Zelensky said the U.S. briefly blocked intelligence sharing and slowed Starlink as a "message from American government"; Bessent called that "reckless."
Ukraine's president and the U.S. Treasury secretary each made their case on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Siding with Putin. Volodymyr Zelensky (President, Ukraine) said: "If United States will support Putin, I mean, it's unbelievable, it's tragedy, it's historic mistake." He said he still hopes Trump will "change his decisions."
The ally question. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Zelensky "should be careful." Pressed a third time on whether Ukraine is an ally, he said: "I'm not the secretary of state. I'm not the president." He said European NATO members "have plenty of Patriots" and asked why they aren't sending them.
Iran. On Truth Social, Trump said Russia is doing "very little, if anything" to help Iran. Russia announced the same day that Sergei Lavrov (Foreign Minister, Russia) will visit Tehran this week.
Catch up
On Friday, Oct. 16, Trump waived the Graham law's Russian energy tariffs and sanctions; the lead story above carries the timeline.
3 earlier issues
- UpdateUkraine's military Starshield satellite terminals stop working above 160 km/h; Musk says the U.S. military and Trump set the limit
- UpdateTwo U.S. officials and a Western official say the order to cap Ukraine's Starshield terminals came from the White House
- UpdateTrump denies ordering speed caps on Ukraine's Starshield terminals; nine senators ask Pentagon watchdog who did