United 24 Media:
🔹Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev posted an image on X celebrating what seems to be a shift in US strategy toward Russia. [See Photo depicting Russia & America fighting together against U.K. & the rest of Europe 🤯]
🔸 “I don’t trust Putin, and I don’t trust Russia,” Darlene, the sister of Senator Lindsey Graham, said, expressing her disagreement with U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision not to impose “hellish sanctions” on Russia.
“Personally, I would prefer to put pressure on Russia to end the war and lower fuel prices,” she said at a campaign event.
Graham plans to discuss Trump’s decision with the President himself next week, when Trump appears at a rally for his supporters in South Carolina.
❗️Ukraine will not be able to prevail or stand if the US officially takes Russia’s side — President Zelenskyy said that US support for Russia would be a historic mistake and a great tragedy.
🔹 President Zelenskyy held a conversation with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
The parties discussed the outcomes of the meeting between the Ukrainian and American teams in Florida, as well as further diplomatic steps.
Zelenskyy noted that the teams remain in constant contact. Ukraine is also keeping its partners informed about Russian attacks and its air defense needs.
"Peace is achieved only through strength and cooperation built on trust. We are doing everything on our part to ensure this and to help keep America’s position strong, a position that contributes to bringing about the peace that everyone, except Russia, has been awaiting for over four and a half years," Zelenskyy stated.
🔸 Italy’s Defense Minister Guido Crosetto on Russia during a recent BBC interview:
“There is a desire to put back together what Russia was before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Precisely because Russia is not a great power, and Russia does not accept not being a great power, not being on the same level as the United States or China.
Since the global competition is now being fought only between the United States and China, Russia would like to be the third country at the table.”
🔹 Nearly half of the participants at an International Monetary Fund meeting in Bangkok walked out when Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov took the floor, Reuters reports.
Representatives from Ukraine and several European countries staged the walkout to protest Russia’s aggression and attempts to reintegrate Moscow into international financial forums.
The protest took place on October 17 during the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in the Thai capital.
As Siluanov began speaking in Russian, representatives from the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and other countries left the room.
Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, also joined the protest, the British central bank confirmed.
Joachim Nagel, President of the German Bundesbank, said nearly half of the delegates had left the meeting.
“This is a very strong signal of solidarity and commitment to values. It would be best for the global economy if this unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine were to end,” Nagel said.
He added that he was proud of the number of participants who joined the protest.
Andriy Pyshnyy, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine, was among those who walked out.
In an interview with Reuters, Pyshnyy said he makes a point of leaving the room whenever Russian officials speak at international events. He did the same in Bangkok but was surprised by the number of representatives from central banks and financial institutions who joined him.
“I was struck by the number of participants,” Pyshnyy said.
He described the walkout as an important gesture of support for Ukraine.
“For me, it was a truly profound and emotional moment,” the NBU governor said.
Pyshnyy emphasized that the protest sent an important signal to Russia and its allies.
“This unprovoked aggression must be stopped,” he said.
Not all European financial officials joined the walkout. According to two attendees, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde remained in the room.
One European diplomat told Reuters that Russia’s war against Ukraine has existential significance for Europe.
“The war in Ukraine is an existential issue for us in Europe. We cannot normalize relations with Russia,” the diplomat said.
Germany had previously warned against attempts to bring Russia back onto the international stage. Nevertheless, Siluanov attended meetings of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors this year. Just over a month before the Bangkok meeting, he also attended an event in the United States, marking his first in-person participation in a G20 meeting since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The United States, which currently holds the G20 presidency, supports Russian representatives’ participation in such events. US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Erin Brown told Reuters that the administration considers dialogue necessary to resolve conflicts.
“We believe it is very important to maintain an open dialogue if you want to resolve a crisis. You cannot have a dialogue or reach a conflict resolution if no one is talking to anyone,” she said.
Mohammed Al-Jadaan, Saudi Arabia’s finance minister and chair of the International Monetary and Financial Committee, acknowledged that a significant number of delegates had walked out during Siluanov’s remarks.
However, he stressed that participants had still managed to agree on the chair’s concluding statement.
“We came here with a specific objective, and we achieved it. Look at the Chair’s statement: it clearly indicates that all members agreed to the document. That is what matters,” Al-Jadaan said.
🔸 Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov told Vladimir Putin that Russian forces had captured the settlement of Malokaterynivka and advanced to within five kilometers of Zaporizhzhia, a claim rejected by Ukrainian military officials, who say the settlement remains firmly under Ukrainian control.
According to Maksym Kravchuk, public affairs officer of Ukraine’s Southern Group of Forces, on October 18, Ukrainian troops remain present in Malokaterynivka, approximately 12 kilometers from the southern outskirts of Zaporizhzhia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on October 19 that Ukrainian forces were eliminating Russian troops 20 kilometers from Zaporizhzhia, not five kilometers away, as Gerasimov had falsely claimed.
❗️Russia attacked Ukraine overnight with ballistic and cruise missiles and 269 drones. Ukrainian air defenses shot down four cruise missiles and 243 UAVs.
Strikes were recorded at 25 locations, while drone debris fell at eight locations.
🔹 One person was killed and eight others injured in a Russian overnight attack on Kyiv, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reports.
Damage was recorded in at least three city districts.
❗️Russia’s budget deficit exceeds full-year target in just nine months — Foreign Intelligence Service
Russia’s federal budget deficit reached 5.186 trillion rubles ($61.08 billion) from January to September 2026, or 2.2% of GDP. That is 37% higher than the government’s initial deficit target for the entire year.
Russian authorities initially projected a full-year deficit of 3.786 trillion rubles ($44.59 billion), or 1.6% of GDP. In September, they raised the forecast to 7.345 trillion rubles ($86.51 billion), or 3.2% of GDP.