Jared Kushner
Jared Kushner is an American real estate investor and businessman, and the son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump. He served as a senior advisor to the president from 2017 to 2021. After leaving the White House he founded the investment firm Affinity Partners.
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Russia hits Kyiv in two ballistic waves overnight; one killed, eight injured
Russia launched a massive combined attack on Ukraine overnight into 19 October using Iskander-M/S-400 ballistic missiles, Iskander-K cruise missiles and 269 strike drones. Two waves of ballistic strikes struck Kyiv at roughly 23:00 on 18 October and 03:00 on 19 October, killing a 21-year-old woman and injuring at least eight people. Ukrainian officials said partners did not warn about the first wave; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he could not confirm that. Air defence reported 247 aerial targets shot down or suppressed, with no ballistic missiles intercepted.
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Putin proposes Trump–Xi trilateral on Ukraine; Kyiv and Europe excluded
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed a trilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to discuss ending the war in Ukraine on terms favourable to Moscow, with the Kremlin suggesting the APEC summit in Shenzhen as a venue. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed discussions are under way but said there is no clear understanding yet of the meeting or its agenda, while an unnamed US official told The Wall Street Journal that Trump has not yet agreed to participate. The proposed format does not include Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a fact WSJ described as unprecedented and likely to alarm European capitals.
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Zelensky speaks with Trump's envoys Witkoff and Kushner on air defence and diplomacy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke by phone on Sunday, 18 October, with US President Donald Trump's representatives Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The two sides discussed the results of a recent Ukrainian-US meeting in Florida, ongoing Russian shelling, air defence cooperation, and next steps in diplomacy. Zelensky announced the call via social media and said Ukraine remains ready to work constructively for a real result.
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Zelensky says US has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after a three-day pause
In an interview broadcast on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, October 18, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the United States has resumed sharing intelligence with Ukraine after it was blocked for "a certain period of time." According to Zelensky's office, the pause lasted three days and coincided with Russian ballistic missile strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure on October 12 and the night of October 14. Zelensky also said he hopes negotiations with Washington can take place during the same week, and warned that US alignment with Russia would be "a historic mistake and a great tragedy."
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Trump suspends Russia sanctions under "Graham Law" days before they were to take effect
President Donald Trump on October 16, 2026 signed an executive order suspending the application of sanctions, restrictions, and tariffs against Russia that had been due to take effect on October 18 under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act. Using a waiver provision in the law, Trump certified to Congress that the suspension serves the national interests of the United States. The order keeps the new measures formally on the books but does not apply them for now, while previously imposed US sanctions against Russia remain in force. Critics including the law's co-author Senator Richard Blumenthal and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the move; Russia's Kirill Dmitriev welcomed it as a "truly historic moment."
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Trump suspends Russia sanctions under Graham Law, agrees Russian diesel deal, in sharp break with Zelensky
On October 16, 2025, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending the implementation of sanctions and tariffs against Russia under the bipartisan Graham Law (HR 5334), just two days before they were due to take effect. The move came a week after Trump agreed during a phone call with Vladimir Putin to import hundreds of thousands of tons of Russian diesel fuel. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the 60-day review and rejected criticism that easing sanctions was a "gift" to Putin. President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that if the United States sides with Russia, Ukraine "will not be able to win and will not be able to survive," and said the sanctions suspension is a continuation of Trump's "diesel deal" with Moscow. The decision drew rare bipartisan criticism, including from Republican Senators John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, Ted Cruz, Kevin Cramer and Dave McCormick, as well as Democrats. Separately, SpaceX unilaterally restricted the Starshield terminals that Ukraine's military relies on, and US officials warned Ukraine that intelligence sharing and arms supplies could be reduced.
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U.S. extends Lukoil sanctions exemptions for foreign gas stations until April 2027
The U.S. Department of the Treasury extended general licenses allowing certain activities with sanctioned Russian oil company Lukoil until April 24, 2027. The licenses permit Lukoil-branded gas stations outside Russia and named Bulgarian Lukoil entities to continue operating while the underlying sanctions remain in force. The decision came about a week after President Donald Trump announced a deal for Russian diesel supplies to U.S. and global markets, drawing bipartisan U.S. criticism and sharp pushback from EU foreign ministers.
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Trump says Zelensky is 'not the person' the US should be dealing with, calls Ukrainian refinery strikes 'a disgrace'
In a Newsmax interview published on October 15, US President Donald Trump publicly broke with Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he is "not a big fan" of the Ukrainian president and that Zelensky "is not the person we should be dealing with." Trump said it is harder to negotiate with Zelensky than with Vladimir Putin, demanded Ukraine halt strikes on Russian oil refineries, called such strikes "a disgrace," and repeated his call for Ukrainian elections. Zelensky responded in Brussels the following day, saying he finds it easier to deal with Trump than with Putin and that Ukraine is ready to hold elections if Russia accepts a 60-day ceasefire.
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US proposed handing frozen Russian assets to Washington-controlled vehicle; Europeans reject plan
The United States proposed to European allies that part of roughly €260 billion in frozen Russian sovereign assets be unfrozen and transferred to a financial structure under US control, to revive peace talks on Ukraine, the Financial Times reported on 15 October. European delegates rejected the idea, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz publicly insisted the assets remain frozen in Europe with Europeans deciding their fate. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no information about the proposal.
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Zelensky says Ukraine will resume strikes on Russian oil refineries after US-requested pause
President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the Financial Times that Ukraine is lifting its moratorium on strikes against Russian oil refineries. He said Ukraine had paused strikes on Russian energy infrastructure for three days at the request of the United States, but that during the pause Russia continued attacking Ukrainian energy, the United States did not provide advance warning of Russian ballistic strikes on Kyiv, and SpaceX restricted Starshield terminals to a 160 km/h speed threshold. Zelensky said he could agree to stop again only in exchange for additional Patriot interceptors.
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Zelensky confirms US warned it could halt intelligence sharing if Ukraine keeps striking Russian oil refineries
President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in an NPR interview that the Trump administration warned Ukraine it could stop sharing intelligence if Ukrainian forces continued to attack Russian oil refineries. Zelensky said the warning was conveyed to his generals, not to him personally, and that as of the interview the exchange had not actually been halted. The warning comes as Kyiv was hit by ballistic missiles on the evenings of October 12 and 13 without advance US warning, and SpaceX imposed speed-based restrictions on Starlink and Starshield terminals used by the Ukrainian military. Trump publicly denied that intelligence sharing had been stopped.
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US and Europe draft four-part Ukraine peace plan as Trump–Putin diesel deal overshadows Miami talks
On 9 October, US special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner hosted a six-hour meeting at Witkoff's Shell Bay golf club near Miami with a Ukrainian delegation and representatives of the UK, France, Germany, the EU and NATO. The US envoys asked Ukraine to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries, relayed that Vladimir Putin is not yet ready to negotiate and is conditioning talks on receiving the remaining roughly 11% of the Donbas under Ukrainian control, and announced that Donald Trump had struck a separate deal with Putin on Russian diesel exports. President Volodymyr Zelensky rejected the strike demand and called the diesel decision "unfair and dishonest." The Washington Post subsequently reported that Washington and European capitals are shaping a four-part peace proposal covering reconstruction financing, NATO-Article-5-style security guarantees, economic and energy integration including a possible Russia–Europe pipeline, and a ceasefire along the current front line. Ukraine's presidential office dismissed the leak as "not bad PR" rather than a joint US–European document.
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Zelensky says Ukraine ready to meet US negotiators in coming days
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to meet with American negotiators in the coming days and that he has conveyed the proposal to US President Donald Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. In his address he framed the talks as part of ongoing team-level negotiations on paths to peace, voiced Ukraine's support for a US-backed energy ceasefire, and stressed that Russia must also join such an agreement.
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Trump announces "energy ceasefire" with Russia; Kremlin declines to confirm, Ukraine says it wasn't told
On 11 October, US President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that an "energy ceasefire" between Russia and Ukraine was taking effect immediately, claiming both sides had agreed. The White House later told Axios that the proposal referred specifically to mutual cessation of strikes on oil refineries, described as "refinery for refinery." The Kremlin declined to confirm any deal, and within hours Russian forces struck energy infrastructure in Ukraine, including the TEC-5 thermal power plant in Kharkiv. Speaking by video link at the Warsaw Security Forum on 12 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the announcement was news to him, that Ukraine has only one oil refinery while Russia has an extensive network, and that if Russia does not agree to an energy ceasefire this winter, Ukraine will respond.
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Trump announces Russian diesel deal with Putin, urges Ukraine to choose a new president
On October 9, 2026, US President Donald Trump held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin and announced an agreement to allow between 300,000 and 3 million tons of Russian diesel fuel onto US and global markets. Trump then publicly attacked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, accusing him of being able to end the war but choosing not to, and saying it was time for Ukraine to choose a new president. Zelenskyy called the decision weak and a gift to Russia that would fund the war, while bipartisan US lawmakers and European leaders condemned the agreement.
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Zelensky offers to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries if Russia stops hitting Ukrainian energy
On 11 October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine is ready to stop strikes on Russian oil refineries and other energy infrastructure if Russia reciprocally halts strikes on Ukrainian energy. The offer came the same day U.S. President Donald Trump announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to an immediate 'energy ceasefire.' Zelensky said the U.S. announcement was news to him and that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had received the relevant orders. The same day, Russia struck the TEC-5 thermal power plant in Kharkiv, continuing a week in which Zelensky said Russian forces launched roughly 1,450 aerial bombs, 75 missiles and more than 1,640 strike drones at Ukraine.
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Trump administration threatens to halt PURL weapons and intelligence sharing over Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy
The Trump administration is pressuring Kyiv to stop long-range strikes on Russian energy infrastructure by threatening to suspend the PURL weapons-procurement mechanism and US intelligence sharing with Ukraine, according to European officials cited by the Financial Times. On Sunday, Trump separately announced on Truth Social an immediate "energy ceasefire" between Ukraine and Russia, an announcement Kyiv said it had not been consulted on and that was not honored by Russia the same day.
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Miami talks on Ukraine end after one day as Trump announces Russian diesel deal with Putin
On 9 October, US, Ukrainian, European and NATO representatives met in Miami to discuss ways to end Russia's war before winter, but the planned two-day meeting ended after a single day. The Ukrainian delegation cut short its visit and headed home after President Trump announced a phone-call deal with Vladimir Putin to supply Russian diesel fuel to US and world markets, prompting sharp criticism from Kyiv.
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Trump announces Russia diesel deal after Putin call; Ukraine and European leaders condemn move
On 9 October 2026, US President Donald Trump announced he had spoken by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to lift US sanctions on Russian diesel, allowing large-scale exports to American and global markets. The US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued General License No. 135 authorising the imports until 7 April 2027. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sharply criticised the decision, calling it a "weak" and "unfair and dishonest" birthday gift to Putin that gives Russia additional billions for the war, while EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, the UK, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, and US Democrats all condemned or distanced themselves from the deal. Talks between Ukrainian, US and European delegations in Miami ended early after the announcement, and a senior Ukrainian official told the Financial Times that long-range drone strikes on Russian refineries would continue.
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Russian glide bombs strike Zaporizhzhia residential building; at least 20 killed, including children
On the morning of 10 October, Russian forces struck the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia with five KAB guided aerial bombs, hitting residential buildings. Casualty figures evolved over the day as rescue operations continued: by Sunday, Ukrainian officials reported at least 20 people killed, including three children, with 18 to 32 injured. President Volodymyr Zelensky linked the attack to a recent US-Russia deal on Russian diesel exports, calling it Moscow's "thank-you" for the lifting of sanctions. Zaporizhzhia declared 11 October a day of mourning.