United 24 Media:
🔹 Attacks in the Middle East Drive Up Oil Prices
Oil prices rose on October 20, nearing a five-month high as traders priced in a geopolitical risk premium amid Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and reports of attacks on vessels in the Persian Gulf.
Brent crude futures rose 55 cents, or 0.50%, to $110.10 a barrel after reaching $110.70 in the previous session, the highest level since May 20.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures for November delivery climbed 0.24% to $103.91 a barrel.
🔸 “No one is clinging to their seat”: President Zelenskyy says elections are not the priority right now.
Ukraine must end the war and return to normal life, Zelenskyy said in an interview with Corriere della Sera.
“Right now, this is not the main issue concerning our society. We must end the war and return to normal life. Elections will take place, and it must be possible for soldiers at the front, Ukrainians abroad, and those within the country to cast their votes. But how can one organize open and democratic elections, with Western observers present, while under fire from drones and missiles? I don’t believe that is possible.”
Zelenskyy emphasized that Ukrainians themselves must decide when to hold elections and whom to elect, in accordance with the law.
“No one is clinging to their seat. We must defend the state—each of us in our own role—in accordance with the law and the Constitution,” he said.
He explained that this means soldiers must remain at the front while everyone else must work and pay taxes. Otherwise, Ukraine risks surrendering the country and losing its independence.
🔹 President Zelenskyy arrives in Norway
“Important meetings are planned: a trilateral meeting with Gahr Støre and Stubb, a bilateral meeting with Witkoff, as well as a four-party meeting. I will also have an audience with King Haakon VIII of Norway and meet with the Storting.
“We are maintaining all contacts that could contribute to peace. We will also discuss strengthening our air defense and joint production,” the President announced.
🤦♂️“It is important to us that negotiations on behalf of Ukraine be conducted by a legitimate representative of the authorities, someone prepared to take responsibility and make the necessary decisions to end the conflict,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.
“We hope a meeting can be arranged in the very near future, allowing American negotiators, such as Mr. Witkoff, to brief Putin on their discussions with both the Ukrainians and the Europeans in Oslo,” he added.
Peskov also said Moscow looked forward to continuing talks with Washington on a range of significant issues.
“We consistently view such meetings as vital. They are always timely and highly substantive, and we deeply value the mediation efforts of the American negotiators,” he said.
🇺🇦🇳🇴 In Oslo, President Zelenskyy discussed the return of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia with King Haakon VIII of Norway.
“We must bring back every single Ukrainian child. We discussed the steps that can be taken to achieve this. We are making every possible effort to help our people in Oleshky, which is currently under Russian occupation. The situation there is simply horrific,” the President said.
🇵🇱 Polish border guards detained 15 Russian and Belarusian athletes who arrived in Bielsko-Biała for a world karate championship on tourist visas.
An inspection found that their stated purpose of entry did not match their participation in a sporting event. According to the Border Guard, the group included 11 Belarusians and four Russians. All 15 were ordered to leave Poland within eight days.
The championship organizers had previously been warned of attempts by Russian and Belarusian athletes to circumvent the participation ban imposed by the World Karate Federation and Poland’s Ministry of Sport.
🔸 “We have clear ideas and an understanding of how to achieve peace. We will convey these ideas to the Russians through the Americans,” President Zelenskyy said after talks in Oslo.
🔹 President Zelenskyy during a press conference in Oslo:
“Of course, we are not losing this war, but we are losing people and time.
It’s a pity because our children don’t have a real childhood.”
🔸 Witkoff will travel to Russia tomorrow to meet with Putin, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre announced at a press conference following talks in Oslo.
One of the proposals Witkoff is expected to present to Putin concerns a trilateral meeting of the leaders.
❗️The U.S. has promised Ukraine robust security guarantees on par with NATO’s Article 5, Zelenskyy said.
Witkoff is set to travel to St. Petersburg tomorrow to present the proposals to Putin.
“We discussed various proposals, including NATO and, incidentally, Article 5. Steve will share them with the Russians, and we should hear back within a day,” the president said.
⚡️ Europe must be involved in the negotiations because the war is taking place on the European continent, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.
🔸 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:
“The West will never again be the main player calling the tune.
The world has turned in a different direction.”
🇮🇹 Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said the unrest that broke out over the weekend in Milan and other parts of the country was the result of a “hybrid war” against the West.
“The West has not yet realized this, nor has it taken any significant countermeasures,” Crosetto added.
He said young people were being influenced through social media, motivating them to take part in the unrest.
🔹 Five Ukrainian mine-countermeasure vessels have completed the seven-day Lion Protector exercise off the coast of the United Kingdom.
The maneuvers involved the British Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless.
The Ukrainian vessels included the Sandown-class Chernihiv and Cherkasy, transferred by the United Kingdom, and the Alkmaar-class Henichesk, Mariupol, and Melitopol, received from the Netherlands and Belgium.
Under the guidance of British instructors, the crews practiced artillery self-defense, detecting and neutralizing naval mines using unmanned systems, and maneuvering together as part of a naval task group.
🔸 Almost 46,000 foreign nationals from 151 countries have signed contracts with the Russian army since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, according to Dmytro Usov, secretary of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
“In the first nine months of 2026 alone, 16,168 foreign nationals signed contracts, more than in all of 2025.
The largest numbers of recruits came from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Belarus, while recruitment is increasing in Africa and Latin America,” the My-Ukraina TV channel quoted Usov as saying.
🔹 Russia is using AI chatbots to spread propaganda, according to a study by the Global Disinformation Index (GDI).
To do so, Russian sources are flooding the internet with websites optimized for large language models.
The GDI tested Claude Sonnet 5 and Mistral Large using queries about events covered exclusively by Russian sources. Both models echoed Russian claims in 70% of their responses. Mistral presented these claims as facts in 48% of cases, compared with 28% for Claude. Meanwhile, 60% of Claude’s responses included disclaimers or refutations, compared with just 20% of Mistral’s.
The spread of Russian propaganda is further facilitated by user behavior: only 1% of chatbot users click through to the original sources.
🔸 US presidential envoy Witkoff has arrived in St. Petersburg, Russia, where he is scheduled to meet with Putin.
At Pulkovo Airport, Witkoff was greeted by Dmitriev, the Kremlin leader’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation.
Putin aide Ushakov told journalists that the war against Ukraine would be the main topic of the talks. Another envoy, Jared Kushner, did not travel to Russia because of illness, Ushakov added.
🇭🇺🇺🇦 In Hungary, mayors of cities with sister-city ties to Ukrainian towns have issued an open letter pledging to help Ukraine prepare for a difficult winter.
“We pledge, to the best of our ability, to utilize all available resources to support our respective partner communities in Ukraine, with a particular focus on preparations for the approaching winter and addressing the most urgent humanitarian needs of the population,” the letter states.
The letter was signed by the mayors of Szeged, Székesfehérvár, Érd, Gödöllő, Hódmezővásárhely, Szombathely, and Budaörs, as well as the mayors of four districts of Budapest.
🔹 Starting November 1, Montenegro will end visa-free entry for Russian citizens after years of unrestricted access.
The country is gradually aligning its visa rules with EU standards. Until October 31, Russian citizens can enter Montenegro without a visa and stay for up to 30 days.
From November, visas will also be required for citizens of Belarus, China, Saudi Arabia, and Türkiye.
Montenegro’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also developing an online visa application system, though its launch date has not yet been announced.
🔸 Witkoff brought Putin documents outlining proposals for a settlement to the war in Ukraine and raised the possibility of a ceasefire.
During his meeting with Putin, the U.S. special envoy said conditions for a ceasefire were in place. He also handed the Russian leader documents outlining approaches to resolving the conflict.
Witkoff also noted the potential for developing economic ties between the U.S. and Russia once peace is established.
He expressed hope that Putin would agree to resume negotiations involving Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia to discuss technical issues.
🔹 It is impossible to fully resolve the “Ukrainian issue” without someone from Kyiv participating in the process. Someone there must make a responsible decision, Kremlin spokesperson Peskov said.
Other statements:
▪️ Moscow’s position on an energy truce with Ukraine remains unchanged.
▪️ Finnish President Alexander Stubb’s reiteration of the pan-European position on Ukraine is unlikely to contribute constructively to a resolution, Peskov said.
🔸 Following the diesel agreement, prices on global markets fell by 5%–6%. Russia is preparing several tankers carrying diesel for shipment. The first, carrying 40,000 tons, will depart in two to three days, with others to follow, Putin said during talks with U.S. presidential special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Putin also proposed “supplying fertilizers in large quantities to the American market.”
Witkoff thanked Russia for the diesel shipments, noting that they “could help American farmers and truckers.”
🔹 President Zelenskyy announced that he had met with Norwegian Defense Minister Tore Sandvik, Eirik Lie, CEO of Norwegian defense company Kongsberg, and other company representatives. Kongsberg manufactures NASAMS air defense systems.
“Day in and day out, these systems effectively protect our people and critical infrastructure from Russian missile and drone strikes. We hope to receive additional defense support packages next month.
“Norway is also actively participating in our European anti-ballistic missile program, FREYJA. We are already seeing initial results in the development of specific components for the system. Today, we identified areas where we can and must accelerate progress to reach the testing phase by the end of this year.
“We also held detailed discussions on launching work on new satellite communication capabilities for our troops. We intend to engage partners capable of providing support.”
🔸 European Parliament Vice-President Pina Picierno has begun a hunger strike in response to the dire situation in the temporarily Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
“This struggle cannot be mine alone. I call on associations, citizens, and national and local institutions to join this major nonviolent action. We must demand an immediate humanitarian truce, the delivery of food and medicine, and the safe evacuation of civilians who wish to leave the city,” she wrote.
🔹 Yevhenii Khmara and Mykhailo Drapatyi met with a Lockheed Martin delegation led by Orlando Sanchez Jr., president of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics.
The meeting focused primarily on future cooperation and ensuring a stable supply of weapons. Discussions specifically covered support for Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets and the procurement of PAC-3 interceptor missiles.
Both sides expressed their commitment to a long-term, mutually beneficial partnership.