Russia Attacks US-Owned Factory In Ukraine, While Insisting It Has Veto Power Over Any ‘Security Guarantees’

Now nearly a week out from last Friday’s historic Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, the White House has had to temper its positive predictions on the peace process, after prematurely touting that a Putin and Zelensky bilateral meeting was on the horizon. By Wednesday the Kremlin had made it clear this is not yet the case.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov issued some non-committal statements, watering down what appeared an already vague commitment. A future direct meeting with the Ukrainian leader – a president which Moscow previously dubbed illegitimate – would have to be prepared “gradually… starting with the expert level and thereafter going through all the required steps.”

A separate Russian official has stated that “it shouldn’t be a meeting for the sake of a meeting” – highlighting that despite Trump’s strong diplomatic efforts, Russia remains ‘open’ but doesn’t consider the warring sides to have bridged key major gaps on peace terms just yet.

On Thursday The Wall Street Journal underscored that there’s yet another key divide – the question of future security guarantees and how they will be monitored or implemented: 

Russia warned on Wednesday that it should effectively hold veto power over any action to assist Ukraine after a peace deal is reached, rendering planned Western security guarantees for Kyiv moot and delivering a setback to negotiations championed by President Trump. 

…Lavrov’s insistence that Russia must have a say in how any security guarantees for Ukraine would be enacted contradicted the Trump administration’s assertion that Putin agreed to European and U.S. security guarantees at the Alaska summit on Friday.

Lavrov’s remarks were a potent sign that Moscow’s maximalist demands in the war haven’t shifted despite a surge in diplomatic engagement in recent days. Western security assurances to deter against future Russian invasions are key to getting Ukraine to sign on to a peace deal.

Russia has never wavered on insisting that NATO or Western forces never be allowed to patrol or have a presence in Ukraine. Moscow’s war justification from the beginning has been focused on the question of NATO expansion, and demanding permanent Ukrainian neutrality.

Strangely, while President Trump has this week assured Russia of ‘no US boots on the ground’ – the White House spokesperson at the same time suggested there could be some kind of pledged US or Western air support as part of future security guarantees. But the messaging has been contradictory as at the same time Trump has been pledging ‘minimal’ American involvement in any future security guarantees for Ukraine.

Moscow will likely present the targeted Mukachevo plant as military or ‘dual use’ in nature…

Ukraine: U.S. company Flex’s plant in Mukachevo was destroyed in Russian missile strike.

The factory produced electronics like fitness trackers, health monitors, and coffee machines for brands such as Nike, Google, and Lenovo. It had just been renovated in April.

At the time of… pic.twitter.com/YnpCpiCQIb

— Clash Report (@clashreport) August 21, 2025

Geopolitical news source Moon of Alabama reacted as follows:

While Russia is confidently prosecuting the war in Ukraine towards its inevitable end. Meanwhile the ‘West’ is still negotiating with itself about the conditions under which it will have to capitulate.

Discussions continue about ‘security guarantees’ for Ukraine even as the only serious ones are those that Russia is willing to give. The confused arguments about ‘guarantees’ are reflected in the reports of them. Consider this nonsense:

“A security guarantee could encompass a wide range of issues. In return for Russia ending its invasion, a security pact could include a pledge of U.S. air support for any European-led operations should Russian troops resume their assault.”

If Russia ends the war NATO-like ‘security guarantees’ are to be given to Ukraine as a reward?

Indeed, it’s as if Trump and his top officials still don’t understand the core problems, or at least purposefully ignore what remain the root causes to this war.

Trump wants to see more rapid momentum and engagement come out of the Alaska summit, hoping for a Putin-Zelensky summit within days or weeks. But that’s very unlikely to happen, also given Zelensky – with the encouragement of the more hawkish European allies – has still not offered substantive compromise. He reportedly isn’t even willing to lift restrictions on the use of the Russian language in public discourse or media.

The US president is meanwhile venting his frustrations on Thursday…

Looks like Trump is upset with Putin bombing an American electronics plant in Ukraine — and refusing to meet Zelensky. Let’s see what, if anything, this will mean for Ukraine’s ability to hit deep inside Russia. pic.twitter.com/vWvN5AggYg

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) August 21, 2025

This is in reference to fresh reports – noted in the above images – that a “massive Russian airstrike hit a US-owned electronics factory in Ukraine early Thursday while some 800 civilians were working there.”

“The Flex Ltd. plant in Mukachevo, a city hundreds of miles from the front line, was engulfed in flames after being hit by two Russian Kalibr cruise missiles around 4:30 a.m., according to Ukrainian officials,” NY Post details.

At this point, Trump is likely to grow more frustrated as more days inevitably pass and there are no further grand compromises to be made, except by the Ukrainian side and its Western backers – given Russian forces’ ascendancy in the war theatre.