US President Trump is calling for an immediate ceasefire on the current front in the Ukraine war. Moscow is rejecting this and continues to insist on far-reaching territorial concessions. The direct meeting between Trump and Putin in Budapest is also moving further away. More in the live ticker.
Ukraine and several EU heads of government, including Chancellor Merz, support Trump's call to begin negotiations with Russia on the basis of the current front line. In a joint statement, they called for an immediate ceasefire.
All events surrounding the war in Ukraine and security policy in Europe in the live ticker:
19:49 – Insider: Russia confirms claim to entire Donbas in “non-paper”
In an unofficial message to the US, Russia confirms its current conditions for a peace agreement. This is according to a so-called non-paper that was sent to the US government over the weekend, according to two US government officials and a person familiar with the situation. In the letter, Russia demands control over the entire Donbass region. With this, the government in Moscow is opposing the view expressed by US President Trump that the front lines should be frozen at their current course and mark the boundaries of the spheres of influence. Furthermore, Russia reiterates its demand in the letter that no NATO troops should be stationed in Ukraine as part of a peace agreement, says one of the government officials.
6:22 p.m. – US official: No meeting between Trump and Putin soon
According to US sources, there will not be a meeting between US President Trump and Russian President Putin soon. This is not expected in the"immediate future," a US official said in Washington on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov were originally scheduled to meet this week to prepare for the summit in Budapest. However, following a"productive" phone call between Rubio and Lavrov on Monday, this is no longer necessary, according to a Washington statement. Furthermore, there are"no plans for a meeting between President Trump and President Putin in the immediate future," emphasized the US official, who wished to remain anonymous. The Kremlin stated that there was no precise timeframe for the meeting.
2:45 p.m. – Poland warns Putin against using its airspace for meetings with Trump
Poland has warned Russian President Vladimir Putin against traveling through Polish airspace to meet with US President Donald Trump in Hungary. Poland could then be forced to execute the international arrest warrant against Putin, the government in Warsaw said on Tuesday.
"I cannot guarantee that an independent Polish court will not order the government to escort such a plane down to hand over the suspect to the court in The Hague," Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told Radio Rodzina regarding a possible overflight of the Russian presidential plane with Putin on board."And that is why, if this summit should take place, hopefully with the participation of the victims of the aggression, the plane will take a different route," Sikorski said.
Bulgaria, however, like Poland, an EU and NATO member, is potentially willing to allow the Russian presidential plane to pass through unhindered, according to its Foreign Minister Georg Georgiev, should the planned summit take place in Hungary."If the prerequisite is a meeting, then the most logical thing is to facilitate such a meeting by any possible means," the Bulgarian news agency BTA quoted Georgiev as saying. However, according to his ministry, no flight request has yet been received from Russia.
2:39 p.m. – After Trump’s demand: Moscow does not want to freeze the front
Contrary to what US President Donald Trump has suggested, Russia does not intend to stop fighting on the current front line in the Ukraine war."To stop just like that would mean forgetting the root causes of this conflict," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.
It also means"that a huge part of Ukraine remains under the rule of a Nazi regime," the minister said. Russian propaganda repeatedly claims that there is a right-wing government in Ukraine. Overthrowing the government in Kyiv is one of Moscow's declared war aims.
The idea of an immediate ceasefire is also contrary to the agreements the Russian-American summit in Alaska", Lavrov said. Trump and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin met there in August to seek a peace solution to the war in Ukraine – but without tangible results.
12:20 p.m. – Ukraine and EU allies support negotiations with front line as “starting point”
Ukraine and several EU heads of state and government have supported US President Donald Trump's call for negotiations with Russia based on the current front line. The current front line in Ukraine should be the"starting point" for negotiations, according to a joint statement on Tuesday, which was also signed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. They"strongly" supported Trump's position that the fighting should end "immediately."
The heads of state and government added that they remained “committed to the principle that international borders must not be shifted by force.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, the heads of government of Italy and Denmark, Giorgia Meloni and Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Ministers of Poland and Norway, Donald Tusk and Jonas Störe, as well as EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President António Costa also signed the declaration. .
10:48 a.m. – Poland’s secret service arrests eight suspected saboteurs
Poland's intelligence agency has arrested eight people on suspicion of planned sabotage. The suspects were arrested in various parts of the country in recent days, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced on X.
According to intelligence coordinator Tomasz Siemoniak, the suspects are said to have scouted military facilities and parts of the critical infrastructure. They also prepared means to carry out acts of sabotage and attacks.
Poland is one of the most important political and military supporters of Ukraine, which has been attacked by Russia. The government in Warsaw accuses the intelligence services of Russia and its ally Belarus of sending numerous agents into the country and recruiting saboteurs. The spokesperson for the intelligence coordinator said that in the past few months alone, 55 people have been arrested for acting on behalf of Russian intelligence services to the detriment of Poland. Russia was initially not publicly held responsible for the current case.
09:40 – Europeans and Ukraine for use of frozen Russian assets
Several European countries, as well as Ukraine, have called for the use of Russian state assets frozen in the West for Ukraine in a joint statement."We strongly support President Trump's position that the fighting should cease immediately and that the current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations," the statement released by the British government on Tuesday also said in response to Trump's proposals."We must increase the pressure on the Russian economy and the arms industry until Putin is ready to make peace."
Referring to the Russian assets frozen, especially in Belgium, the statement states that a mechanism is being developed to make this money available to Ukraine. The statement is signed by, among others, the heads of state and government of Great Britain, France, Germany, Ukraine, and the European Union. They will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week, both at the EU summit and at a meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing.
09:02 – Russia: Lavrov’s meeting with Rubio needs preparation
Following the agreement between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet in Budapest, there are increasing signs that the meeting will be delayed. According to a report by the RIA news agency, the Russian Foreign Ministry is indicating that the preparatory meeting between Foreign Ministers Marco Rubio and Sergei Lavrov could be delayed. Preparations are necessary for a meeting with Rubio, says Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, according to RIA.
Rubio and Lavrov spoke by phone on Monday. This conversation is now being followed up, Ryabkov explained. However, a meeting between the two ministers was not specifically discussed. Regarding reports that Rubio's meeting with Lavrov had been postponed, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that nothing could be postponed that had not been agreed upon. The preparatory meeting between the two foreign ministers was considered a key step toward a meeting between Trump and Putin.
09:02 – Russia’s shadow fleet worries EU
The so-called Russian shadow fleet, which circumvents international oil sanctions, is a growing concern for the EU. According to an internal analysis, the size of the fleet is now estimated at 600 to 1,400 tankers. Moscow has been trying for years to circumvent a price cap on Russian oil introduced by Western backers of Ukraine.
"These ships not only contribute to the Russian war economy, but also pose a significant threat to the environment and maritime safety," warn experts from EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas in a letter to a foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg. They also emphasize that the ships could be used as platforms for launching drones for jamming or espionage attacks.
05:20 – Trump does not believe in Ukraine’s victory
The US President doesn't believe Ukraine will win the war against the Russian aggressors—but he hasn't completely ruled it out either. Trump was asked about his statement about a month ago that Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, might be able to reclaim the territories occupied by Russia.
Now, when asked about it, he said:"They might still win. I don't think they will—but they still might. I never said they would win, I said they might win." War is "a very strange thing," he continued."A lot of bad things happen. A lot of good things happen."
02:46 – Russia’s intelligence chief warns
According to a media report, the head of the Russian foreign intelligence service SVR, Sergei Naryshkin, describes global security as more fragile than at any time since World War II. To avoid a new global conflict, Naryshkin says a willingness to compromise is necessary, according to the RIA news agency.
00:29 – Attacks on power plants in the north
According to authorities, a Russian airstrike has paralyzed the power supply in parts of the northern Ukrainian border region of Chernihiv. The city of Slavutych in the Kyiv region, near the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, was also affected. The local energy supplier, Chernihivoblenergo, reported that a power plant was targeted. The mayor of Slavutych, Yuri Fomitchev, told Telegram that part of the city was without power. Authorities in the Kharkiv region also reported power outages.
Monday, October 20:
9:19 PM – Insider: Selenskyj will attend the EU summit on Thursday
Zelensky will travel to Brussels on Thursday to attend a European Council summit, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. According to previous EU statements, the meeting will address, among other things, support for Ukraine and European defense issues.
5:10 PM – Frozen front line – Kremlin reacts to Trump’s proposal
To end the fighting in Ukraine, US President Donald Trump believes the front line should be frozen, even if that means dividing the eastern Donbas region. Russia and Ukraine should each remain where their troops are currently located; anything further would be"very difficult to negotiate," Trump told journalists on a flight on his government plane. He argued that the Donbas should be divided along the front line. Russia controls most of the eastern Ukrainian region.
Such a proposal, which Russia has also already made and specified conditions for, could be discussed at the upcoming summit between Trump and Kremlin President Vladimir Putin in Budapest. However, the Kremlin still sees some clarification needed."There is still a lot of work to be done," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Russian state news agency Tass. Above all, the foreign ministries of both countries must now clarify a number of outstanding issues.
3:05 p.m. – Selenskyj criticizes Budapest as planned summit venue
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has criticized Budapest as a possible location for the next meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin."We are talking about peace in Ukraine, not the elections in Hungary," he said, referring to host Viktor Orbán, who is seeking to become prime minister again after next year's parliamentary elections."I don't believe that a prime minister who blocks Ukraine everywhere can achieve anything positive for the Ukrainians, or at least something balanced," Zelenskyy told the Interfax-Ukraina news agency.
"I don't think Budapest is the best place for this meeting," Zelenskyy said. In his view, Orbán doesn't have the right attitude as a mediator in the conflict. But if it serves peace, the location of the meeting doesn't matter, he said. At the same time, Zelenskyy named Switzerland, the Vatican, Turkey, and other countries as better options.
2:20 p.m. – Possible entry restrictions for young men from Ukraine?
In light of the increasing number of young men from Ukraine seeking protection, CSU leader Markus Söder is suggesting entry restrictions. Following a party executive committee meeting in Munich, Söder pointed out that following the recent relaxation of Ukrainian exit regulations,"a great many young men, in particular, are considering coming to Germany, to the whole of Europe." It is necessary "to effectively restrict this access here as well." He added that the young men should fulfill their military service in Ukraine and protect and defend their country.
2:10 p.m. – Talk between Lavrov and Rubio planned
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his US counterpart Marco Rubio will speak by phone soon, according to a report by the Russian state news agency RIA. Officials from both sides will hold talks in the coming days to prepare for another meeting between Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. Ryabkov did not specify the timing of the meeting. Trump recently stated that he would likely meet with Putin soon in the Hungarian capital, Budapest. A date for the meeting has not been announced.
1:26 p.m. – Ukraine reports casualties after attacks
Russian attacks in Ukraine have left one civilian dead and several injured, as well as causing extensive infrastructure damage. A 71-year-old man was killed in the Kharkiv region in the northeast of the country, Governor Oleh Synyehubov announced on Telegram. An 11-year-old girl was among the five injured, he wrote. In addition to drones, Russia also used guided aerial bombs in its attacks.
12:43 p.m. – Russia defends choice of location for Putin-Trump meeting
The Russian government is justifying the controversial choice of Budapest as the venue for the planned meeting between President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump within the EU. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a good relationship with both sides, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Orban maintains"quite cordial relations with President Trump and very constructive relations with President Putin." This contributed significantly to the agreement on the Hungarian capital as the meeting place, which was reached during the recent telephone conversation between Putin and Trump. The national conservative Orban has repeatedly criticized Western support for Ukraine. He also maintains that Russia has already won the war. Hungary, an EU and NATO member, borders Ukraine.
12:29 p.m. – Russia reports further advance in eastern Ukraine
According to the government, Russian forces are continuing to advance in eastern Ukraine. The Defense Ministry reports that the village of Molodetske in the Donetsk region has recently been captured.
10:56 a.m. – Reiche welcomes EU exit from Russian gas
German Economics Minister Katherina Reiche (CDU) welcomed the EU's plans for a complete withdrawal from Russian gas supplies."We want to make a significant cut so that Putin can no longer finance his war with energy and raw material supplies," Reiche said on Monday at a meeting of EU energy ministers in Luxembourg. By the end of 2027 at the latest, neither pipeline gas nor liquefied natural gas from Russia will flow into the EU.
10:42 a.m. – Merz urges haste for new military conscription
CDU leader Friedrich Merz has called for a swift agreement between the conservative-red coalition on the issue of conscription."Something like this must not happen again, because this dispute obscures what the federal government has rightly already initiated in recent months," the chancellor said after the CDU executive committee meeting. He said he had a lengthy telephone conversation with Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) on Sunday evening and agreed"that we will meet in the next few days to resolve this issue."
10:01 a.m. – Trump-Putin meeting in Budapest? France sets conditions
France believes Russian President Vladimir Putin should only enter the EU if he is willing to sign an unconditional ceasefire. An exchange between the US and Russia would be useful, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot before a meeting with his EU counterparts in Luxembourg."However, Vladimir Putin's announced visit to the European Union only makes sense if it leads to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire."
09:50 – Ukraine wants to buy 25 Patriot systems
According to President Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine is preparing a contract to purchase 25 Patriot systems. The air defense systems are to be delivered over a period of several years, Zelensky told the press on Sunday. However, the statements were not allowed to be made public until Monday.
Ukraine intends to lobby European countries for preferential treatment. Zelenskyy has agreed to travel to Budapest for a planned meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, should his presence be requested.
06:23 – Trump calls for freezing the front line in Ukraine
According to US President Trump, the front line should be frozen—including a resulting division of the eastern Donbass region. Russia and Ukraine should each remain where their troops are currently located; anything further would be"very difficult to negotiate," Trump said on Air Force One. The Donbass should be divided along the front line, he argued. Trump further stated that the warring parties could"negotiate later."
04:02 – Meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on Ukraine
EU foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Monday to discuss the war in Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, and the Middle East (9:15 a.m. CEST). Among other things, they will address how the EU can support the peace process in the Gaza Strip and assist in the reconstruction of the Palestinian territories. Regarding Ukraine, they will also address security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a ceasefire and the country's accession to the EU. They will also discuss the 19th sanctions package against Russia, which is currently stuck in the Council. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha will participate in the meeting.
3:00 a.m. – Deaths after drone attack in Belgorod
According to authorities, two people were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the western Russian border region of Belgorod.
00:03 – Trump is said to have asked Selensky to cede territory
According to insiders, US President Trump pressured Zelensky to cede parts of his territory to Russia at the meeting on Friday. The meeting was a clear disappointment for the Ukrainian delegation, two people familiar with the talks told Reuters on Sunday. Trump also refused to supply Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine. Instead, he talked about providing security guarantees to both Kyiv and Moscow, which the Ukrainian delegation found confusing. No comment was immediately available from the White House or the Ukrainian presidential office.
After the meeting, Trump called for a ceasefire along the current front lines. Zelensky endorsed this position in statements to reporters. A third insider said Trump made this suggestion during the meeting after Zelensky declared he would not voluntarily cede territory to Russia."It was pretty nasty," one of the insiders said. Trump's message to Zelensky was:"Your country will freeze and your country will be destroyed if Ukraine does not reach an agreement with Russia." Trump also used foul language several times during the meeting.
According to two insiders, there was the impression that Trump was influenced by a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. During this conversation, according to the Washington Post, Putin proposed a territorial swap. According to this, Ukraine would cede the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and receive small parts of Zaporizhia and Kherson in return. One of the insiders said that US representatives had proposed exactly this to Zelensky on Friday. However, the Ukrainians see great strategic value in the parts of Donetsk and Luhansk they still hold. They believe a cession would make the rest of Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian offensives.
