still controls as part of a ceasefire deal, a proposal the leader categorically rejected.

Zelenskyy reiterated that Ukraine would not give up any territory it controls, saying that would be unconstitutional and would serve only as a springboard for a future Russian invasion.

He said diplomatic discussions led by the U.S. focusing on ending the war have not addressed key Ukrainian demands, including security guarantees to prevent future Russian aggression and including Europe in negotiations.

Three weeks after Trump returned to office, his administration took the leverage of Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table — something that Putin has demanded — and signaled that the EU and Ukraine must handle security in Europe now while America focuses its attention elsewhere.

Senior EU officials believe that Trump may be satisfied with simply securing a ceasefire in Ukraine, and is probably more interested in broader U.S. geostrategic interests and great power politics, aiming to ramp up business with Russia and rehabilitate Putin.

Russian advances in Donbas

Russian forces on the ground in Ukraine have been closing in on a key territorial grab around the city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Donbas region comprises Ukraine’s eastern industrial heartland that Putin has long coveted.

Military analysts using open-source information to monitor the battles have said Ukraine’s ability to fend off those advances could be critical: Losing Pokrovsk would hand Russia an important victory ahead of the summit and could complicate Ukrainian supply lines to the Donetsk region, where the Kremlin has focused the bulk of military efforts.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian forces struck an oil pumping station in Russia’s Bryansk region overnight on Wednesday, according to a statement from Ukraine’s General Staff.

Ukrainian drones struck the Unecha station which supplies the Russian army, the statement said, adding that damage and a large fire was reported in the area around the pumping station.

Unecha transports oil to two pipelines with an annual capacity to pump 60 million tons. The operation was carried out by units of the Unmanned Systems Forces of Ukraine’s army and the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defense Ministry, the statement said.

Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Samya Kullab in Kyiv, Ukraine contributed.

Today is Wednesday, Aug. 13, the 225th day of 2025. There are 140 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Aug. 13, 1961, on what would become known as Barbed Wire Sunday, East Germany sealed the border between Berlin’s eastern and western sectors before building a wall that would divide the city for the next 28 years.

Also on this date:

In 1521, Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez captured Tenochtitlan (teh-natch-teet-LAHN’), present-day Mexico City, from the Aztecs.

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In 1792, French revolutionaries arrested and imprisoned King Louis XVI; he would be executed by guillotine the following January.

In 1889, William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut, received a patent for the first coin-operated telephone.

In 1918, Opha May Johnson became the first woman to join the U.S. Marine Corps.

In 1952, Big Mama Thornton first recorded the song “Hound Dog,” four years before Elvis Presley’s famous version was released.

In 1969, New York City held a ticker-tape parade for Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins.

In 1995, Baseball Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle died at a Dallas hospital of rapidly spreading liver cancer at age 63.

In 2011, seven people were killed when a stage collapsed at the Indiana State Fair during a powerful storm just before a concert was to begin.

Today’s Birthdays:

Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is 92.
Opera singer Kathleen Battle is 77.
High wire aerialist Philippe Petit is 76.
Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Clarke is 76.
Golf Hall of Famer Betsy King is 70.
Movie director Paul Greengrass is 70.
Actor Danny Bonaduce is 66.
TV weatherman Sam Champion is 64.
Actor Dawnn Lewis is 64.
Actor John Slattery is 63.
Actor Debi Mazar is 61.
Figure skater Midori Ito is 56.
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders is 43.
Actor Sebastian Stan is 43.
Actor Lennon Stella is 26.

NEW YORK — Pierson Ohl admits he was initially “a little skeptical” when he was introduced to a new plan shortly into his minor league season that would shorten him up — pitching generally three to four innings rather than the length of a typical start — and have him out on the mound every four days.

“There’s some good marketing going on. Like, ‘Hey, you’re going to throw harder, you’re going to punch more guys out. You might even throw more than starters,” Ohl said. “It’s a learning curve.” But his body soon adapted and, eventually, the new plan got him to the big leagues, following in the path of Travis Adams, who reached the majors about a month earlier.

Adams suffered the loss as the Twins fell 9-1 to the New York Yankees on Tuesday night in the Bronx in a game in which the Twins collected just one hit, but the two newly-minted major leaguers are proof that the Twins’ plan has been working.

Since the deadline, Adams has made a pair of starts and pitched once in relief. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings on Tuesday, chased early after giving up a pair of home runs — a solo shot to Aaron Judge in the first inning and a three-run blast to Anthony Volpe an inning later.

Ohl has pitched three times since the deadline, making one start and appearing twice in relief. His outings have lasted up to three innings and have come on the same every-four-days schedule that he has become accustomed to.

The Twins introduced the concept to a handful of minor leaguers this year, believing it would benefit them. Now that Adams and Ohl have reached the major league level, they plan to continue it with the pair of rookies — at least for the time being.

“It’s gone as well as you could’ve imagined that it could go. And once you take them off of the four-day schedule, it’d be … near-impossible to get them back on the four-day schedule,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You might as well just keep them going.”

Ohl had a 2.17 earned-run average across three different levels while in the minor leagues. His strikeouts, indeed, went up. His WHIP (Walks and Hits Per Innings Pitched) went down. Adams, in a mix of starting and relieving, had a 3.68 ERA at Triple-A St. Paul this year and was one of the Saints’ most effective pitchers.

The Twins have newly-acquired starters Taj Bradley and Mick Abel pitching in Triple-A and, at some point, are expecting both Simeon Woods Richardson and Pablo López to return from the injured list. But for now, they have plenty of innings to be pitched, and Ohl and Adams have benefitted from that — and seemingly will continue to, every four days.

“We have a lot of innings to cover. We have two out of five days where we’re running bullpen days,” Baldelli said. “Let’s keep these guys built out in the best fashion we can, and then we’ll see what September looks like. Maybe we keep it going through the rest of the year, and maybe we alter it in some way. But I see no reason or benefit to really altering it in the near term.”

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Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night in the special election for the Ward 4 seat on the St. Paul City Council, though results were not expected until later in the night.

Ward 4 is in northwestern St. Paul and includes all or part of five neighborhoods: Hamline-Midway, Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park, and parts of Macalester-Groveland and Como.

Former city council member Mitra Jalali vacated the seat in March. Mayor Melvin Carter appointed Matt Privratsky to fill the seat until the special election.

The candidates

Here’s who was on the ballot:

• Chauntyll Allen, a member of the St. Paul school board and a leader of Black Lives Matter Twin Cities.

• Molly Coleman, founder of progressive court reform nonprofit People’s Parity Project.

• Cole Hanson, a statewide online education coordinator who teaches nutrition to recipients of federal food assistance who is endorsed by the Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America.

• Carolyn Will, founder of CW Marketing and Communications, a former TV newscaster and opponent of the city’s proposed Summit Avenue bikeway.

The winner of the special election will take the seat and represent Ward 4 through the November 2028 election.

Ranked-choice vote

Under St. Paul’s ranked-choice voting system, voters were able to rank candidates in order of preference. There was no primary election.

The race is officially nonpartisan, and the St. Paul Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party did not make any endorsements this summer as it works to rebuild itself.

A winner could emerge late Tuesday. However, if no candidate wins an absolute majority on election night — 50% plus one of the vote — election officials will begin a reallocation process.

St. Paul voters rank candidates by choice on their ballots.

If one candidate gets a simple majority, they win. But if there’s no clear winner, officials will eliminate the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes and award votes to the second choice listed on the ballot. This process is repeated until one candidate has 50% support.

If reallocation is needed, the process is tentatively scheduled for Friday, Aug. 15, according to Ramsey County spokesman Casper Hill.

At the polls

Residents at the polls Tuesday named a variety of local issues on their minds this year, including affordable housing, bike lanes, road quality and property taxes.

Como resident Jeanne Baumann said she wanted more affordable accommodations for unhoused people in the city instead of “giant apartment buildings that they can’t afford.”

Hamline-Midway resident Annie Kuhn said she was concerned with rising housing costs and property taxes when ranking candidates.

“My one kid is probably going to be able to buy a house; the other one probably never, ever will,” Kuhn said. “It’s just ridiculous that housing costs have spiraled so much.”

Val Woelfel, who has lived in the Hamline-Midway neighborhood for 30 years, said one of her voting priorities was city development issues, such as the vacant CVS on the corner of Snelling and University avenues “sucking the energy out of the neighborhood.”

Bike lanes, road quality

Como resident Karen Lenander said she prioritized candidates who opposed cutting down trees in historic neighborhoods to create more bike paths.

Como resident Gary Grave agreed, saying city bike paths “are used four months out of the year and then block traffic.”

Merriam Park resident Dylan Brooks said road quality was a top issue.

“City council can help increase patrolling for police, then also they control how road maintenance is managed,” Brooks said. “So those are kind of the two biggest things that I looked at.”

Compromise, getting things done

Merriam Park resident Jeff Fugina said he wants a moderate viewpoint to the council, which he believes has “drifted way to one side in recent years.”

Hamline-Midway resident Eric Gustafson said he didn’t feel like the policy positions of the four candidates were vastly different, and he voted for candidates he thought best understood the “slow process” of implementing new policy.

“If I was looking at one thing or another, it was how I thought they would work to get things done,” he said.

Kathryn Kovalenko contributed to this story.

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