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Morning Headlines
AP News: Trump is set to host Zelenskyy for talks at the White House on Friday, with the U.S. leader signaling he’s not ready to agree to sell Kyiv a long-range missile system that the Ukrainians say they desperately need.
Politico: The European Union is about to use the cash value of €140 billion worth of frozen Russian state assets to finance a mega loan to Ukraine. But the European Commission still wants more, according to a document obtained by POLITICO.
Bloomberg: A shipment of Russian liquefied natural gas arrived at a Chinese terminal for the first time since the UK sanctioned the port facility, underscoring Beijing’s appetite for Moscow’s energy supplies despite Western efforts to curb such trade (archive).
The Kyiv Independent: Explosions have been reported in occupied Donetsk and the Russian city of Sochi amid alleged drone attacks overnight on Oct. 17.
Reuters: A senior Belarusian diplomat has held meetings with Europeans after his country sent out invitations last month, in what European diplomats called an overture to reduce Minsk's isolation after a thaw with Washington under Trump.
ISW: Russian forces are reportedly adapting their long-range drone and missile strike tactics targeting Ukrainian energy infrastructure in an attempt to disrupt the Ukrainian power system on a large scale.
More News
Reuters: Rubio and Lavrov will speak in the coming days to prepare a new summit between Trump and Putin, a Kremlin aide said on Thursday. The official, Yuri Ushakov, said the timing of the summit would depend on how the preparatory work progressed.
Reuters: Canada and Britain have expressed interest in working on the EU idea of a reparations loan for Ukraine based on immobilised Russian assets, European Economic Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Thursday.
The Moscow Times: France has arrested four people in a probe into a suspected plot against an unnamed Russian dissident, anti-terror prosecutors said Thursday.
Reuters: Russia launched a large armoured assault on Thursday with more than 20 armoured vehicles near the eastern Ukrainian town of Dobropillia, Ukraine's Azov brigade said, adding that its forces had repelled the attack.
The Telegraph: Sexual violence, torture and betrayal: Life under Putin’s occupation. Evidence gathered by The Telegraph reveals Russia is using rape as a weapon of war in occupied Ukraine (archive).
CNN: After Alaska summit, US increased intelligence sharing with Ukraine to include information on targets deeper inside Russian territory as part of strategic shift.
Politico: Montenegro wants the EU’s help in fighting Russian disinformation as the Balkan nation moves toward membership of the bloc.
The Kyiv Independent: North Korean soldiers are now helping Moscow direct attacks into Ukraine, Ukraine's General Staff said on Oct. 16. The claim was made in a post on social media which included a video of what it said are North Korean soldiers in Kursk Oblast, Russia, guiding strikes into Ukraine's Sumy Oblast, in what it called the first publicly released evidence of their use to attack Ukraine.
ABC News: A former security guard at the U.S. Embassy in Norway was convicted of espionage Wednesday after a court in Oslo found that he spied for Russia and Iran.
Reuters: Britain is facing an escalating threat from hostile states such as Russia, Iran, and China while the terrorism risk is "huge" with al Qaeda and Islamic State seeking to incite would-be attackers, the UK's domestic spy chief said on Thursday.
Reuters: India's foreign ministry said on Thursday that it was not aware of any telephone conversation between Modi and Trump on Wednesday. Trump earlier said that Modi "assured me today" that India will not be buying oil from Russia.
OCCRP: Three Syrian cargo vessels have been accused of trafficking in grain stolen from Russian-occupied Ukraine. Newly uncovered documents link the Seychelles company behind them to an apparent front for the regime of deposed dictator Bashar Al-Assad.
Reuters: The European Commission on Thursday proposed four flagship European defence projects, including a counter-drone system and a plan to fortify the eastern border, as part of a drive to get the continent ready to defend itself by 2030.
Reuters: The European Parliament's energy committee on Thursday supported proposals to speed up the EU's phase-out of Russian gas by a year. Under the new proposal, imports of natural gas from Russia would be banned from the start of next year, with limited exceptions until January 1, 2027, for contracts that were concluded before June 17, 2025.
The Kyiv Independent: Ukrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov Oblast overnight on Oct. 16, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces has confirmed.
Reuters: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday he would call for the European Union to use Russian assets frozen in the West to provide a 140 billion euro loan to Ukraine to finance its war effort at the upcoming EU summit.
United24 Media: Trump is preparing to launch a “Ukraine Victory Fund” financed by sweeping new tariffs on Chinese imports, The Telegraph reported.
RFE/RL: A former Russian diplomat linked to a sanctions-evasion scandal involving one of the FBI’s top former counter-intelligence agents and a notorious Russian oligarch was set to be sentenced on charges of lying to U.S. law enforcement.
worth mentioning
Inside Ukraine's drone campaign to blitz Russia’s energy industry
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