Donald Trump at a rally in Kansas, October 19, 2026 (Sky)
EA-Ukraine VideoCast: Donald Trump’s Betrayal and Alliance with Putin
EA-Silicon Curtain VideoCast: Trump Has Joined Russia In War v. Ukraine
Monday’s Coverage: Zelensky — Trump Camp Restores Intelligence Sharing
UPDATE 0828 GMT:
Ukraine’s drones have set afire an oil pumping station near the city of Michurinsk in Russia’s Tambov region overnight.
Tambov Governor Yevgeny Pervyshov acknowledged the fire “on the territory of one of the enterprises” without giving details.
Video showed fire and dark smoke, with residents identifying a diesel fuel tank. Independent Russian outlet ASTRA said the fire likely started at the Nikolskoye-1 linear production and dispatch station.
UPDATE 0821 GMT:
Ahead of his meeting in Oslo with Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio:
Zelensky praised “a substantive conversation focused on the issues that matter”. He expressed gratitude for Rubio’s “readiness to help and his clear position”, including with ballistic missile interceptors, early-warning intelligence, and the restoration of Starlink and Starshield.
UPDATE 0814 GMT:
In an interview with Italy’s Corriere della Sera, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has sent a message to the US:
We have always had important, strong strategic relations with the United States of America. Our bilateral relationship began developing particularly actively during the full-scale war. I am grateful for all the support.
But we have always built our relationship on honesty, fairness, and, most importantly, transparency. Because when you lie while your people are at war, it is very painful. That is why I have always wanted to hide nothing and never lie to the President of the United States. In any case, we have more in common than America does with Russia. Most people in Ukraine and the United States of America understand this. We would like to continue having the same open, honest, and pragmatic relations with America that we have today.
The position is very simple. We support a mutual energy ceasefire. If we are talking about the idea that we should not strike back at Russian energy facilities after they strike our gas, electricity, oil – everything. The Russians are striking. America cannot stop them. Let’s believe that America really wants to, but cannot. Then, as a partner, I am willing to meet President Trump halfway: if they strike us and we cannot strike back – that is neither honest nor fair – but if this is what you need, if you cannot rein Putin in, then give us interceptor missiles so I can protect our energy infrastructure. You couldn’t stop Putin – but you helped Ukraine.
From an interview with Corriere della Sera. (2/3)
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) October 20, 2026
Zelensky also warned about Russian propaganda in Europe:
People should not be pierced through and brainwashed by waves of narratives from the Russian Federation. Because it is up to France, Ukraine, Italy, and Spain to decide how to live and whom to elect. Russia cannot influence Italy’s choices and freedom. Italy is a free country, just like Ukraine.
UPDATE 0803 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky updated Pope Leo XIV in a phone call on Monday.
On Friday, the Pope spoke with Vladimir Putin to propose a ceasefire in Oleshky, the Russian-occupied frontline town in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Around 2,000 residents are trapped without sufficient supplies of food or medicine, reportedly as Russian troops confiscate aid dropped by the Ukrainian military.
Zelensky and the Pope discussed the humanitarian emergency unfolding in Oleshky, including the Vatican’s diplomatic efforts with Russia.
“We are working to help our people there and are preparing solutions,” Zelensky said. “His Holiness informed me about his contacts with the Russian side regarding this issue.”
UPDATE 0751 GMT:
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky met virtually with US legislators on Monday to evaluate Donald Trump’s tilt towards Russia’s invasion.
The meeting, including Democrats and Republicans from the Senate and the House of Representatives, was organized by Democrat Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.
Zelensky spoke about delayed deliveries of US-made Patriot interceptors, ongoing restrictions to Starshield access for Ukrainian frontline forces, and the abrupt end to warnings about Russian missile launches.
He cited “the most difficult situation since the very beginning of this war”.
Zelensky noted progress by Ukraine’s forces on the frontlines in the east of the country. However, the Trump-assisted disasters “stand in sharp contrast to what we are achieving on the battlefield”.
[You] need to understand how serious this is….Russia’s attacks have become even more vicious and dirty.
There is hardly an hour when Russia isn’t attacking somewhere or hitting something. And this happens every single day.
ORIGINAL ENTRY: Swinging to support of Moscow’s 56-month full-scale invasion, Donald Trump says, “Russia, frankly, has been fine on Ukraine. They haven’t been doing much.”
Trump spoke to reporters on Monday, just after a Russian daytime drone strike on a park that killed six people, including two children. Overnight, Russia attacked Kyiv with more than 12 ballistic missiles and targeted almost 30 critical energy facilities across Ukraine.
Since October 9, with the Kremlin offering deal worth tens of billions of dollars profiting associates of his family and friends, Trump has undermined US sanctions and agreed to purchase of Russian diesel oil. Early-warning intelligence has been cut at times, amid Russia’s missile and drone strikes threatening US personnel as well as Ukraine’s civilians. The military version of Starlink, Starshield, has been restricted.
Trump said he is open Jonas Gahr Støreto a trilateral meeting, proposed by the Kremlin, with Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. He said the main purpose of the meeting would be discussion of nuclear disarmament.
Trump said of Xi, “He’s been very fair with Ukraine. He hasn’t been much involved, and same with Russia.”
He then made a garbled assertion, “They haven’t been nearly what they could have been, and I appreciate that.” It was unclear if he was referring to China or Russia.
Trump promoted his recent support of the Kremlin, citing negotiations for the release of a high-profile hostage. He insisted, in defiance of US intelligence, that Russia was “very well-behaved on Iran” and Putin was “laying off” amid the US war.
US officials have spoken of Russia’s shipment of weapons to Iran, aid in Tehran’s missile development, and provision of intelligence to help Iran attack US bases and troops in the Middle East. Joint Chiefs of Staff chair Gen. Dan Caine has confirmed the support.
But Trump declared, “Russia’s done nothing there that we can see, and I think that’s a very positive….Russia could have done a lot more to help Iran. Russia’s done very little for Iran.”
He continued his verbal assault on Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, “We’ve given a lot to Ukraine. They’ve given nothing to us.”
Witkoff To Meet Zelensky and Europe Officials
Trump’s envoy, real estate developer Steve Witkoff, will meet Zelensky and European officials in Norway’s capital Oslo on Tuesday.
Witkoff will then convene with Putin in the Kremlin.
During his last meeting with Ukrainian and European officials on October 9, Witkoff announced Trump’s diesel deal. He threatened a cutoff of US intelligence sharing if Ukraine did not halt attacks on Russian refineries.
Ukraine suspended the strikes for 72 hours but then, with Trump backing Moscow, resumed attacks including on Russia’s third-largest refinery in St. Petersburg.
The talks in Oslo today will also include Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre; representatives of the UK, France, Germany, and Poland; and officials from the European Union and NATO.
Trump’s other envoy, son-in-law Jared Kushner, has the flu and will participate virtually.
Continuing its manipulation of Trump and his envoys, the Kremlin is dangling the possibility of the release of Stephen Hubbard, a retired American teacher who has been detained in Russia since 2022.
Hubbard was reportedly been serving with a Ukrainian territorial defense unit in the Kharkiv region in northeast Ukraine when he was seized by Russian forces.
