Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky meets Raytheon executives in Washington, October 16, 2025

EA on TVP World: Trump’s Latest Chaos Over Ukraine

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Why Trump Wobbled on Tomahawks for Ukraine

Monday’s Coverage: Trump to Zelensky — Surrender to Russia or “Be Destroyed”

UPDATE 1059 GMT:

Russian strikes have caused widespread blackouts and cut off phone networks since late Monday in the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine.

Repairs have been stalled by ongoing drone attacks.

“Critical infrastructure like hospitals have had to turn to autonomous power supply,” said a spokesperson for regional authorities.

UPDATE 1053 GMT:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has bluntly rejected the calls of Ukraine, European partners, and Donald Trump for talks based on the current frontlines of Russia’s invasion.

Lavrov said at a press conference that calls for an immediate ceasefire contradict agreements reached in Alaska during August’s Trump-Putin meeting.

He snapped that Zelensky’s “European patrons and masters” are trying to convince the Americans to change their position and abandon their pursuit of a “long-term settlement”.

Now we’re hearing from Washington that we need to stop immediately, that we shouldn’t discuss anything anymore. Stop, and let history judge. You see, simply stopping would mean forgetting the root causes of this conflict, which the American administration, since Donald Trump’s rise to power, has clearly understood.

Lavrov repeated the Kremlin’s talking points, slurs, and disinformation that an immediate ceasefire means most of Ukraine “remains under the rule of the Nazi regime, and in this part of Ukraine it will be the only place on earth where an entire language is legally banned”.

UPDATE 1041 GMT:

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has replied snippily to the report that a meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, preparing for a summit of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, has been postponed (see 0845 GMT).

“It’s impossible to postpone something that was never scheduled,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters. He said the idea of a Rubio-Lavrov meeting “remains on the table”, but the timing is “premature to discuss” because high-level contacts require “careful preparation”.

Ryabkov said, “We’re doing our homework” but contact must be “not rushed”.

UPDATE 1017 GMT:

Countering Donald Trump’s retreat from support of Ukraine, European leaders have issued a joint statement with Kyiv emphasizing negotiations based on the current frontline against Russia’s invasion.

The statement was signed by Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, the EU’s António Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, andFrance’s Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s Friedrich Merz, Britain’s Keir Starmer; Italy’s Giorgia Meloni; and by the leaders of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Poland.

We strongly support President Trump’s position that the fighting should stop immediately, and that the current line of contact should be the starting point of negotiations.

We remain committed to the principle that international borders must not be changed by force….

We are clear that Ukraine must be in the strongest possible position – before, during, and after any ceasefire.

We must ramp up the pressure on Russia’s economy and its defense industry, until Putin is ready to make peace.

UPDATE 0931 GMT:

Of the European Union’s 27 countries, 26 have pledged participation in a special tribunal for the crime of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, says EU foreign policy head Kaja Kallas.

“This brings us one step closer to the tribunal’s launch….The Putin regime started this war and must face the consequences,” Kallas summarized.

She said the EU is awaiting cost estimates, including from the Netherlands. Last week, the bloc allocated €10 million for tribunal.

Kallas did not say which EU country refused to join the initiative. Russian State outlet TASS claimed Hungary and Slovakia, both reliant on energy supplies from Russia, had declined.

The special tribunal to hold Vladimir Putin accountable for the invasion was established on June 25. The agreement was signed by Ukraine and the Council of Europe.

A source for Deutsche Welle said the intention is to prosecute at least 20 people, but did not provide specific names. The tribunal will not be able to try Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov until they leave their posts and lose their immunity.

UPDATE 0845 GMT:

A meeting between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, preparing for a summit in Hungary between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, has been postponed.

A White House official confirmed the delay. The reason was not immediately clear, but one official said Rubio and Lavrov have divergent expectations about the end of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Monday, Rubio and Lavrov on Monday had a call about “next steps” after Trump’s conversation with Putin on Thursday and White House meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday.

A State Department readout said Rubio “emphasized the importance of upcoming engagements as an opportunity for Moscow and Washington to collaborate on advancing a durable resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war, in line with President Trump’s vision”.

The Kremlin said the call was a “constructive discussion” that dealt with “possible concrete steps to implement the understandings” between Trump and Putin.

But on Monday, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov maintained the Kremlin’s maximum demands, despite Donald Trump calling for a freeze of the frontlines and for negotiations.

Peskov said, “This topic was repeatedly raised in various forms during contacts between Russia and the US. The Russian side answered every time, this answer is well known: the consistency of Russia’s position doesn’t change.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: As the world processes the chaotic, tempermental retreat of Donald Trump from support for Ukraine’s resistance of Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken of progress in obtaining more Patriot air defense systems.

In his nightly address to the nation, Zelensky said:

During his two days in Washington last week, Zelensky met executives of US defense firms, including Patriot manufacturer Raytheon.

He told journalists on Sunday that Kyiv is seeking 25 more Patriot air defense systems in a long-term arrangement with the US.

The President said the contract for the 25 systems would be over several years, “with different quantities each year”.

Ukraine has received at least seven full Patriot batteries, including from the US, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, and Israel.

“The difficulty lies in the production queue — a line of countries that have signed relevant contracts [with Washington],” Zelensky explained. “The White House can change the queue if there is political will.”

He noted that some European countries could give priority to Ukraine over their own Patriot deliveries, or send batteries they currently possess to Ukraine.

“If everyone works together and there is goodwill, the White House could assist us specifically with these American systems that are already in those European countries — so that we can receive them,” the President said.

Each system costs about $1 billion. Zelensky commented.

Naturally, we also need to work on other sources of financing. Currently, we have 28 bilateral security agreements with various countries. The task is to secure funds and make advance payments, and within the framework of these agreements, it can be done.

“Coalition of the Willing” Meeting in London on Friday

Zelensky will travel to London on Friday for meeting of the “coalition of the willing”.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the gathering, saying at a press conference in Slovenia, “We shall continue to support Ukraine, which is resisting in a very courageous way.”

Zelensky said he would seek security guarantees for Kyiv amid “many meetings and negotiations in Europe” this week. His office said there will be a focus on energy and weapons supplies.

The President will also attend a summit of the European Council on Thursday.