US official: Ukraine should decide how to liberate territories occupied by Russia

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, The Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur reports on another Trump–Zelensky meeting in Washington, following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s intervention to dissuade the U.S. from supplying Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles.

Ukrainian soldier and chess grandmaster Ihor Kovalenko won the individual gold medal at the European Team Chess Championships, The Guardian reported on October 18, citing tournament organizers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine hand over full control of Donetsk Oblast to Russia as a condition for ending the war during a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, The Washington Post reported on Oct. 18, citing two senior U.S. officials.

The attack took place at around 5:40 p.m. local time, hitting a residential neighborhood and damaging homes and outbuildings.

Vienna had previously held up the sanctions over a demand that the EU compensate Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International for losses inflicted by Russian penalties.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the meeting had not gone as Zelensky had hoped.

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said "both sides engaged constructively" with the agency to enable the repair plan.

A Latin American citizen was fatally stabbed after a dispute in the western Ukrainian city of Ternopil, local police said.

The Ukrainian Air Force reported downing 136 drones launched by Russia overnight.

An electrical substation in Russia's Ulyanovsk Oblast is in flames following a reported Ukrainian drone strike, Russian Telegram media channels reported on Oct. 18.

"Hopefully, we'll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks," Trump told reporters before closed-door talks with Zelensky.