© Eugene Kotenko/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
“Possibile mai che qualunque elezione che non vada come vogliono le cancellerie europee sia stata truccata da Putin? Possibile mai che qualsiasi manifestazione di protesta, anche di un bambino di 11 anni incappucciato, sia stata ordita da Putin? Io credo che lo facciamo molto più grosso di quello che è. Ma capisco che battere il mea culpa sul petto di un altro è sempre più comodo che batterlo sul proprio: se le classi dirigenti europee sono così detestate dovrebbero farsela una domanda sul perché sono così tanto odiate”: è quanto detto dal direttore del Fatto Quotidiano Marco Travaglio durante la consegna del premio Eccellenze 2026, che si è tenuto giovedì 22 ottobre alla Camera dei deputati. Travaglio ha poi continuato il suo discorso: “Quella è una domanda fastidiosa da porsi. E quindi è molto meglio dire che è stato Putin, che sta prendendo il posto della zia malata e della nonna morta quando il ragazzino non ha fatto i compiti e inventa una scusa con il professore”. E ancora: “Bisogna fermarsi, non solo perché così facendo si dà a Putin più importanza di quella che ha; ma anche perché così facendo nella battaglia della propaganda la gente penserà che quella russa è un po’ meno stupida della nostra”.
L'articolo Travaglio: “Putin dietro le proteste di piazza? Le classi dirigenti europee sono detestate. Per loro è più facile dare colpa piuttosto che chiedersi perché ci odiano” proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Raggiungere un accordo sulla situazione in Ucraina è possibile. Almeno a sentire le ultime dichiarazioni del presidente russo Vladimir Putin: “Siamo concordi su questo”, ha detto il leader russo riferendosi alla fattibilità di un’intesa di lungo termine che chiuda l’invasione iniziata il 24 febbraio 2022. Al centro della disputa restano sempre le porzioni di territorio ucraino, attualmente occupate dalle forze di Mosca, che il capo del Cremlino ha definito “storicamente russe”, alzando la posta in gioco nei negoziati per risolvere il conflitto.
Putin ha definito “inappropriata” la dichiarazione del leader ucraino Vladimir Zelensky, secondo cui sarebbe disposto ad accettare la perdita di alcuni territori pur di raggiungere la pace, aggiungendo che i territori in questione sono storicamente russi: “Innanzitutto, la mia opinione su questa questione è che non si tratta di territorio russo, ma di territorio storicamente russo”, ha dichiarato Putin in un’intervista al conduttore Pavel Zarubin. “Le persone che vivono in questi territori hanno votato, in primo luogo, per l’indipendenza dello Stato e, in secondo luogo, per la riunificazione con la Federazione Russa”, ha affermato. “Pertanto, parlare di eventuali perdite territoriali mi sembra inappropriato”, ha concluso.
Un eventuale vertice tra Putin, Zelensky e Donald Trump potrebbe essere il formato con il quale finalizzare la possibile intesa? “La discussione è in corso”, ha rimarcato il vice ministro degli Esteri russo, Serghei Ryabkov, il giorno dopo il faccia a faccia tra Putin e l’inviato statunitense Steve Witkoff. “L’argomento è stato sollevato” mercoledì durante le tre ore di confronto tra i due a San Pietroburgo, ma “al momento non c’è ancora una chiara comprensione in merito”, poiché “non c’è un accordo completo, ma la discussione è in corso”. È ancora presto per parlare di una vera e propria apertura, anche se Trump – che ha intanto chiesto a Elon Musk di riattivare totalmente l’uso di Starlink in Ucraina – si è lasciato andare nelle ultime ore all’ottimismo affermando che “ci stiamo avvicinando alla risoluzione della guerra” e forse – ha aggiunto – “è il punto in cui siamo stati più vicini finora”.
L’unica novità ufficialmente resa nota dopo l’incontro di San Pietroburgo – oltre al rilascio dell’americano Stephen Hubbard dalle carceri russe – è stata la probabile ripresa il mese prossimo dei contatti trilaterali tra Mosca, Kiev e Washington, ma a livello di tecnici, non ancora certo di leader. Tuttavia, anche il consigliere di Putin per la cooperazione e gli investimenti stranieri, Kirill Dmitriev, che ha partecipato al colloquio, si è detto convinto che ci si stia muovendo “verso una pace a lungo termine che garantirà la sicurezza di Russia, Ucraina ed Europa”. Proprio l’Unione Europea, nelle scorse ore, ha rimarcato che in qualsiasi formato dovesse svolgersi dei nuovi colloqui ritiene di doversi sedere al tavolo.
Di tono opposto i commenti all’incontro di San Pietroburgo da parte di Zelensky, che il giorno prima aveva avuto un colloquio con Witkoff a Oslo insieme a rappresentanti di Paesi europei, compresa l’Italia. Il leader ucraino ha denunciato bombardamenti russi nella notte tra mercoledì e giovedì con l’impiego di 21 missili e oltre 200 droni e un bilancio di almeno due morti e 34 feriti. “Tre ondate di missili balistici sono state lanciate contro Kiev dai ‘compassionevoli’ russi“, ha rincarato Zelensky, ironizzando su quella definizione di ‘compassionevole’ usata da Witkoff per Putin quando l’ha ringraziato per il rilascio di Hubbard.
Zelensky ha affermato che nei raid è stato colpito “persino un monastero”. Il ministero della Difesa si Mosca ha invece rivendicato attacchi solo su obiettivi militari, tra cui uno stabilimento dell’industria aeronautica Antonov dove si assemblano droni e missili da crociera Flamingo, oltre che sul ponte ferroviario e stradale Sud. Mentre sull’altro fronte nel corso della notte 600 droni sono stati lanciati verso Mosca, con la maggior parte neutralizzata dalle forze di difesa aerea nelle zone periferiche, secondo il sindaco, Serghei Sobjanin. Nell’est dell’Ucraina, invece, a causa dei continui bombardamenti russi, è stata decisa l’evacuazione forzata delle famiglie con bambini da tutti gli insediamenti delle comunità di Kramatorsk e Slavyansk, le due cittadine che sono l’obiettivo più ambito delle truppe di Mosca per completare la conquista della regione di Donetsk.
L'articolo Guerra in Ucraina, Putin apre ai negoziati: “Accordo possibile”. Ma intanto i raid continuano proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Scintille in diretta a Omnibus, su La7, tra Luca Sommi, giornalista del Fatto Quotidiano e conduttore di Accordi & Disaccordi, e il giornalista economico Alan Friedman. Casus belli: le proteste giovanili di Milano e il ruolo delle presunte interferenze russe nell’alimentare le tensioni sociali in Europa.
Tutto comincia dall’analisi di Sommi sugli scontri di Milano. Il giornalista del Fatto respinge l’idea che dietro la rabbia dei ragazzi ci sia la regia di Mosca e richiama invece le disuguaglianze economiche, l’inflazione e la perdita del potere d’acquisto delle famiglie. Sommi insiste soprattutto su un punto: attribuire il disagio giovanile alle infiltrazioni russe significa distogliere lo sguardo dalle condizioni materiali in cui vivono milioni di persone.
“Mi viene da sorridere al pensiero che il disagio giovanile in Italia e in Europa sia colpa delle infiltrazioni di Putin – osserva – Non riesco a rimanere serio su questa cosa, perché in realtà parliamo di un problema strutturale”.
Poi richiama la condizione sociale di tanti manifestanti, spesso figli di immigrati di seconda generazione o delle fasce più povere della popolazione italiana: “Qui ci sono dei ragazzi che non ce la fanno più. A 11 anni vai in piazza a manifestare. Questo è un termometro di una sperequazione sociale esasperata. Se tu togli 300 euro di reddito di cittadinanza magari al papà, che temporaneamente era in difficoltà, e non hai il coraggio di tassare le multinazionali e i super ricchi, allora accadono queste cose”.
A intervenire successivamente è Antonio Di Bella, ex direttore del Tg3, che introduce una distinzione tra le origini delle proteste e il loro sfruttamento politico da parte del Cremlino: “È chiaro che il fuoco degli scontri non viene acceso dalla Russia o da qualche misterioso manovratore. Ma apertamente gli esponenti del governo Putin usano le tensioni europee come prova della crisi dell’Occidente“.
Di Bella cita anche Aleksandr Dugin, ideologo nazionalista russo e rbadisce che non c’è nessuna “manina misteriosa” ma una strumentalizzazione alla luce del sole: “È evidente che chi manifesta e gli scontri non sono creati da fuori, ma sono alimentati e sfruttati da fuori”.
Dal collegamento Friedman applaude e mostra il gesto dell’ok con la mano. E commenta: “Antonio Di Bella ha detto perfettamente. Poi che qualche filoputiniano difenda Putin non è una sorpresa, che sia un giornalista per un giornale di propaganda del Cremlino, che sia un politico di destra…”.
Sommi interviene: “Friedman, attenzione a dare dei filoputiniani perché si beccano le querele e poi le si pagano”.
Il giornalista americano ribatte immediatamente: “Mi stai minacciando?”..
“No – replica Sommi – Ti invito alla cautela a usare certi termini perché li hanno già usati a lungo anche sul Corriere della Sera e poi hanno pagato copiosamente per aver dato dei filoputiniani a chi si interroga sulle questioni invece di chi liscia da una parte. Te lo dico così, per rinfrescarti le idee”.
Il riferimento è alla vicenda giudiziaria di Alessandro Orsini, sociologo e professore associato alla Luiss Guido Carli di Roma. Il 5 giugno 2022 il Corriere della Sera pubblicò un articolo firmato da Monica Guerzoni e Fiorenza Sarzanini, intitolato “Influencer e opinionisti. Ecco i putiniani d’Italia” e dedicato a una presunta rete di opinionisti e influencer che rilanciavano la propaganda del Cremlino, con riferimenti alle attività del Copasir e dei servizi di intelligence. Tra i nomi compariva quello di Orsini, accompagnato dalla sua fotografia. Il professore ha promosso una causa civile contro Rcs, il direttore Luciano Fontana e le due giornaliste. Il Tribunale di Milano, in primo grado, ha condannato i convenuti a risarcirlo con 27.500 euro per danni e circa 5mila euro per spese processuali.
Friedman sbotta: “Questo è talmente da cafone che neanche ti rispondo. Io non sono qui per litigare e non credo di aver nominato nessun giornale. Attenzione, signor avvocatino“.
Sommi non arretra e gli fa notare la sequenza degli interventi: “Hai parlato di “giornalisti filoputiniani” subito dopo che ho detto che un conto è esultare perché l’Europa va male, visto che c’è una guerra, un conto è avere l’intromissione di Putin nei social»”.
Friedman rivendica di non aver indicato alcuna testata né alcuna persona specifica: “Ho fatto il nome di qualche giornale? Mi querela per non aver fatto nessun nome e aver parlato genericamente? Ma va’! Io volo alto e non scendo a questi livelli bassi, ok?”.
Sommi ride e ribadisce: “Hai appena detto dei giornalisti filoputiniani”.
“Ho parlato genericamente dei putiniani in Italia senza nominare nessuno, signorino“, rilancia Friedman.
Greco, visibilmente spazientito, cerca di chiudere il battibecco: “No, no, non ha nominato nessuno, benissimo”.
Ma Friedman continua a interrompere, ripetendo “Signorino!” e poi “Piccolo signore!“, mentre Sommi reagisce divertito e il conduttore è costretto ad arrendersi con una battuta: “Siamo alla frutta, come dicono in Calabria“.
L'articolo Scontro tra Sommi e Friedman su La7. “Attento a dare del filoputiniano, poi le querele si pagano”. “Mi minacci, signor avvocatino cafone?” proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Got an opinion on anything you've read in the Kyiv Independent? Send it to letters@kyivindependent.com — your letter may appear in our Letters section.
Mark Cary, United States member
I vividly remember when the Soviet Union collapsed. I was in my second year in college studying
US President Donald Trump has failed to reach an agreement with Russian ruler Vladimir Putin on halting strikes against Ukraine's energy infrastructure. However, Trump is trying to shift the blame for this failure onto President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said on The Diary of a CEO podcast.
His words came amid Russia's four record waves of ballistic missile attacks, after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff described Putin as a "humanitarian." Previously, US officials cut Kyiv off from US intelligence and lowered a speed cap on Starlink to pressure Ukraine into stopping strikes on Russia's oil refineries that bring Moscow revenue for its war.
Zelenskyy explained the behavioral pattern behind Trump's recent actions and statements. At first, Putin rejected his proposal for a ceasefire. Then, the US president blamed it all on him, explaining to his people that world fuel prices are rising because of him, which is not true at all, said the Ukrainian leader.
He pointed to the blocked Strait of Hormuz shipping chokepoint, not Ukraine’s refinery campaign, as the driver of higher prices.
He also noted that the volumes of diesel allowed by the US are insufficient to lower global oil prices.
Even so, Zelenskyy said he keeps a working relationship with Trump. What he will not accept is being cast as the villain in Russia’s war: by his account, the US president is rewriting the context, turning Ukraine’s leader into the target for a problem that starts in Moscow.
Earlier, experts said the diesel deal was unlikely to meaningfully lower diesel prices. For Putin, the agreement itself was a win.
A former senior State Department official says it hardly matters whether the fuel arrives, because Putin “has already achieved the result he wants,” with Trump believing he has a pre-election card that could move markets.
Announcing the decision in Strasbourg on Thursday, 22 October, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the award reflected the European Union’s commitment to multilateralism and international institutions.
Metsola praised the Court for its work in upholding international law and justice. The announcement was met with a standing ovation in the parliamentary chamber.
The decision comes amid an escalating confrontation between the European Union and the administration of US President Donald Trump over the ICC’s jurisdiction and independence.
On 9 October, the United States imposed sanctions on the ICC as an institution, extending measures previously directed against individual judges and prosecutors.
The restrictions place the Court under the US Treasury’s sanctions regime, limiting financial transactions involving American individuals, businesses and institutions. Washington has issued several temporary and limited exemptions intended to allow specified operations to continue.
The measures followed earlier sanctions against senior ICC officials, including Court President Tomoko Akane, and form part of Washington’s campaign to prevent the tribunal from exercising jurisdiction over American personnel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has argued that the ICC threatens American sovereignty by asserting authority over nationals of countries that have not accepted its founding treaty.
The Court rejected the latest restrictions, describing them as an attempt to obstruct the administration of international justice.
Established under the Rome Statute, the ICC operates independently of national governments and investigates serious international crimes where its jurisdictional requirements are satisfied.
Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute.
The dispute with Washington has intensified since the ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity connected with military operations in Gaza.
Israel rejects the Court’s jurisdiction and disputes the allegations. Washington has similarly opposed the proceedings against Israeli officials.
The ICC has also pursued investigations into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In March 2023, its judges issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, over the alleged unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children.
Further warrants followed in 2024 against senior Russian military commanders and officials in connection with attacks on Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.
The proceedings demonstrate the geographical scope of the Court’s investigations, although its ability to secure arrests depends heavily on cooperation from individual states.
The ICC has no independent police force and relies on national authorities to execute its warrants.
The ICC’s nomination for the Sakharov Prize was submitted by the Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament.
Its selection comes as European lawmakers examine how the EU should respond to American sanctions affecting the Court and organisations supporting its activities.
The October restrictions have raised practical questions about access to banking, technology services and other infrastructure required by the tribunal.
European governments must also consider how to support an institution established through an international treaty while maintaining relations with Washington.
The Sakharov Prize carries no legal authority to reverse American sanctions or compel governments to cooperate with ICC investigations. Nevertheless, the award represents an explicit institutional endorsement of the tribunal at a time when its operations face increasing external pressure.
The ICC was selected from three finalists announced earlier this month.
The other nominees were Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu and Iranian sisters Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, whose cases have attracted international attention over political persecution and judicial proceedings.
The Sakharov Prize, established by the European Parliament in 1988, is named after Soviet physicist, dissident and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov.
It recognises individuals and organisations defending human rights, freedom of expression and fundamental liberties. The award includes €50,000.
Previous recipients include Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai and imprisoned journalists.
In 2025, the prize was awarded jointly to Belarusian journalist Andrzej Poczobut and Georgian journalist Mzia Amaglobeli.
The formal presentation of the 2026 prize is scheduled for 16 December at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
The award places the ICC alongside previous Sakharov laureates while drawing further attention to the unresolved dispute between Washington and European governments over international criminal jurisdiction.
Russian missiles and drones killed one person and injured 24 in Kyiv overnight on 22 October, the Kyiv City Prosecutor’s Office said. Damage spread across six of the city’s districts, the city military administration reported.
The strike came hours after Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said Putin had told Witkoff that Russia was “in principle” ready to resume three-way talks with the US and Ukraine in mid-November. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy read the overnight attack as a sign that Russia’s attitude has not changed. A day earlier, Russian drones killed two people in a 24-story Kyiv apartment block.
Russia fired 21 ballistic missiles at Kyiv overnight, Zelenskyy said. The barrage came in three waves, around 22:00, at about 02:00, and around 03:30.
Across Ukraine, air defenses downed or suppressed 181 of 210 Russian drones, the Air Force said. Its report did not mention any ballistic missiles shot down.
The only death in Kyiv came in the Dniprovskyi district, on the city’s left bank. There, Russian strikes destroyed 13 detached houses on several streets, prosecutors said. Police said the man killed was 48 and that six people were injured in the district, four of them children, the youngest aged five.
Of the injured, five are minors and two are young children, and prosecutors reported acute stress reactions among them. A 16-year-old boy is in hospital with a closed head injury, prosecutors said. Sixteen of the injured were hospitalized, the city military administration said. The final number of injured is still being established.
In the Holosiivskyi, Obolonskyi, Pecherskyi, and Sviatoshynskyi districts, the attack damaged eight apartment buildings, prosecutors said. It also damaged a building-supply hypermarket, a restaurant, a monastery building, a post office, and office premises.
In Pecherskyi, Russia damaged an ambulance station and six ambulances, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote. The State Emergency Service said eight people were injured in that district, three of them children, and reported damaged transport infrastructure in the Darnytskyi district.
The strikes damaged metro infrastructure on the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge, Kyiv Metro said. As of the morning, green-line trains ran in two sections, Syrets–Vydubychi and Osokorky–Chervonyi Khutir. Inspections and repairs would continue after the all-clear, the metro said.
Oleksii Biloshytskyi, head of Ukraine’s Patrol Police Department, announced that traffic across the bridge toward the left bank was temporarily closed. The city is adding buses on routes 22 and 91, the city administration said. Russian drones had already hit the bridge repeatedly in early October.
Europe’s leaders can no longer trust a word that comes out of Washington. No more slaps on the wrist – we need concrete steps to punish Trump
Historical comparisons are always inexact. No one conflict precisely mirrors another. Yet Donald Trump’s shameless appeasement of Vladimir Putin carries more than a noxious whiff of Neville Chamberlain’s failed attempt in Munich in 1938 to head off war with Nazi Germany. To be fair to the former UK prime minister – and history largely hasn’t been – his peacemaking efforts had the enthusiastic backing of most people in Britain and France who, like him, were desperate to avoid a repeat of the horrors of the first world war. Trump enjoys no equivalent public support for his treachery. Nor does he face the prospect of a US war with Russia. His betrayal of Ukraine is cynically self-interested, globally dangerous and utterly contemptible.
US-Russian talks on agreeing the shoddy terms of a precedent-setting American sell-out of Ukraine are at an advanced stage, after meetings in St Petersburg this week. Trump has zigzagged over the war ever since returning to office. Now, panicked by record-low poll ratings, he seems determined to scapegoat Ukraine and force its de facto capitulation. Recent steps – his shocking decision to fund Putin’s war machine by buying Russian diesel, his waiving of tougher sanctions, his mysterious, lethal interruptions in US satellite and intelligence sharing with Kyiv, and his renewed attempt to oust Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – mark Trump out as the skulking Judas, the craven Brutus of the modern age. He makes Chamberlain look like a man of iron principle. All that’s lacking is an umbrella.
Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator
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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Experts say Russia is trying to destroy energy infrastructure before winter and US ‘appeasement and flattery’ will not achieve peace
Russia has carried out a massive “demonstrative” attack on Ukraine, bombarding Kyiv with ballistic missiles just hours after Vladimir Putin said he had agreed to resume trilateral negotiations after talks with the US envoy Steve Witkoff.
Overnight, Moscow pounded the Ukrainian capital, killing at least two people and wounding 22, including four children. Targets included the southern bridge over the Dnipro River, civilian houses, energy infrastructure, an ambulance station, office buildings and a clinic.
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© Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
© Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
© Photograph: Efrem Lukatsky/AP
© Doug Mills/The New York Times
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Thursday morning that at least two people had been killed and 34 injured, including five children, in Russian attacks affecting 12 Ukrainian regions. The capital sustained extensive damage, with strikes reported against railway and metro infrastructure, shopping centres, industrial premises and a monastery.
The bombardment followed a three-hour meeting between Witkoff and Putin on Wednesday, during which the Russian president indicated his willingness to resume trilateral negotiations involving Moscow, Washington and Kyiv. The Russian attacks continued despite the diplomatic initiative, prompting Zelenskyy to call for renewed international pressure on the Kremlin.
In a statement published on Telegram, Zelenskyy said Russian forces had launched three waves of ballistic missiles against the Ukrainian capital, causing numerous direct hits and widespread destruction.
The Ukrainian president referred sarcastically to Russia’s supposed humanitarian intentions, an apparent reference to Witkoff’s description of Putin as a humanitarian during their meeting the previous day.
Emergency services were deployed across several districts of Kyiv, where residential and commercial buildings suffered damage. Part of the capital’s metro infrastructure on the Southern Bridge was affected, disrupting traffic, while a strike on an ambulance station in the Pecherskyi district damaged six emergency vehicles. No medical personnel were injured at that location.
According to Ukrainian military and emergency service reports, the overnight assault also involved 210 attack drones and several types of missiles, including Iskander-M, S-400, Zircon and Oniks weapons.
By Thursday morning, Ukrainian air defences had intercepted or suppressed 181 drones. Russian weapons struck 32 locations, while debris from intercepted drones fell at eight others.
The assault followed several consecutive days of Russian attacks against Kyiv, including earlier strikes on hospitals, residential buildings and the capital’s transport network.
The timing of the latest bombardment placed renewed scrutiny on Washington’s diplomatic engagement with Moscow.
On 21 October, Witkoff met Putin at the Konstantin Palace in St Petersburg, accompanied by Russian officials, including Kirill Dmitriev, the Kremlin’s representative for international economic cooperation. The discussions lasted approximately three hours.
The meeting followed talks in Oslo on 20 October, where Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Zelenskyy alongside Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Following the St Petersburg meeting, Witkoff described the discussions as constructive and indicated that negotiations would continue at the technical level between representatives of the United States, Russia and Ukraine.
Putin reportedly expressed agreement in principle to restarting trilateral negotiations, potentially during the first half of November. However, no agreement on a ceasefire or suspension of Russian attacks was announced.
The meeting also attracted controversy after Witkoff praised Putin as a humanitarian following the release of Stephen Hubbard, a 74-year-old American citizen who had been detained in Russia for more than four years.
The remarks prompted criticism from Republican lawmakers in Washington, who questioned the characterisation of the Russian president while Moscow continued its military campaign against Ukraine.
Zelenskyy characterised the overnight missile attack as evidence that Russia’s participation in negotiations had not produced any substantive change in its conduct.
He argued that diplomatic efforts to end the war should continue but must be accompanied by measures capable of altering Moscow’s military calculations.
Those measures, according to the Ukrainian president, include stronger air defence capabilities, faster deliveries of interceptor missiles, the ability to destroy Russian ballistic missile launchers and continued economic sanctions.
The latest attacks also place Ukraine’s air defence requirements firmly within the ongoing negotiations with Washington. Kyiv has repeatedly sought additional Patriot missiles and more reliable advance warning of Russian ballistic launches, particularly as repeated strikes place increasing demands on its interception capabilities.
For the Trump administration, the immediate question is whether Russia’s stated willingness to negotiate can produce verifiable commitments to reduce hostilities.
The Kremlin has offered the prospect of further talks without announcing a halt to its offensive operations. Kyiv, meanwhile, continues to face missile and drone attacks against civilian infrastructure even as discussions concerning a possible settlement proceed.
The events of 21–22 October leave Washington’s diplomatic initiative moving forward against the background of an expanding Russian aerial campaign, with no indication that Moscow intends to suspend its attacks while negotiations continue.
Steve Witkoff’s flattery of the Russian leader could be just the start of a mendacious stratagem from a US president who says Moscow ‘has been fine on Ukraine’
They say the first casualty of war is truth. For the Trump administration, the road to peace with Russia now encompasses some extraordinary lies.
Steve Witkoff delivered one as he sat down with Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on Wednesday, aiming to close the deal on Russia’s land grab in Ukraine with the White House’s strategy of maximum pressure on Kyiv and saccharine flattery of the Kremlin.
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© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian
© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian
© Photograph: Pete Kiehart/The Guardian
Key developments on Oct. 21:
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