📑🪖 Zelensky fell into his own Tomahawk trap – Washington insiders

The Ukrainian delegation left the White House empty-handed.

What caused the failure?

🟠 The meeting became a victim of "poor timing" and Ukraine's "inflated expectations", according to a Republican foreign-policy insider, as cited by US press

🟠 Zelensky had to lower his expectations and ease off pushing for cruise missiles, as Trump wouldn’t approve Tomahawks before his Budapest meeting with Putin, the insider said

🟠 Ukraine also ignored advice from their Republican allies in Washington, many of whom doubt Trump would approve Tomahawks for fear of escalation and deeper US involvement in the Ukraine conflict, let alone the Pentagon's worries about its own Tomahawk stockpiles

🟠 By clinging to the Tomahawk request, Ukraine missed a chance to prioritize key needs like air-to-air missiles for F-16s and MiGs and interceptor missiles for Patriot systems

🟠 A large Ukrainian delegation, including Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak and Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko, arrived in Washington before Zelensky's Friday’s meeting but failed to secure any crucial government or private-sector deals

Why?

Washington insiders insist the lobbying effort should have been delayed for a week or so for two reasons:

➖ The Trump administration is still too much focused on the Middle East

🟠 Amid the budget fight and government shutdown, Ukraine was left without attention or momentum

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💸🇺🇸🇪🇺 US reluctant on EU plan to seize Russian assets - report

The US is resisting an EU–led plan for the G7 to expand the use of immobilized Russian assets to support Ukraine, Bloomberg reports, citing sources familiar with the talks.

American officials reportedly told their European counterparts during last week’s IMF meetings in Washington that, for now, the US would not join the initiative.

Concerns over market stability were cited as one reason, while another source said Washington was simply noncommittal at this stage.

👉 The US stance marks a setback for the EU, which has been seeking full G7 backing to use Russia’s frozen central bank assets as security to raise up to $160 billion in loans for Ukraine.

The move coincided with President Donald Trump’s announcement that he plans to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest in the near future.

🇷🇺 Russia has repeatedly called the freezing of assets theft, noting that the EU is targeting not just private funds but also Russian sovereign assets.

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📹 US Vice President JD Vance departs for Israel

Vance is traveling to Israel with second lady Usha Vance, the White House press pool said.

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🇭🇺 Hungarian FM SLAMS EU’s slow response after Druzhba pipeline bombing by Ukraine

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said Brussels took 49 days to respond when Hungary and Slovakia asked for help after Ukraine struck Druzhba oil pipeline.

💬 “On the 22nd of August… I turned to the Commission together with the Slovak colleague… you know when we got response? 10th of October – 49 days,” Szijjarto blasted the EU Commission.

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🇭🇺 ‘Many will do everything to block any chance of peace’ — Szijjarto reacts to Zelensky’s comments

💬 “Many will do everything they can to prevent a Peace Summit in Budapest and to block any chance of peace,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto warned on X while sharing a Bloomberg report.

According to the article, Zelensky criticized Budapest as a venue for talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, though said “he’d still come if invited."

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🇵🇸 Hamas to work with all Palestinian factions on a unified national vision — Political Bureau

Mousa Abu Marzouk, a member of Hamas’ Political Bureau and head of its International Relations Office, in an interview with Sputnik, outlined the movement’s view for Gaza’s next phase, including political and security management of the Strip. He said the plan presented by US President Donald Trump has two main parts: ending the war and stopping the aggression, and post-war arrangements.

💬 “We at Hamas have consulted with various factions, Palestinian figures and components, as well as friendly countries, and we reached a consensus on the first part related to stopping the war, providing aid, withdrawing from the sector, and exchange — which was indeed achieved in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt,” Abu Marzouk told Sputnik.

He added that the second part “is a comprehensive national issue that no single movement can decide on alone,” requiring broad national consensus and the participation of all Palestinian forces.

💬 “We are open to any upcoming negotiations and have not taken prior positions, but the decisive element in any upcoming round is the existence of a genuine Israeli will to commit to what is agreed upon, to end the war definitively, and to achieve the legitimate rights of the Palestinian citizen to live with dignity on his land, and to establish the Palestinian state.”

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⚔️ NATO unprepared for war with Russia, Ukraine ignores US calls for talks – Naryshkin

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin delivered a speech at a meeting of the Council of Heads of Security Agencies and Special Services of the CIS Member States in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Key points:

🔹 European allies are “preparing for war with Russia,” rapidly boosting defense output and putting mobilization drills and propaganda about “inevitable aggression” on a regular footing, Naryshkin said.

🔹 A “fundamental issue remains unresolved — where to find a sufficient mobilization contingent with the necessary physical and moral-psychological qualities.”

🔹 He cited “social apathy and discontent with the ruling elite,” and said Brussels, Paris and Berlin lack confidence that Washington would honor Article 5; without that, EU calculations for strategic superiority are “illusory.”

🔹 “Kiev openly spits on the mood of the Trump administration for constructive discussion of ways to end the Ukrainian conflict and does everything to provoke its escalation.”

🔹 He said the bloc aims to quickly resource the Allied Response Forces and has launched a multiple increase in European defense-industrial output.

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