Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and NBC News’s Kristen Welker, October 18, 2026

EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Donald Trump’s Betrayal and Alliance with Putin

EA-Silicon Curtain VideoCast: Trump Has Joined Russia In War v. Ukraine

Sunday’s Coverage: Trump Camp Proposes Renewed Europe Purchases of Russia’s Gas

UPDATE 1322 GMT:

At least four civilians were murdered and 55 injured by Russian attacks across Ukraine over the past day.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia attacked energy facilities in Kyiv and 11 other regions, damaging more than 10 sites and cutting power to at least 550,000 families.

In the Donetsk region in the east, two people were killed and two injured.

In Kyiv city, one person was slain and eight wounded. In the suburb of Irpin, a woman was murdered and 19 people injured.

Casualties were also recorded in the Kharkiv, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Chernihiv, Rivne, and Kherson regions.

UPDATE 1315 GMT:

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expressed ignorance of reports that Ukraine received no advance warning before Russia’s ballistic missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight.

During a visit to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Rubio responded, “I don’t know. I mean, where did it happen last night? I don’t know exactly.”

He issued a general denial, slamming Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky:

I don’t know where ​he’s getting these things ‌or why he’s saying these ‌things to the press. You should go back and ask him. There’s ‌been no pause.

What he should be focused on, and what we want to be focused on, is bringing an end to this war. That’s what he should be focused on.

UPDATE 1310 GMT:

Ukraine Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has denounced Vladimir Putin’s proposal for a summit with Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping (see 0618 GMT).

A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the US, and Russia could help end the war sooner.

A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the US would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war.

UPDATE 0756 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed that Kyiv again received no early-warning intelligence before Russia’s latest missile and drone strikes.

The strikes with 16 missiles on the capital killed a 21-year-old woman and injured eight people. The Russians also fired more than 200 drones across Ukraine.

Zelensky noted the Russians targeted energy facilities and infrastructure, a medical clinic, a school, a metro station, and residential buildings.

Ukraine never wanted this war, and we have welcomed literally EVERY attempt by our partners to bring this war to a dignified end. We have responded positively to EVERY ceasefire proposal. Russia’s response, time and again, has been ballistic missiles, “shaheds” [attack drones] and killings. Putin not only doesn’t want to end this war – he doesn’t even want to take any steps toward de-escalation.

Ukraine Air Force spokesperson Yurii Ihnat said Ukrainian radar systems detected Russia’s missiles around 11 p.m. without assistance, “Our specialists, working together with our American partners, are investigating why exactly this information was not received.”

During the next missile threat at around 3 a.m., information from partners did come through, but with very little time to react.

UPDATE 0706 GMT:

Ukraine’s air defenses intercepted four missiles and 243 drones fired by Russia overnight. Strikes were recorded at 25 locations.

UPDATE 0653 GMT:

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky says the Trump Administration is delaying the delivery of Patriot interceptor missiles which have been purchased.

Zelensky said the US has approved only some of the missiles under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, in which NATO members buy weapons and transfer them to Ukraine.

“The American side approved the delivery of only some of them, but not the rest. And this is not a technical issue,” Zelensky emphasized.

Zelensky said the US is currently supplying just 12 Patriot interceptor missiles per month, approximately 1/4 of the number provided under the Biden Administration.

UPDATE 0646 GMT:

At least one civilian has been murdered and eight injured by multiple waves of Russian missile strikes on Kyiv overnight.

Several explosions rocked the capital just before 11 p.m., with further attacks around 3 a.m. and 7 a.m. Damage was reported in at least three districts.

A 21-year-old woman was killed in the Desnianskyi District where a non-residential building was set afire and a metro station damaged. Five people were injured in the Solomianskyi District when a 25-story residential building was damaged.

A medical complex and a shopping and entertainment center were also hit.

UPDATE 0618 GMT:

Seizing the advantage of Donald Trump’s shift towards the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin is proposing a summit next month with Trump and China’s leader Xi Jinping, say people familiar with the discussions.

A “former Russian intelligence officer briefed on the matter” said Putin’s suggestion came in an October 9 call with Trump, who was preparing to announce purchases of Russian diesel fuel.

The meeting would be on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China on November 18 and 19.

A senior US official confirmed the report. He said Trump has not yet agreed to the meeting but may support the idea. “Sources close to the Russia-China negotiations” said Beijing is not opposed to a trilateral meeting.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the Trump Administration has restored intelligence sharing with Kyiv, after both early-warning intelligence and access to Starlink’s military service was restricted last week.

In an interview with the US outlet NBC News on Sunday, Zelensky said the Trump camp had limited Starshield — affecting Ukraine’s frontline operations and its air defenses — so Donald Trump could send a “message” as he demanded a halt to Kyiv’s strikes on Russian refineries.

Trump announced the purchase of Russian diesel fuel, undercutting US sanctions, on October 9. In the following days, early-warning intelligence was suspended amid Russia’s missile and drone strikes targeting civilian sites and energy infrastructure. On Wednesday, Starshield was restricted, continuing at slower speeds until the weekend.

Zelensky told Meet The Press’s Kristin Welker, “It was a message from [the] American government to limit the speed. And technically, SpaceX did it.”

He said of intelligence sharing:

It was blocked for some period of time. And then it was deblocked by the American side. We are very thankful for this. Now it works.

Only United States has this unique intelligence to tell our side when Russia uses ballistic missiles. And we didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days.

Zelenskyy: "If the United States supports Putin, it's unbelievable, it's a tragedy. It's a historic mistake. If United States officially takes the side of Russia, of course we will not prevail and we will not be able to stand."

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 18, 2026 at 2:55 PM

Zelensky said of Donald Trump, who also refused to implement Congressional legislation mandating tougher sanctions on Russia and top customers for its oil and gas:

I hope that he will change his decisions, because I think it’s all mistakes. It will not help us and it will not help the United States. But it’s not my choice. And I hope he will change his attitude to Putin….We can’t compare me and Putin. He’s the aggressor.

Zelensky said he spoke by phone on Sunday with Trump’s envoys, son-in-law Jared Kushner and real estate developer Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The chat was mainly about their talks with Ukrainian and European officials in Miami last weekend, when the envoys delivered the threat to cut intelligence.

Trump Camp Continues Its Threats v. Zelensky

Trump and his inner circle continued their verbal assault on Zelensky yesterday.

Trump claimed “great progress” on ending Russia’s 56-month full-scale invasion. However, he claimed, “Zelensky doesn’t care, and frankly, with all of the money that Europe is famously giving him…he doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent chided:

President Trump and Secretary [of State Marco] Rubio have categorically said that no one in the Trump Administration did that. And I think it is very reckless for President Zelensky to make such a charge.

President Zelensky should be very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true.

WELKER: Zelenskyy just said he believes the govt slowed Starlink. Can you definitely say no one in the administration ordered restrictions?

BESSENT: Trump & Rubio have categorically said no one in the admin did that. Zelenskyy should be very careful about making reckless statements like that

[image or embed]

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) October 18, 2026 at 3:22 PM