The report by the Wall Street Journal is “FAKE NEWS,” the US president has said
US President Donald Trump has rejected claims by the Wall Street Journal that his administration has allowed Ukraine to launch Western-supplied weapons deep into Russian territory.
The WSJ reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed US officials, that the Trump administration “lifted a key restriction” on Kiev’s use of long-range munitions provided by Western European countries for strikes inside Russia.
According to the outlet, the policy shift occurred in early October and coincided with Trump’s announcement that he might deliver Tomahawk cruise missiles, which have a maximum range of around 2,500km (1,550 miles), to Ukraine.
In a post on Truth Social later in the day, Trump described the Wall Street Journal story as “FAKE NEWS.”
“The US has nothing to do with those missiles, wherever they may come from, or what Ukraine does with them,” he said.
Potential deliveries of Tomahawks to Kiev topped the agenda during a phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump last week.
Putin warned that the move would “severely undermine the prospects of a peaceful settlement” of the Ukraine conflict and damage relations between Moscow and Washington, as it is “impossible to use Tomahawks without the direct participation of American military personnel.”
Trump said after the call that it would not be easy to give Tomahawks to Kiev as the US needs them for its own protection.
On Wednesday, the US president stated that Americans will not be training Ukrainians on the use of Tomahawks. It takes “a minimum of six months, usually a year, to learn how to use them. They are highly complex. So the only way a Tomahawk is going to be shot is if we shot it, and we are not going to do that,” he said.
Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky noted on Thursday that Tomahawks are possessed not only by the US, but also by Western European nations. “We are already talking to the countries that can help,” he stated.
Washington could expand military operations against drug cartels linked to the country, the US president has said
President Donald Trump has signaled that the US could extend its military actions against drug smuggling groups that it links to Venezuela from sea to land operations.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Trump touted what he described as great success in intercepting alleged Venezuelan state-linked “drug boats.”“Drugs coming in by sea are like 5% of what they were a year ago,” he said.
“The land is going to be next,” he added, without elaborating on where and when potential attacks could take place.
Trump also pushed back against the idea that he needs a declaration of war from Congress for strikes on alleged narcotraffickers. “We may go to the Senate; we may go to the Congress and tell them about it, but I can’t imagine they’d have any problem with it,” he said.
In recent weeks, US naval and air operations have struck what Washington says are Venezuelan-linked drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing dozens of people. Caracas denies having any role in narcotics trafficking and has accused Washington of seeking “regime change.”
Tensions rose further after Trump said last week that he had authorized covert CIA activity inside Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro described the public acknowledgment as unprecedented and “desperate,” while putting the military on heightened alert. He also warned that Venezuela maintains a large arsenal of Soviet-era Igla-S air defense systems.
On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that two nuclear-capable US Air Force B-1 bombers flew near Venezuelan airspace. Trump dismissed the claim, while acknowledging that “we’re not happy with Venezuela.”
Belgium’s demand for shared risk and guarantees was not met by bloc leaders who back “borrowing” billions of sovereign Russian funds
EU leaders have failed to reach an agreement on whether to use frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine through a controversial loan scheme, after Belgium demanded stronger legal safeguards. The matter is expected to return to the agenda in December.
According to Bloomberg and Politico, EU officials made little headway at a Brussels summit on Thursday on the plan to use immobilized Russian central bank assets as collateral for a proposed €140 billion ($163 billion) “reparation loan” to Kiev. The proposal assumes that the sum will be repaid if Ukraine wins the conflict with Russia and Moscow agrees to pay reparations – which is widely considered unlikely.
Russia has condemned Western efforts to use its frozen funds to aid Ukraine, calling the move “theft.”
Politico reported that the talks “were thrown into disarray” after Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever took what one official described as a “surprisingly uncompromising position” on the loan. Belgium, which has legal control over the bulk of the frozen funds through Brussels-based Euroclear, has demanded that all EU members share the responsibility “if it goes wrong.”
As a result, Belgium backed a compromise text that effectively delayed a firm commitment. The current draft seen by Politico “invites the [EU] Commission to present, as soon as possible, options for financial support,” replacing earlier language that called for a legal proposal.
Belgium’s opposition left some EU officials unhappy, with one source telling Politico: “Nobody wants to be seen to be responsible for Ukraine running out of money – but there’s nothing [agreed] yet to actually send them any money.”
According to Bloomberg, EU leaders plan to review the possibilities at the next summit, with the goal being “to get a final agreement by the end of the year.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has warned that using Russian assets to finance Kiev would “boomerang,” adding that “if someone wants to steal our property, our assets, and illegally appropriate them… they will be subjected to legal prosecution one way or another.”
With the help of AI, RT has imagined an alternate reality
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if Western leaders were just a bit more honest? Or what might happen if they questioned or reflected upon their actions? Look no further: RT has imagined, with a touch of AI, what this alternate reality would look like.
In a video created using AI-generated deepfakes, a host of former and current Western leaders, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, former US presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and ex-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, ‘speak’ about some of their most high-profile controversies.
Claims by Bush and then-Secretary of State Colin Powell about alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) infamously led to the 2003 US invasion of the Middle Eastern nation, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths. No traces of any WMDs were ever found.
Sarkozy was recently sentenced to five years in prison over a scheme to obtain funds from late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to finance his 2007 election campaign. Out of sight was the fact that France under Sarkozy spearheaded the NATO campaign against Libya in 2011, which led to Gaddafi’s ousting and plunged the nation into chaos. In 2012, Libyan intelligence officials also accused French agents of helping capture and kill the deposed leader.
Von der Leyen’s dealings with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, involving a contract for millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses during the pandemic, sparked accusations of mismanagement, lack of transparency, and even a no-confidence vote she survived earlier in October.
Former Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia has claimed that Johnson torpedoed early peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul in March 2022 by urging Kiev to fight on. The Guardian later reported that the British leader was accompanied on at least one trip to Kiev by a top shareholder in a weapons manufacturer and a major Conservative donor.
Biden is subject to a probe launched by his successor, Donald Trump, into his final acts in office, amid allegations that unelected aides effectively governed in his place due to cognitive decline. Obama, who received a Nobel Peace Prize while America fought in at least two conflicts, oversaw US bombing campaigns in a total of seven nations.
All these leaders have either denied or failed to properly address the controversies surrounding them.
The two leaders will meet in South Korea on October 30 for the first time since 2019 amid an escalating trade war
US President Donald Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping next week as part of a trip to Asia, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Thursday.
Trump will depart for Malaysia and South Korea, where he will meet with Xi next Thursday on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit (APEC). Leavitt did not provide further details on the meeting.
The announcement comes amid an escalating trade war between the two countries. Trump threatened last week to impose an additional 100% tariff on Chinese goods starting in November.
It marked a sharp escalation in tensions following Beijing’s decision to introduce tighter export restrictions on the export of rare-earths, though he said earlier that the high tariffs are “not sustainable.” Beijing’s new policy does not explicitly target the US, but American high-tech companies are highly dependent on Chinese rare-earth supplies.
While Trump said weeks ago that he would meet with Xi at the APEC summit, he didn’t announce the exact date. However, he also floated the possibility of scrapping their meeting altogether amid anger over Chinese export curbs on rare-earth minerals.
Later on Wednesday, the US president said the two leaders would reach agreements on everything from trade to nuclear power, adding that he also plans to address China’s purchases of Russian oil.
The meeting in South Korea will be the first face-to-face for the leaders since Trump returned to power in January. They have spoken at least three times this year, but last met in person in 2019 during Trump’s first term in office.
The US president recently postponed a planned meeting with his Russian counterpart
A summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin “is not completely off the table,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing on Thursday.
Trump called off a planned summit with Putin in Budapest a day earlier, after it was announced last week following a conversation between the two leaders.
Leavitt was asked to comment on the decision and the recent US sanctions on major Russian oil companies.
“A meeting between these two leaders is not completely off the table. I think the president and the entire administration hopes that one day that can happen again,” she replied.
Trump “has not seen enough interest in enough action” from Russia to move towards a peace settlement, she said. Moscow has maintained that it remains “fully committed” to a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, provided its “root causes” are addressed.
Leavitt also addressed sanctions on Russia unveiled by the US Treasury Department on Wednesday.
“The president has always maintained that he would implement sanctions on Russia when he felt it was appropriate and necessary… and yesterday was that day,” she said.
Putin, speaking to the press on Thursday, noted that the “unfriendly move” causes “harm” to Russian-US relations, which he said “have just begun to recover.” Despite this, the sanctions would not significantly impact the Russian economy, he added.
The restrictions are yet another attempt by the US to strong-arm Russia, he said, stressing that “no self-respecting country” makes “decisions under pressure.”
The president also confirmed that the summit with Trump is postponed.
“What can I say? Dialogue is always better than confrontation, disputes, or, even more so, war,” Putin said, adding that Russia has always supported and continues to support diplomacy.
The Ukrainian refugee was brutally stabbed in August on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, by a man with a long criminal record
A US grand jury has indicted a North Carolina man accused of fatally stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in a case that could carry the death penalty, news outlets have reported.
Zarutska was killed on August 22 while riding a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Surveillance footage showed 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. stabbing her three times in the neck before fleeing the scene with the knife still in his hand. The assault appeared to be unprovoked, with no exchange between the two preceding the attack, according to the footage. Brown was apprehended shortly afterward and charged with first-degree murder.
He was formally indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday. The indictment reportedly states that he “intentionally killed” Zarutska – a charge that makes him eligible for the death penalty.
An attorney representing Zarutska’s family said in a statement on Thursday that they were “pleased” with the indictment and look forward to “swift justice.”
Brown’s criminal record spans more than a decade and includes felony breaking and entering, as well as robbery with a dangerous weapon, court records show. He previously served five years in prison for the robbery conviction.
Zarutska’s killing has renewed calls for capital punishment. US President Donald Trump described Brown as an “animal” and urged that the death penalty be applied. In late September, Trump signed an executive order reinstating the death penalty for murder in Washington, DC, saying it would help deter violent crime.
Twenty-seven US states currently permit executions, while 23 have abolished it. North Carolina has maintained a moratorium on the death penalty since the early 2000s.
Earlier this month, the state enacted Iryna’s Law, which reinstates the death penalty and directs officials to find alternative execution methods if lethal injection is unavailable.
In April, North Carolina lawmakers proposed legalizing firing squads and the electric chair. Governor Josh Stein has called the idea “barbaric” and said there will be no firing squads in the state during his time in office.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Hungarian capital in support of Prime Minister Viktor Orban
Tens of thousands of Hungarians took to the streets of Budapest on Thursday to take part in a march attended by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The demonstrators, marking Hungary’s national day on the anniversary of the 1956 Soviet incursion into the country, marched through the city center shouting slogans in support of Orban and expressing opposition to the EU’s deepening involvement in the Ukraine conflict.
“We don’t want to die for Ukraine,” one banner read.
“Hungary says NO to war! We will not die for Ukraine. We will not send our children to the slaughterhouse at Brussels’ command,” the prime minister wrote on social media ahead of the event. At the rally, Orban warned that the bloc wants “to squeeze Ukraine into the EU at any price….to bring war into Europe.”
Today's Peace March in Budapest saw an unprecedented turnout, with a record number of participants. 🇭🇺 🇭🇺 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/FqzO6nwAKU
Photos and videos published on social media show people marching through the streets waving Hungarian flags and carrying placards with the names of the towns and villages they came from.
This represents the awesome power the Brussels warmongers fear. Budapest is the capital of peace ✌️ Imagine if every European capital held a peace march. The entire, warmongering liberal regime would come crumbling down‼️ pic.twitter.com/4cbNfXQhGF
Orban’s Fidesz party faces a potentially tight race against the pro-EU Tisza party led by Peter Magyar in April 2026.
Magyar held a rally of his own on Thursday, which was also attended by thousands.
Orban has long criticized the EU’s “warmongering” position on Russia, arguing against military aid to Kiev and urging the bloc to engage in diplomacy instead. He recently launched a petition in Hungary against the EU’s “war agenda,” warning that continued support for Kiev risks direct confrontation with Russia.
Hungary welcomed the idea of hosting a summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Budapest. Plans were announced last week by both the Kremlin and White House after a phone call between the two leaders. On Wednesday, however, Washington and Moscow said the summit has been postponed.
Kiev is reportedly seeking a flexible use of the funds, while some EU states want spending limited to European-made weapons
Ukraine has pushed back against EU plans to impose conditions on a proposed multi-billion-euro loan backed by frozen Russian central-bank assets. Reuters sources indicate that the dispute has exposed divisions within the EU over how the money should be spent.
EU officials, who are meeting in Brussels on Thursday, are debating the proposed “reparations loan” worth about €140 billion ($162 billion) for Kiev. The loan would be secured by the Russian assets immobilized by the West after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Under the plan, Kiev would only repay the money if Moscow covers the damages incurred in the conflict. Russia has denounced the proposal as a “theft.”
Kiev insists it must be free to decide how it can use the funds. A senior official told Reuters that the money was needed before year-end, and while Kiev supports cooperation with European defense industries, it “would insist on autonomy in deciding how to allocate resources.”
Some EU nations are pushing to direct most of the money toward the purchase of European-made weapons, while others urge greater flexibility. The European Commission has reportedly proposed a compromise where most of the funds would go to Ukrainian and EU arms purchases, with a smaller share available for Ukraine’s general budget support, including weapons bought outside the bloc.
Bloomberg has reported the US will not join the EU-led initiative, warning that the move could unsettle global markets. Western officials have also cautioned that seizing Russian assets outright – estimated at around $300 billion – would be illegal and undermine the West’s credibility.
Belgium, which holds most of the immobilized assets, has voiced concern over risks to Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearinghouse where the funds are kept. Prime Minister Bart De Wever has set three conditions for backing the loan, one of which is that the potential risks be shared, warning that otherwise he would “do everything” to stop the decision.
Moscow has condemned the freeze and any attempt to repurpose the funds. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has promised a reciprocal response, and President Vladimir Putin has said that the “smarter” governments oppose the seizure of Russian assets.
An open letter signed by 450 Jewish figures urges the UN and world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its actions in Gaza
Hundreds of prominent Jewish figures across the world have called on the UN and global leaders to impose sanctions on Israel over what they describe as “unconscionable” actions in Gaza that they say amount to genocide.
An open letter urging governments to hold Israel accountable for alleged violations of international law in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem garnered more than 450 signatories, including former Israeli officials, intellectuals, and artists. The letter coincides with reports that EU leaders may abandon plans to introduce sanctions against Israel during a summit in Brussels on Thursday.
“We have not forgotten that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust,” the signatories wrote. “Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel.”
The appeal includes former Knesset speaker Avraham Burg, Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, authors Michael Rosen and Naomi Klein, Oscar-winning filmmaker Jonathan Glazer, actors Wallace Shawn and Ilana Glazer, and philosopher Omri Boehm. The group has urged world leaders to enforce International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court rulings, halt arms sales, and impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and entities complicit in alleged crimes.
The petition follows a shift in public opinion among American Jews and voters more broadly. A recent poll by the Washington Post found that 61% of US Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, and 39% say it is committing genocide. A separate Quinnipiac survey in August found that half of US voters hold the same view.
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in response to the Hamas attack in which 1,200 people were killed and 250 others were taken hostage in October 2023. The scale of the Israeli response has elicited widespread condemnation and has prompted a wave of support for the Palestinian people.
Gaza’s Health Ministry has reported at least 68,000 Palestinians killed and more than 170,000 injured over the past two years. The UN has estimated that around 90% of Gaza’s residents have been internally displaced.
