President Nikos Christodoulides said on Monday that the United Nations has proposed dates for a joint meeting between the leaders of the two communities and the UN Secretary-General’s personal envoy on Cyprus Maria Angela Holguin, with the Greek Cypriot side having already responded positively.

Christodoulides said he was approaching Tuesday’s meeting with Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman with the sole aim of achieving positive developments.

“I am going to the meeting with one and only one objective: to have positive developments,” he said.

“We have a discussion which has begun and is continuing, and I hope we will have a positive outcome. We have also been given some dates for Ms Holguin’s arrival and a joint meeting between the three of us.

“We have responded positively. I believe the Turkish Cypriot leader will also have responded positively, and I genuinely hope that tomorrow we will have positive news to announce,” he added.

Asked when Holguin was expected to arrive in Cyprus, Christodoulides said the announcement would be made by the United Nations, confirming that her visit would take place before the end of October.

On whether Tuesday’s meeting could result in an announcement on the opening of four new crossing points, the president said the Greek Cypriot side was ready to proceed, provided there was a positive response from the Turkish Cypriot side.

“I hope there will be. We are ready. If there is a response, of course we are ready to proceed with such an announcement,” he said.

He added that the Greek Cypriot side was also prepared to move forward on other issues raised by the UN Secretary-General, including the substance of negotiations, methodology and confidence-building measures.

Asked whether there had been a positive response from the Turkish Cypriot side, Christodoulides declined to speak on its behalf.

On the night of Oct. 2, Russian drones struck Kyiv's Southern Bridge once again. The city closed it and Paton Bridge, restricted traffic on Metro Bridge, and was gridlocked by multi-kilometer traffic jams by morning.

On the same day, Oleksii Honcharenko, a member of parliament from the opposition

US President Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on 18 October that he did not want to “drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.” He also wrote: “Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want!”

Trump was referring to sanctions and tariffs under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which he waived in an executive order on 16 October, days before the measures were due to take effect. The waiver suspends additional economic penalties intended to pressure Moscow over its war against Ukraine, while leaving earlier US sanctions in place. The decision came weeks before the 3 November midterms, in which Republicans are defending slim majorities in both chambers, and analysts said the penalties could have pushed up oil prices for Americans already paying more, largely because of the US-Israeli war with Iran, Reuters reported.

Trump says Zelenskyy could have made a better deal two years ago

A week before the waiver, Trump had announced a deal for Russia to increase diesel supplies to global markets. The Treasury also issued a license, valid until 7 April 2027, permitting certain transactions in Russian-origin diesel.

In the Truth Social post, Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of targeting Russian diesel refineries, saying the strikes were “seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States.” Kyiv had paused its refinery strikes for three days at Washington’s request after Trump declared an energy ceasefire on 11 October, which Russia never confirmed, then resumed them. Since then, Russia has struck Ukraine’s energy sector 76 times, Zelenskyy said on 18 October.

Trump wrote that Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” and that he “could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now.”

“His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead,” Trump added.

He also said Russia was “doing very little, if anything, to help” Iran and that he wanted to keep it that way.

A day earlier, Trump said he had not made a final decision

On 17 October, Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago that he had not announced his final decision. “A lot of you don’t know what my decision is yet, but we’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out,” he said, Reuters reported.

“I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters before departing for Uzbekistan the same day.

Zelenskyy calls the waiver a pity as Republicans split

Zelenskyy called it a “pity” that Trump had waived sanctions under a law named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who “really believed in Ukraine.” He said he hoped Trump would change his decisions, NBC News reported.

Discussing the diesel deal on NBC’s Meet the Press, Zelenskyy said US oil prices had risen because shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was blocked, not because of Ukraine.

On 17 October, Zelenskyy told journalists that “the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me” and that it “definitely helps only the Russians.” His remarks appeared in Ukrainian on his official Telegram channel.

“Sanctions relief will continue. I think the diesel deal and the move regarding the Lindsey Graham Act are not the end of it. Unfortunately,” Zelenskyy said.

On 19 October, Zelenskyy wrote that partners had again given no warning of Russia’s overnight ballistic attack and that blocking missiles for Ukraine’s air defense while Russia gets sanctions eased or postponed amounts to partners denying reality.

Republican Senator James Lankford defended Trump’s decision on NBC’s Meet the Press, saying the president was “choosing the American people first.”

Senator Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister, whom Trump has endorsed for a full term, said at a campaign stop on 17 October that she would “choose to keep the pressure on Russia.”

“I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia,” Darline Graham said.

She did not directly criticize Trump but said she would not have made that choice, Reuters reported.

"A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia could help end the war sooner," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said. "A trilateral meeting between the leaders of Russia, China, and the U.S. would do only the opposite: encourage Putin to continue this war."

President Nikos Christodoulides and Turkish Cypriot leader Tufan Erhurman will meet on Tuesday, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said on Monday, with the meeting the latest of ongoing weekly discussions being held by the pair.

“Our goal remains to achieve substantive progress in the effort to resume negotiations from the point at which they were interrupted, within the agreed-upon framework,” Letymbiotis said.

He added that “we approach this with the same constructive spirit, consistency, and concrete proposals, in the conviction that, through substantial dialogue, the conditions for the next steps can be created”.

The meeting will come just three days after the two leaders jointly attended a bicommunal festival in the Larnaca district village of Pyla, with Christodoulides saying of their presence at the festival that “we are sending a message of peace”.

“We are sending a message of … coexistence and a message regarding the need to finally reunify our homeland. I reiterate what I said in a recent interview with the Turkish Cypriot press: if it were up to the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots, out homeland would certainly be reunified,” he said.

However, the two leaders’ positions remain considerably apart on a range of issues, including political equality in a post-solution Cyprus, with Christodoulides on Sunday accusing Erhurman of “setting preconditions” in the latter’s insistence on a rotating presidency between the two communities should a solution be found.

“It is clear that the Turkish side … is setting terms and preconditions for the resumption of talks. They are demanding that we accept, in advance, specific positions of interest to the Turkish Cypriot community, while showing absolutely no willingness to discuss or accept our own positions on other significant aspects of the Cyprus problem,” he said.

The rotating presidency is viewed by the Turkish Cypriot side as being fundamental to the political equality between Cyprus’ two major communities which is stipulated by United Nations resolutions.

Dana: Rotating presidency an indispensable component of political equality

Erhurman’s undersecretary Mehmet Dana had told the Cyprus Mail that it is an “indispensable component” of political equality, saying that “political equality forms the foundation of a structure requiring the joint exercise of a limited number of specific powers, shared competences, and this is not open to negotiation”.

Disagreements also remain over the question of what the pair should be discussing at their meetings, with Christodoulides having put forward 19 new points for discussion at a meeting last month.

The substance of those 19 points has not been publicly disclosed, though Erhurman has described them as “throwing a spanner in the works”.

He said he believes the discussions should be based on he “seven proposals for confidence-building measures which [United Nations Secretary-General Antonio] Guterres voiced on the island at the end of July”.

Those seven issues were crossing points, mine clearance, the citizenship of children born of mixed marriages, sports, joint disaster response and a joint mechanism to combat irregular migration.

Meanwhile, UN envoy Maria Angela Holguin is expected to return to the island before the end of this month, and she said on Saturday that confidence-building measures across Cyprus’ divide “need to be implemented” so as to “create trust and demonstrate with facts the actual political will” for rapprochement.

“If, over the past two years, the parties have been unable to agree on a crossing point to facilitate communication, demining, or a joint effort to eliminate plastic pollution across the island … how can they agree on a political, economic and social model capable of overcoming decades of division and growing distance between the two communities?” she asked, while speaking to newspaper Politis.

According to the president, the U.S. and Ukraine are in "constant communication" and are preparing their "next steps in diplomacy."

A bipartisan group of 22 House lawmakers is urging President Donald Trump to fully implement the new Russia sanctions law and revoke a license allowing certain Russian diesel transactions. In a letter sent on 15 October, they copied Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and requested details on planned sanctions, tariffs and waivers.

Their request comes as the law’s first requirements fall due on 18 October, while lawmakers from both parties challengethe administration’s decision to allow certain Russian diesel transactions. Some restrictions take effect automatically, while others require presidential action. The law does not specify a penalty for the president missing the deadline.

What the Russia sanctions law requires

Congress passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 by votes of 86–11 in the Senate and 262–159 in the House. Trump signed it on 18 September. Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina, died in July.

Restrictions taking effect automatically on 18 October include a ban on US banks and broker-dealers processing transfers to or from the Russian government, a ban on new US investment in Russia, a ban on new US investment in Russia’s energy sector, and a ban on US energy exports to Russia.

Other measures require presidential action by the same date. The law directs Trump to review and sanction Russian officials, oligarchs and shadow-fleet vessels, sanction the Bank of Russia, specified Russian banks and state-owned companies, and impose tariffs of up to 500% on Russian goods. Tariffs of up to 100% can apply to goods from countries among the five largest importers of Russian oil or gas, or among the top five countries facilitating Russian oil sanctions evasion.

Trump may waive sanctions, restrictions and tariffs under the law if he first certifies in writing to Congress that a waiver is in the US national interest and submits a report explaining its basis.

The diesel license at the center of the dispute

House members also urged Trump to revoke General License 135, which the Treasury Department issued on 9 October and that is valid until 7 April 2027. It permits certain transactions involving Russian-origin diesel, including imports into the United States. Trump said Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel to US and global markets and predicted prices would fall sharply, according to a 9 October Truth Social post.

On 13 October, a bipartisan group of 12 senators also urged Trump to rescind the deal and revoke the license. Seven senators said the deal conflicted with a 2022 law banning Russian energy imports.

The Graham Act says nothing in its provisions affects the Treasury secretary’s existing authority to issue general licenses. That provision does not resolve whether the diesel license complies with the separate 2022 law.

A White House official told Newsweek the administration would comply with the Graham Act. Bessent said the administration would use “all the legal authorities we have” and called the deal “good for the American people,” Fox News reported on 11 October.

How the sanctions could be lifted

Separately, the law sets a process for terminating sanctions, restrictions or duties against Russia. Trump must report to Congress that Russia has signed a peace agreement accepted by Ukraine’s government and ceased military hostilities against Ukraine, as well as activities to overthrow, dismantle or subvert its government. Congress has 30 days to block termination through a joint resolution of disapproval, or 60 days for reports submitted between 10 July and 7 September.

Latvia's decision last week to declare Russian-born journalist and blogger Leonid Ragozin persona non grata has drawn attention to a broader trend: Russians who once presented themselves as opponents of Vladimir Putin are now accused of echoing Kremlin narratives.

Some now live in Europe, taking advantage of the

Mr. President,

I write these words without diplomatic formulas or ceremonial language. I write simply, from one human being to another, and from one president to another — two men who understand that there are moments in history when decisions determine not only the fate of nations, but the fate

US President Donald Trump’s envoys told Kyiv that letting Russia sell diesel could draw Moscow back to peace talks, Reuters reported. In the same meeting, they said Russia’s leader was not ready to negotiate. Since then, Moscow has offered nothing in return, and Trump has brushed off claims that Russia helps Iran.

Washington is pressing Ukraine to stop striking Russian refineries and offering Moscow economic incentives to return to peace talks, even though Russia has made no commitment in return. Yesterday, Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv before air raid sirens sounded, amid disputed warnings that the US could cut intelligence support. Meanwhile, Ukraine is being asked to halt its long-range campaign against the oil infrastructure that fuels and finances Russia's war.

The pitch: a diesel deal as a signal to Moscow

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met the Ukrainian delegation in Miami on 9 October. They described Russian President Vladimir Putin as unprepared to negotiate but said the diesel deal could help restart three-way talks, two of the sources said.

The third source said the deal could “soften” Moscow because it “sends a signal that Trump is open to do things” with Russia. One of the sources described the plan:

“The idea was that the US could go back to Russia and say ‘See, the Ukrainians stopped striking and we gave you this deal. Now it’s your turn to do something.’”

Ukraine’s part was to stop hitting Russian refineries. Kushner repeated Trump’s request at the meeting, noting the administration had made it several times, two sources said.

Kyiv was asked to hold its fire on Russian oil

The Ukrainians agreed to nothing formally, Reuters’ sources said. They signaled they would accept an energy ceasefire if Russia did the same, but saw the US approach as an attempt to appease Russia with business deals.

Two days later, Trump declared an energy ceasefire, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine was ready if Russia reciprocated. Euromaidan Press has monitored official and unofficial Ukrainian and Russian sources and found no reports of new Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries after Trump’s announcement. One of the last, on the night of the diesel announcement, knocked out more than half the tanks at a fuel-export terminal in Rostov-on-Don.

Three sources told Reuters the envoys did not threaten to cut US support over the refinery strikes. A Ukrainian official told Axios, however, that the envoys warned Trump could cut Ukraine off from US intelligence, which a US official denied. US officials are also believed to have told European allies that Trump would halt PURL, the NATO scheme for Europe-funded US weapons for Ukraine, unless the strikes stopped, according to FT.

What Moscow has offered in return

A person close to the Kremlin told Reuters that Putin would return to the table only when he gets “the remaining 11% of Donbas.” Ukraine refuses to cede more land. During the 9 October call that produced the deal, Putin declined to commit to resuming talks, his aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, Axios reported.

Moscow has not confirmed the energy ceasefire either. Trump insisted on 12 October that the sides had agreed “because I said they agreed,” RFE/RL reported. On the evening of 12 October, Russian munitions collapsed an apartment stairwell in Kharkiv, killing four people. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak, meanwhile, claimed diesel exports could reach 3.0–3.5 million tons a month by year-end, above the volumes Trump announced.

“Too much to lose”: Trump on Russia and Iran

Late on 12 October, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he did not believe Russia and China were helping Iran, since they have “too much to lose.” In March, he told Fox News that Putin “might be helping them a little bit.” Asked about Russia’s possible support for Iran, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News on 2 September that his message to everyone was to “stay away.” That month, a Financial Times investigation found Russia secretly helping Iran develop supersonic cruise missiles that could threaten US warships.