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Friday 23 October 2026
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Finland's government said the visit was meant to show its support for Ukraine as the country prepares for winter. Finland's Foreign Ministry announced €2 million in humanitarian aid, and a ballistic missile alert was issued in Kyiv during the visit.
In quotes posted on X from his interview with Steven Bartlett, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a ceasefire is "the only step" because "people's hatred isn't going anywhere", and said Trump should adopt towards Putin the rhetoric he uses about him.
Asked on Fox & Friends whether he would accept a deal freezing the war where it stands, with Ukraine keeping "75% or more" of its territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said "Yes", calling a freeze the "minimum" needed from Russia before talks on security guarantees.
Speaking in the Oval Office, Donald Trump said Volodymyr Zelensky "has to want to settle this war", that Russia "would like to get it done" and that he had asked Vladimir Putin at length to free US teacher Stephen Hubbard. On Iran, he said he had yet to decide whether to win "the nice way or the not nice way".
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he told Volodymyr Zelensky in a 45-minute call that US support had not changed, and that interceptor shortfalls reflected demand and US needs. Zelensky has said a 'political decision' appears to have slowed support.
Volodymyr Zelensky met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo with Norway's prime minister and Finland's president. Zelensky said Ukraine is ready for negotiations and proposed a trilateral leaders' meeting; Norway's Jonas Gahr Støre said Witkoff would fly to St Petersburg on Wednesday.
Ukraine's president told the Italian daily that limits on US intelligence sharing and Starlink speeds had already been imposed, and said he was ready to meet Trump's negotiators. He later said he had discussed missile interceptors, attack warnings and Starlink with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A US official said White House envoy Steve Witkoff would hold talks in Oslo on Tuesday with Volodymyr Zelensky, Norway's prime minister and European, EU and NATO officials on a peace proposal for Russia, and then travel to Russia hoping to meet Vladimir Putin.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told a bipartisan US congressional delegation on Monday that Kyiv could stop hitting Russian oil refineries for 30 days if Washington helped defend Ukraine's skies with Patriot interceptors for the same period. He said Ukraine had heard no willingness to accept the idea.
A drone hit a park in Nova Vodolaha on Monday afternoon, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles and more than 200 drones at Ukraine overnight. President Volodymyr Zelensky said 28 energy facilities were hit and that partners again gave no early warning. Russia said it struck defence sites in and around Kyiv.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on Monday, US President Donald Trump said Volodymyr Zelensky "doesn't know what he's talking about", suggested Ukraine find another negotiator and said he was open to a three-way meeting with Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping focused on nuclear weapons.
Speaking in Uzbekistan, the US Secretary of State rejected Kyiv's account of a three-day halt in missile-warning intelligence. He said a possible Trump–Putin–Xi meeting had been discussed but he did not know whether it had been finalised.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a Bloomberg interview in Kyiv on Sunday that "steps have been taken to convince Ukraine to capitulate", citing Starlink limits and delayed Patriot deliveries. He proposed stopping strikes on Russian diesel facilities in exchange for more Patriot interceptors.
Trump defended his Russia policy on Truth Social. Zelensky told NBC that US intelligence on ballistic launches had resumed after a three-day gap, and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called his Starlink claims 'very reckless'.
