Office of the President
The Office of the President of Ukraine is the central executive authority supporting the President's activity, headed by a Chief of Staff appointed by the head of state. It handles record-keeping, policy analysis, and drafting of presidential decisions, and coordinates the work of state bodies within the President's powers.
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South Korean president threatens "further action" over Ukraine's disclosure of North Korean POW transfer
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung threatened unspecified "further action" unless Ukraine publicly apologises for President Volodymyr Zelensky's disclosure at the UN General Assembly that two captured North Korean soldiers had been transferred to South Korea. Ukraine's foreign minister called the row a "diplomatic misunderstanding" and said Kyiv is working to resolve it, while the two governments dispute whether any confidentiality agreement on the transfer existed.
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Budanov: Drone Deal partners may gain access to Ukraine's jet-drone interception technology
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov said in an interview with Euronews that countries holding Drone Deal cooperation agreements with Kyiv may negotiate access to new Ukrainian technologies for intercepting Russian jet-powered drones. He said Ukraine is already using the technology experimentally in combat, where it succeeds in most cases, and that the main challenge is scaling up production before the harshest part of winter.
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Drone crashes in Moldova during Russian mass strike on Ukraine; Chișinău summons Russian envoy
A drone entered Moldovan airspace on the morning of 30 September 2026 and exploded after colliding with a communications mast near the village of Hyrbovăț in Anenii Noi district, during a large Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine. A second drone was detected later in the morning, Moldova temporarily shut parts of its sky, the foreign minister condemned the violation, and the Russian ambassador was summoned.
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More than half of Ukraine's F-16s grounded by Belgian maintenance delays
A Wall Street Journal report says more than half of Ukraine's F-16 fighters are non-combat-ready because phased technical inspections carried out by Belgian contractor Sabena Aerospace Engineering under a U.S. contract are taking far longer than in the United States. President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed to the Financial Times that roughly half the fleet is in long-term repair in Europe and said Ukraine wants to move most of that maintenance onto its own territory with Western support. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman publicly disputed the 'catastrophically low' readiness framing, saying turnaround times are actually shortening.
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Ukraine suspends non-priority spending as PM warns of critical fiscal squeeze
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers approved a decision on 28 September prioritizing state expenditures toward defense, pensions, social payments and public-sector salaries, while suspending non-critical construction, reconstruction, capital repairs and beautification projects until the end of the war. Prime Minister Serhiy Koretsky said part of the pressure stems from delayed international financing, in part because Ukraine has not fulfilled some of its commitments to international partners. The government has identified about $7 billion through internal optimization against a reported $27 billion Ministry of Defense deficit.
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Poland offers to host Patriot missile production for Ukraine, citing safety of its own territory
Poland has offered to host on its territory the production of interceptor missiles for U.S. Patriot air-defense systems intended for Ukraine, if Washington grants Kyiv the relevant license. The proposal was made by Polish Deputy Minister of National Defense Magdalena Sobków-Czarniecka in a TVN24 interview, and was framed as a response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's 25 September claim that U.S. President Donald Trump has made a "final decision" to license Ukrainian Patriot production. Poland simultaneously confirmed it is negotiating with the U.S. on a permanent American military base, expected to accommodate around 5,000 troops and their families.
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Budanov: North Korea learning from Ukraine war and arming itself, including mass-producing strike drones
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Office of the President, said in an interview with Newsforce that North Korea is drawing on its participation in the war in Ukraine to improve its own armaments, including by mass-producing single-use strike drones. He also said North Korea continues to supply weapons and materials to Russia and to send its troops to fight directly against Ukraine.
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Budanov: Ukraine needs expanded Starlink access and Patriot interceptors to counter Russian missile strikes
Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, said in an interview with Newsforce that Ukraine urgently needs expanded access to Starlink and Starshield satellite communications as well as interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems, in order to counter and strike Russian missile systems. A fragment of the interview was published on Budanov's Telegram channel on Sunday, 27 September.
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Trump pushes for Ukraine-Russia deal before winter; Zelenskyy says Putin shows no intent to end war
After a September 22 meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, US President Donald Trump said on September 26 he expects Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin to "make a deal before the difficult winter." In an evening address the same day, Zelenskyy countered that Putin is not planning to end the war and keeps finding excuses to avoid meetings and a trilateral format.
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Ukraine says ready for US-mediated trilateral with Russia; Zelensky names UAE as proposed venue
President Volodymyr Zelensky said on September 25 that the United States has proposed a trilateral meeting with Ukraine and Russia at the technical level, with the United Arab Emirates suggested as the venue. Ukraine is waiting for Washington to propose a date. The Kremlin confirmed contacts are underway. Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said Ukraine is ready for the format but saw no signals of Russian willingness to engage.
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Russia launches massive ballistic missile and drone attack on Kyiv overnight
Russia struck Kyiv overnight on 23–24 September with a combined ballistic missile and drone barrage, killing two people and injuring at least eight across multiple districts. President Zelensky said 60% of the ballistic missiles aimed at Kyiv were intercepted and that the strike coincided with his meeting with U.S. congressmen about the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill. The attack came hours after Ukraine agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire and 51 UN member states called on Russia to follow suit.
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Finland approves Special Tribunal on Russian aggression and Compensation Commission, sends proposals to parliament
Finland's government endorsed the creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine and an International Compensation Commission for Ukraine, transmitting its proposals to the Finnish parliament. The Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decisions on X. Finland becomes the 21st state to join the tribunal agreement.
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Zelensky declares Ukraine ready for energy, grain and maritime ceasefires as Russia rejects energy proposal
On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on 22 September 2026, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met US President Donald Trump and announced Ukraine is ready for reciprocal ceasefires in energy, grain and maritime domains. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on 23 September that both sides expressed interest in a limited ceasefire, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the energy proposal and Russia's Vladimir Putin again insisted on maximalist war aims. The prospect of a trilateral meeting was left to the G20 summit in Miami on 14–15 December, where Putin's participation remains disputed.
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Rubio says no Ukraine-Russia energy ceasefire yet, but both sides interested in limited deal
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there is currently no energy ceasefire agreement between Ukraine and Russia, but that both sides have expressed interest in a limited ceasefire covering energy and grain. Speaking after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Rubio said the war would end through negotiations rather than a decisive military victory, and that US President Donald Trump remains ready to mediate. The comments come a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Trump in New York with energy ceasefire among the main topics.
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Rubio to meet Lavrov in New York on Wednesday during UN General Assembly
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in New York on Wednesday, September 23, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session. The meeting comes a day after President Volodymyr Zelensky met President Donald Trump in New York, and against statements from both Moscow and Washington suggesting no ceasefire is currently in place.
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Trump presses Zelenskyy to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries ahead of New York meeting
On September 20, US President Donald Trump repeatedly pressed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to stop Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries during a phone call, citing rising global diesel prices. The two leaders agreed to meet in New York on September 22 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where Trump is expected to push for an energy ceasefire. On September 21, Trump wrote on Truth Social that Russia had "lost control" of its diesel industry because of the war with Ukraine and called the war "senseless and endless," while Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready for de-escalation steps only if Russia halted attacks on Ukrainian energy and critical infrastructure.
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EU Coreper fails to extend Russia sanctions as Slovakia and France push to delist oligarchs
EU ambassadors meeting on 21 September failed to reach consensus on extending the bloc's individual sanctions regime against Russia, which covers roughly 3,000 individuals and entities including Vladimir Putin. Slovakia and France insisted on delisting sanctioned oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman; a compromise deal that would have extended the regime for 36 months in exchange for delisting them collapsed after Latvia blocked it. Coreper scheduled a further meeting for the morning of 22 September, hours before the midnight deadline at which the entire regime would lapse without unanimous renewal. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha publicly called any delisting unacceptable and a wrong signal to Moscow.
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Zelensky and Trump agree to meet in New York after phone call; Trump presses on Russian oil strikes
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held a phone call with US President Donald Trump on the evening of 20 September, during which the two leaders agreed to a personal meeting in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Zelensky publicly framed the call as constructive, thanked Trump for the recent visit of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to Kyiv, and for signing the Lindsey Graham sanctions law against Russia. According to Axios sources, Trump repeatedly asked Zelensky to stop Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, citing rising global diesel prices.
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Ukrainian advisor says Russia plans satellite-free navigation for Shaheds and guided bombs
Serhiy Beskrestnov, an advisor to the president of Ukraine on defense technology, says Russia plans to install a beacon-based navigation system called Ariadna on Shahed drones and guided aerial bombs. He says the system would allow the weapons to orient themselves up to 100 km into Ukrainian territory without satellite signals, making them resistant to electronic jamming.
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Zelenskyy's trust rating holds at 54% despite corruption scandals, KIIS poll finds
A poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology conducted from 21 August to 10 September shows that 54% of Ukrainians trust President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, virtually unchanged from late July/early August. The result comes amid recent NABU and SAP anti-corruption investigations linked to his office, and KIIS's executive director warned that the cumulative effect of such cases could become irreversible.