Trump-Putin phone call may slow down momentum to toughen stance on Moscow, former state department official says
Russian president Vladimir Putin’s latest phone call with Donald Trump may have slowed growing US momentum to toughen its stance on Moscow, according to a former US State Department official.
“Putin is trying to derail the momentum toward greater pressure on Russia,” said Dan Fried, a former US State Department official and veteran diplomat who oversaw sanctions policy under multiple administrations.
“We’ll see what happens tomorrow [on Friday, with Zelensky due to meet Trump] but the chances of moving toward a ceasefire by pushing Russia to get serious seem to have diminished.”
File. President Donald Trump, right, shakes the hand of Russia’s president Vladimir Putin during a joint press conference at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 15 August 2025 (Associated Press)
The Kremlin described Thursday’s Trump and Putin call as “extremely frank and trustful”.
Earlier, Trump had appeared to harden his position, voicing frustration with Russia’s continued attacks and hinting at a possible decision to provide Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine.
Maroosha Muzaffar17 October 2025 05:38
Drone attacks target areas inside Russia-held territory – report
Explosions were reported overnight in both occupied Donetsk and the Russian resort city of Sochi, as suspected Ukrainian drone attacks targeted sites deep inside Russian-held territory.
“An air defence system is active in Sochi. An attack by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is being repelled,” Sochi Mayor Andrei Proshunin said.
In Donetsk, local channels reported that a Russian ammunition depot had been struck, setting off a series of explosions and large fires visible across the occupied city.
Videos circulating on social media appeared to show multiple blasts lighting up the night sky, Kyiv Independent reported.
Ukrainian officials have not commented on either incident.
Maroosha Muzaffar17 October 2025 05:20
Trump says ‘we need Tomahawks too’ before his meeting with Zelensky
Donald Trump appeared uncertain on Wednesday about supplying Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, saying the US must also keep enough for its own defence – just hours before his scheduled meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington.
“We need Tomahawks for the United States of America too. We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean, we can’t deplete for our country,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I don’t know what we can do about that,” he added.
Zelensky, who arrived in Washington earlier in the day, is expected to make a fresh push for the long-range missiles, which can strike targets up to 2,500 kilometres away.
Earlier, Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow had warned Trump against arming Kyiv with the missiles.
“Vladimir Putin reiterated his point that Tomahawks would not change the situation on the battlefield but would cause significant harm to relations between our countries, not to mention the prospects for peaceful settlement,” Ushakov said, according to the Kyiv Independent.
Maroosha Muzaffar17 October 2025 04:50
Russia targets Ukraine’s gas sites as Zelensky flies to US for Trump talks
Russia launched one of its biggest aerial attacks in months on Thursday, pounding Ukraine’s energy network just as president Volodymyr Zelensky flew to Washington to ask Donald Trump for long-range Tomahawk missiles.
More than 300 drones and 37 missiles rained down across Ukraine overnight, sparking blackouts in eight regions and fires at key gas facilities.
“This autumn, the Russians use every single day to strike at our energy infrastructure,” Zelensky said on X.
One of the main targets was the Shebelinka gas processing plant in Kharkiv region, where drones and missiles hit around 5.30am.
Huge columns of black smoke rose from the site as crews battled multiple fires.
Maroosha Muzaffar17 October 2025 04:37
Zelensky says Russia ‘on the defensive’ as Trump announces new Putin meet
Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Russian president’s sudden push to meet Donald Trump shows the Russian leader is “on the defensive”.
Speaking in Washington on Thursday, the Ukrainian president said Putin’s eagerness to resume talks was directly tied to Trump’s recent suggestion that the US could send Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kyiv.
“We can already see that Moscow is rushing to resume dialogue as soon as it hears about Tomahawks,” Zelensky said.
His comments came after Trump confirmed he is planning to meet Putin in Budapest in the coming weeks.
Maroosha Muzaffar17 October 2025 04:17
Trump boasts ‘tremendous prospects’ for US-Russia economic cooperation if war were to end
One of Trump’s main arguments for ending the war in Ukraine is that it would allow for strong economic cooperation between the US and Russia, the Kremlin said.
In a statement, Yury Ushakov said: “It is noteworthy that one of the US President’s key arguments centred on the premise that the resolution of the conflict in Ukraine would open up tremendous – and he stressed this – tremendous prospects for the development of US-Russian economic cooperation.”
After Trump and Putin’s meeting, Trump said the pair “spent a great deal of time talking about trade between Russia and the United States when the war with Ukraine is over.”
Harriette Boucher17 October 2025 04:01
What is in the EU’s five-year plan to defend against Russian attacks?
The European Union has unveiled four flagship projects to strengthen its defence capabilities against Russia by 2030, as recent airspace violations show that “Europe is at risk”.
The European Commission will submit the ‘Defence Readiness Roadmap 2030’ to EU leaders next week, essentially presenting them with a checklist of equipment to buy, with hopes of encouraging states to decide who will take the lead on projects.
EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said there must be a major build-up of European defence capabilities (AP)
The European Drone Defence Initiative
As a top priority, the plans include the European Drone Defence Initiative, which aims to build counter-drone capabilities to detect, track, and disable rogue drones. The system is expected to be initially operational by December 2026 and fully functional in late 2027.
The Eastern Flank Watch
The drone system is part of the wider Eastern Flank Watch scheme, which aims to fortify defences along Europe’s eastern border on land, in the Baltic and Black seas, in the sky, and against hybrid operations. It hopes to be fully functional by 2028.
The European Air Shield aims to protect member states’ airspace by creating an integrated, multi-layered air and missile defence shield to protect against all Russian air threats.
The European Space Shield
The fourth project is the European Space Shield, which aims to protect space assets and services against growing threats.
Harriette Boucher17 October 2025 03:00
US may have to keep Tomahawks for itself, Trump says
Donald Trump has suggested that the US may need to keep its Tomahawk missiles for itself, as Zelensky is expected to push for its supply at their meeting tomorrow.
He said: “Tomahawks. We have a lot of them, but we need them. We can’t deplete” US stockpiles, the BBC reported.
The Russian president has warned Trump that supplying Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would harm peace prospects and damage US-Russia relations, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump said: “I did actually say to him, ‘Would you mind if I gave a couple of thousands of Tomahawks to your opposition?’ I did say that to him. I said it just like that. He didn’t like that idea,” according to the BBC.
“You have to be a bit light-hearted sometimes.”
Harriette Boucher17 October 2025 02:00
Preparations underway for US-Russia summit, says Hungary’s PM
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said preparations for Putin and Trump’s summit in Budapest were underway.
Posting on X after a phone call with Trump, the president said: “Hungary is the island of PEACE!”
He previously said the meeting was “great news for the peace-loving people of the world.”
Harriette Boucher17 October 2025 01:00
Putin congratulates Trump for ‘solving peace in the Middle East’White House: Putin congratulates Trump for ‘solving peace in the Middle East’
Harriette Boucher17 October 2025 00:00