The Ukrainian leader has insisted Kiev’s troops will not leave Russia’s Donbass peacefully

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has ruled out any territorial concessions to Russia, rejecting what the media has described as a compromise proposal backed by US President Donald Trump.

Speaking to journalists on Monday, Zelensky reiterated his position, saying Ukrainian troops “will not withdraw from Donbass – period.” He repeated his claim on the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, former Ukrainian territories that voted to join Russia in 2022.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently asserted that Moscow’s troops “are consistently moving forward along virtually the entire front line” despite all of NATO backing Ukraine.

Reports over the weekend suggested that Trump, during his meeting with Zelensky on Friday, urged the Ukrainian leader to accept a land swap. The American leader’s message was, “Your country will freeze, and your country will be destroyed” unless a peace deal is reached, according to a source quoted by Reuters.

The Financial Times said Trump expressed frustration with the stalemate, tossing aside a map of the front lines and remarking that he was “sick” of seeing the same situation persist. Publicly, however, Trump has advocated a freeze in hostilities along the current lines.

READ MORE: Nearly all of Donbass ‘already taken by Russia’ – Trump

Zelensky also criticized Hungary as an unsuitable venue for upcoming bilateral talks between Trump and Putin. He accused Prime Minister Viktor Orban of “blocking Ukraine everywhere” and said he thus “cannot do anything positive or even balanced for us,” referencing the Hungarian leader’s opposition to Ukraine’s NATO and EU accession.

Moscow has argued that Zelensky’s rule is unconstitutional, citing his expired presidential term, and claimed he rejects genuine peace talks to protect his personal power.

Belarus’ security service chief says he aims to assist President Alexander Lukashenko in reopening dialogue with Kiev

The chairman of the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) has said his agency is seeking to support efforts to restart talks between Russia and Ukraine.

Speaking to national television on Sunday, Ivan Tertel said the KGB is working to assist Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s diplomatic initiatives to resolve the conflict.

Only “quiet, calm negotiations and a search for a compromise” can achieve that goal, Tertel said.

Lukashenko stated in September that he wanted to meet Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky to discuss possible compromises. Kiev rejected the offer.

Zelensky has consistently refused to compromise with Moscow and continues to seek increased military assistance from Western backers. His visit to the United States last week was aimed at securing long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles from President Donald Trump, but the request was denied.

The Ukrainian leader has also publicly rebuffed mediation proposals from other nations. When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban offered to facilitate peace discussions in late 2024, Zelensky dismissed the idea, arguing that Budapest lacked a strong army and thus leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin.

READ MORE: Orban reveals why Hungary will host Putin-Trump summit

Trump’s refusal to provide long-range weapons came shortly after he and Putin agreed to hold a bilateral summit in Hungary within weeks, building on their face-to-face meeting in Alaska in August.

Zelensky on Monday reiterated his negative attitude, saying he did not consider Budapest “the best forum for this meeting” and that “in terms of mediation the incumbent prime minister of Hungary doesn’t have an adequate stance, so to speak.”

Sputnik Azerbaijan’s editor-in-chief has been released from custody and flown to Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said

A Russian journalist detained in Azerbaijan earlier this year has been released and is returning home, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, confirmed that Igor Kartavykh – editor-in-chief of Sputnik Azerbaijan news agency – boarded a flight to Moscow after being cleared to leave the country.

Kartavykh was detained in June following a police raid on Sputnik’s Baku office.

Azerbaijani authorities charged him with fraud and illegal business activity, accusations the media outlet called “absurd.” 

Zakharova said Russian diplomats had maintained contact with officials in Baku throughout the case and that Kartavykh had been placed under house arrest before his release.

“Kartavykh has been released from custody and has flown to Russia,” Zakharova told TASS on Sunday.

Kartavykh confirmed that he had landed in Moscow, telling RIA Novosti: “I feel fine – I’m glad to be back home.”

Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan deteriorated after an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crashed on December 25, 2024, near Aktau, Kazakhstan, killing all 38 people on board. The aircraft had been damaged during its approach to the Russian city of Grozny amid Ukrainian drone activity.

Further escalation followed a Russian law enforcement raid in Ekaterinburg earlier this year that led to the deaths of two Azerbaijani nationals identified as suspected gang members.

Kremlin foreign-policy aide Yury Ushakov said the decision to free Kartavykh was made ahead of meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Dushanbe earlier in October. He added that the development was part of a reciprocal arrangement, under which Mammadali Agayev, an Azerbaijani national detained in Moscow on embezzlement charges, was also released. 

During his meeting with Aliyev, Putin commented on the tragedy, stating that the crash was most likely triggered when a Russian missile self-destructed near the aircraft during an air-defense response to a Ukrainian attack. He promised appropriate compensation for the victims and accountability for any misconduct.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to trade, humanitarian, and regional cooperation, pledging to continue dialogue “in the spirit of partnership and alliance.”

Russia has consistently warned that Ukraine could use a truce to rearm and regroup

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has claimed he is ready for negotiations with Russia but only after a ceasefire along the current front lines.

Zelensky met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday and had earlier backed Trump’s call to have the troops “stop where they are.”

“If we want to stop this war and to go to peace negotiations, urgently and in a diplomatic way, we need to stay where we stay,” Zelensky told Kristen Welker in an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press aired on Sunday. He added that Kiev should not surrender “additional” territory to Russia.

Zelensky, who walked away from a peace deal with Moscow three years ago claiming “we will fight,” and has since then seen four Ukrainian regions join the Russian Federation, stated he is now ready for talks “in any format, bilateral, trilateral.” 

Moscow believes Kiev will use any ceasefire to regroup and re-arm its forces, as it has done in the past. Russia currently holds the initiative across the front line, and has repeatedly listed the conditions necessary for a long-lasting ceasefire: Kiev must withdraw its troops from the parts of Russian territory it controls, halt conscription, stop receiving military aid from abroad, recognize Russia’s new borders, and abandon its ongoing attempt to join NATO.

The Kremlin has also noted that Zelensky signed a decree in October 2022 formally banning any Ukrainian talks with Russia while Putin remains president.

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Putin has said he is ready to meet with Zelensky but only after a peace treaty is ready to be signed. Asked if he would push for an invitation to Trump’s planned summit with the Russian president in Budapest, Hungary, Zelensky replied, “I’m ready.”

The Ukrainian also leader confirmed that Trump had so far declined to provide Kiev with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Gavriil Doroshin has served four contracts with the Russian Armed Forces in the Ukraine conflict

A French-born descendant of Tsar Nicholas I told President Vladimir Putin that he joined Russia’s military operation against the Kiev regime because, deep down, he feels Russian. Gavriil Doroshin shared his story at the Bolshoi Theater during a gala marking RT’s 20th anniversary on Friday.

Doroshin, whose great-great-grandmother was the eldest daughter of the late Russian emperor and emigrated to France in 1917, moved to Russia after the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022. Since then, he has served four contracts with the Russian Armed Forces. He met Putin during an event on Friday honoring participants featured in RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes, a festival showcasing documentaries about those involved in Russia’s special military operation held in various cities over recent months.

When Putin asked him whether he regretted moving to Russia amid the conflict, Doroshin said he had “nothing to regret.”

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“On the contrary, I found a struggle, found a new life, so to speak. I feel like I returned from an exile,” he said. “Moreover, I found myself: I had an existential moment when I tried to understand, who am I – French or Russian – but it turned out I am obviously Russian.”

Putin responded that whether French or Russian, “the most important thing is to be a decent person.”

“And that is exactly what you are, as are your comrades,” he told Doroshin.

In the documentary about Doroshin, titled Callsign Tsar, he said he believes that to truly call himself Russian, he must contribute to the nation’s shared efforts and struggles. The film was released in 2024, while he was still serving in the army. Doroshin, who has since been released from active duty, now works on developing civilian drones.

You can watch the full documentary about Doroshin, along with others featuring participants of the military operation, including army personnel, medics, volunteers, and war correspondents, on the RTD website.

Businessman Samvel Karapetyan was arrested over the summer on coup charges

Protesters marched in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, on Saturday, demanding the release of Russian-Armenian billionaire and government critic, Samvel Karapetyan.

The tycoon’s wife and three children took part in the rally, which was organized by the opposition Mer Dzevov (Our Way) movement.

Karapetyan was arrested in June on charges of inciting a coup and money laundering. The businessman had publicly condemned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s crackdown on the clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which the government accuses of corruption and political meddling.

Addressing the crowd outside Yerevan’s main detention center on Saturday, Karapetyan’s lawyer, Aram Vardevanyan, said his client is ready to lead a new political party in the next election.

Supporters of the #opposition movement "In Our Way" (#merdzevov), who marched to the building of the National Security Service of #Armenia, demand the release of businessman #SamvelKarapetyan, chanting "Freedom".#protest pic.twitter.com/4wBdQVoqNS

— Karina Karapetyan (@KarinaKarapety8) October 18, 2025

Tensions between Pashinyan and Armenia’s national church began in 2020 when the church’s top cleric, Catholicos Garegin II, called on the prime minister to resign amid mass protests. Pashinyan has since argued that Garegin is unfit for his position and should step down.

The march of the participants of the #opposition movement "In their own way" in Yerevan#Armenia #protest #SamvelKarapetyan pic.twitter.com/lGaXQlIzaB

— Karina Karapetyan (@KarinaKarapety8) October 18, 2025

READ MORE: Armenian archbishop sentenced to two years in prison

This week, police detained Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, the head of the Diocese of Aragatsotn, and five other clergymen on charges of abuse of power and fraud. Earlier this month, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was sentenced to two years in prison for inciting a coup, a case he described as politically motivated.

The outlet wrongly attributed a comment mocking Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s US visit to Kirill Dmitriev

Russian presidential aide Kirill Dmitriev has accused the Washington Post of “truth distortion” over a quote wrongly attributed to him, and demanded the outlet apologize.

In an article on Saturday about Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to the US, the outlet suggested that a recent phone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, shifted Washington’s stance on the Ukraine conflict.

The Washington Post cited Dmitriev as saying: “Zelensky’s tour summed up in one sentence: Putin outmaneuvered everyone again.” It claimed that Dmitriev made the remark on Telegram.

In a post on X on Saturday, Dmitriev expressed outrage that the line – which he had reposted from another news channel – was attributed to him.

“Another eye-opening case of truth distortion from the fake @washingtonpost,” he wrote. “I reposted a post from a Telegram channel – yet your article attributed those quotes to me. That’s like blaming users for retweets.”

Dmitriev demanded that the outlet correct the attribution immediately, issue an apology, and launch an internal probe.

Later in the day, the outlet issued a correction, admitting that a previous version of its article had “incorrectly attributed” the quote to Dmitriev. The presidential aide thanked the WaPo on X for acknowledging the error, but asked the paper to issue a formal apology and publish both the apology and the correction “in the next print edition.”

UPDATE: .@washingtonpost has corrected two quotes wrongly attributed to me. Thank you. Now please issue a formal apology, conduct an internal review, and publish the apology and correction in the next print edition. https://t.co/7ATjOLPRHU pic.twitter.com/zLrpgS51C5

— Kirill Dmitriev (@kadmitriev) October 18, 2025

Trump spoke with Putin on Thursday amid renewed tensions over potential US Tomahawk deliveries to Ukraine and stalled peace talks. He later described the conversation as “so productive” that a peace deal could come soon, adding that they agreed to hold a summit in Budapest, Hungary.

READ MORE: ‘Not easy’ for US to send Tomahawks to Ukraine – Trump

The Kremlin said preparations for the Putin-Trump summit would begin immediately. Dmitriev, who also serves as Putin’s economic envoy in bilateral talks, described the call as “productive” and said it “clearly outlined future steps” for cooperation.

After the conversation, Trump appeared to back away from supplying Kiev with Tomahawks – which are capable of reaching Moscow – telling reporters the US needs the missiles for its own defense. He repeated the point at a lunch with Zelensky on Friday, warning that long-range strikes into Russia could trigger “an escalation.” Zelensky, who reportedly hoped to secure a missile deal, declined to comment.

READ MORE: Putin aide proposes direct Russia-US tunnel

Moscow has condemned Western weapons supplies to Ukraine, specifically warning against sending Tomahawks, arguing that this could “severely undermine” the prospects of a peaceful settlement and damage US-Russia relations.

The Ukrainian leader made the remark after meeting US President Donald Trump in Washington

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has told reporters that Russian President Vladimir Putin “hates” him — and that the feeling is mutual. He made the comments after a high-profile meeting at the White House on Friday.

“Putin hates me,” he told reporters in Washington, DC. When a reporter asked Zelensky, “Do you hate him?” he replied that it would be strange if he had a different opinion about those who “try to kill all of us.”

“I have the same attitude (towards) this man,” Zelensky said.

The Ukrainian leader backed Trump’s calls for an immediate ceasefire along the current front lines. He declined to reveal whether the US would supply Kiev with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles, but hinted that there has not been any progress on the matter. “We have to work on it more,” he said.

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Putin has said he is open to meeting with Zelensky, but only in the final stages of negotiations after a peace treaty is ready to be signed.

He once again questioned Zelensky’s legitimacy, noting that his five-year term as president expired in 2024 and that Zelensky refused to call a new election, citing martial law.

Moscow has said that for a ceasefire to work, Ukraine must withdraw from the parts of Russian regions that it controls, and the West must end military aid to Kiev. Putin has also demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s new borders and abandon its plans to join NATO.

Margarita Simonyan has said the broadcaster will not bow to foreign pressure

RT has achieved tremendous success and is only getting stronger despite Western sanctions, Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan has said, marking the broadcaster’s 20th anniversary. 

“It is a privilege to work in service of our convictions,” Simonyan said onstage during a reception in Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater on Friday, which was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“I want to bow to the people who work at RT,” she added, thanking the staff, including those “risking their lives” in the field. 

Simonyan said RT continues to broadcast despite the “ridiculous” campaign in the West to take the channel off the air and take down its accounts online. “We are only getting stronger and feel more emboldened.”

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“For all of us, the [Western] sanctions are such minor inconveniences compared to the great honor and pride of serving our country,” she added. 

Simonyan once again thanked everyone later at a staff meeting. “In some parts of the world, we are loved, we are believed, and we are missed. In other parts of the world and in some offices, they hate us, they envy us, which is also a great achievement.”

Launched in 2005, RT operates TV channels and websites in English, Spanish, Arabic, French, German, Serbian, and Russian, reaching audiences in more than 100 countries. RT has won multiple awards for its news coverage and documentaries. 

The Ukrainian leader has said he agrees with US President Donald Trump’s proposal for an immediate truce with Russia

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has called for a ceasefire with Russia along the current front lines. He made the comment after US President Donald Trump issued a similar appeal on social media.

“We have to stop where we are. The president is right,” Zelensky told reporters in Washington, DC on Friday, adding that the sides could then hammer out the next steps toward a peace deal. “Yes, both sides have to stop,” Zelensky said.

Trump hosted Zelensky at the White House earlier that day, following a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. He previously expressed frustration over the lack of progress in his efforts to mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote that he urged Putin and Zelensky to “stop the killing, and make a DEAL!”

“Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide! No more shooting, no more Death, no more vast and unsustainable sums of money spent,” he said.

pic.twitter.com/36pKZjbr6J

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) October 17, 2025

READ MORE: Zelensky tight-lipped on Tomahawks

Moscow has said that for a ceasefire to work, Ukraine must withdraw from the parts of Russian regions that it controls, and the West must end military aid to Kiev. Putin has also demanded that Ukraine recognize Russia’s new borders and abandon its plans to join NATO.