By Ahmed Abdelsalam
US President Donald Trump said a “big, beautiful” agreement to end Russia’s war in Ukraine could be close and might involve all of Europe, after meeting Russian special envoy Kirill Dmitriev at the White House. Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Russian President Vladimir Putin would not be invited to next year’s G20 summit, breaking with the Trump administration’s earlier stance.
Trump meets Putin envoy, predicts broad European involvement
Trump told reporters he had held private talks with Dmitriev and suggested the settlement could extend beyond Ukraine. “It’s going to be a big agreement, and it’s going to involve more than Ukraine ... I could even say it might involve all of Europe,” he said. A US delegation is scheduled to mediate talks in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11 between Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Trump did not meet Ukrainian officials who were at the White House for an event honoring Melania Trump’s work on a ceasefire in Oleshky.
UK breaks with US over Putin G20 invitation
Burnham’s refusal marks a split with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said in September that Washington had invited Putin to the G20 meeting in Miami in December. The UK prime minister’s office did not elaborate on the decision.
Russian strikes hit Ukrainian power station and military brigade
Russian Aerospace Forces bombarded a power station near the Ukrainian city of Sumy and a military brigade in the Zaporizhzhia region using a FAB-3000 aerial bomb, according to Russian defence ministry statements carried by state newswires.
Finnish court convicts Russian captain over Baltic cable damage
A Helsinki district court found the Russian captain and an Azerbaijani boatswain of a cargo ship guilty of aggravated sabotage for damaging undersea telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea late last year. The captain received three years and six months in prison; the boatswain was sentenced to two years and 10 months. Both were ordered to pay repair costs.
Iran’s security chief meets Putin in Moscow
Iran’s top security official Mohsen Rezaei met Putin at the Kremlin, delivering a message from Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Rezaei said they discussed important regional issues and post-war security arrangements, referring to the conflict between Iran and the US.
Zelensky arrives in Spain for Ibero-American summit
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky landed in Spain to discuss boosting Kyiv’s air defences and hold top-level meetings at the Ibero-American summit. He said contacts with US officials are planned ahead of three-way talks in Abu Dhabi next week that will include Russia.
