Brussels – The meeting on Friday, October 17, between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky was “turbulent,” according to the Financial Times, which is releasing a series of revelations about the meeting between the two leaders. Apparently, Trump repeatedly used “pro-Russian” arguments to convince Zelensky to end the conflict. Trump’s diplomatic about-face came after the phone call with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday. The first glimmers of a meeting between the two leaders, this time on EU soil, in Budapest, emerged from the telephone conversation.
Brussels did not welcome the decision, although this morning, the High Representative of the Union, Kaja Kallas, on the sidelines of the ongoing EU Foreign Affairs Council, said she was in favor of any possible progress in the peace talks. Kallas made it clear: “We are positive about any progress.” Putin’s potential arrival in Budapest was described with diplomatic caution as “not good to see,” considering that the Russian president is subject to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. Kallas also added that, in any case, “the outcome of the meeting will be assessed.”
EU prepares a new blow to the Kremlin: 19th sanctions package could be approved as early as Thursday
According to Kaja Kallas, the European Union may adopt its 19th package of sanctions against Russia as soon as this Thursday. Among the key topics under discussion is action… pic.twitter.com/tBjfIaoLMS
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 20, 2025
No Tomahawk, in return, an inadmissible proposal
The meeting between Zelensky and Trump at the White House may already be considered a failure, at least from Kyiv’s point of view. Ukraine’s goal was to obtain the US long-range Tomahawk missiles, a strategic weapon to strike deep into Russian defences. The negotiation, according to inside sources consulted by the Financial Times, allegedly turned into a “shouting match”, with Trump “constantly swearing.”
The US president pushed for a quick peace deal, threatening Zelensky to accept a “deal” with Putin. “If he (Putin, ed.) wants it, he will destroy you,” Trump said in the Oval Office. The point Trump insisted on would be the complete surrender of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, which are currently only 80 percent controlled by Moscow. In return for this surrender, Kyiv would get small territories in the southern regions of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
The proposal is, for Ukrainians, largely insufficient. “Giving up (the Donbas, ed.) to Russia without a fight is unacceptable to Ukrainian society, and Putin knows it,” said Oleksandr Merezhko, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian parliament. The initiative represents, in any case, one of the first small Russian breakthroughs in the talks.
Trump’s about-face
The tense climate was at odds with the recent statements of the US president. In recent weeks, the tycoon had insisted on the quality of the Ukrainian army, “if they want, they will regain all the occupied territories,” and had discredited Moscow for its economic difficulties, stating that it “is close to “collapsing.” To interpret the president’s words, however, the dogma coined by the American journalist Salena Zito is increasingly useful: “One must take Trump seriously, not literally.” Such sudden about-faces sometimes conceal a long-term goal: the final agreement.
Brussels’ pressure on Moscow
In Europe, meanwhile, diplomatic efforts are lacking, and so the European Union is organizing to put pressure on Moscow. Today’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting will discuss the approval of the 19th sanctions package against Russia and the increased support for the Ukrainian economy. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha will also attend the meeting. At the same time, in the EU Energy Council, the member states adopted a position on the regulation for the termination of Russian gas supplies. The idea is to stop all supplies by 2027.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
