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Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, told a senior Kremlin official last month that achieving peace in Ukraine would require Russia gaining control of Donetsk and potentially a separate territorial exchange, according to a recording of their conversation.
In the 14 October phone call with Yuri Ushakov, the top foreign policy aide to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, Witkoff said he believed the land concessions were necessary, all while advising Ushakov to congratulate Trump and frame discussions more optimistically.
Meanwhile, Americans involved in the Ukrainian war effort have spoken out about being embarrassed and dismayed by Trump’s continuing pressures on Kyiv and think his administration’s latest peace plan is tantamount to backstabbing and another catastrophic failure of US foreign policy.
What did Witkoff say? “Now, me to you, I know what it’s going to take to get a peace deal done: Donetsk and maybe a land swap somewhere,” Witkoff told Ushakov during the five-minute conversation, according to a transcript of the recording obtained by Bloomberg. “But I’m saying instead of talking like that, let’s talk more hopefully because I think we’re going to get to a deal here.”
This is a developing story. Follow the liveblog here.
US justice department memo about boat strikes diverges from Trump narrative
The Trump administration is framing its boat strikes against drug cartels in the Caribbean in part as a collective self-defense effort on behalf of US allies in the region, according to three people directly familiar with the administration’s internal legal argument.
The legal analysis rests on a premise, for which there is no immediate public evidence, that the cartels are waging armed violence against the security forces of allies such as Mexico, and that the violence is financed by cocaine shipments.
As a result, according to the legal analysis, the strikes are targeting the cocaine, and the deaths of anyone onboard should be treated as an enemy casualty or collateral damage if any civilians are killed, rather than murder.
What has changed? It marks a sharp departure from Donald Trump’s narrative to the public every time he has discussed the 21 strikes that have killed more than 80 people, which he has portrayed as an effort to stop overdose deaths.
What have the White House said? A White House official responded that Trump had not been making a legal argument. Still, the president’s remarks remain the only public reason for why the US is firing missiles – when the legal justification is in fact very different.
US triples national park fee for non-residents, amid ‘new’ fee for Americans
The interior department announced today new “America-first” entrance fees for national parks, commemorative annual passes featuring Donald Trump and “resident-only patriotic fee-free days for 2026” including Trump’s birthday.
Starting next year, entrance fees for international visitors will more than triple, to ensure “they contribute their fair share to help preserve and maintain these treasured places”, said the interior secretary, Doug Burgum.
How much are the passes now? According to a department press release, non-residents can buy a $250 annual pass or pay $100 a person “to enter 11 of the most visited national parks, in addition to the standard entrance fee”.
In other news …
An interim administrator has been appointed to oversee the estate of Virginia Giuffre after she died without a valid will, meaning multiple lawsuits that had been on hold can now resume.
A study claims to provide the first direct evidence of dark matter. Prof Tomonori Totani, an astrophysicist, says the research could be a crucial breakthrough in the search for the elusive substance.
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, has escalated attacks on the Arizona senator Mark Kelly by ordering the secretary of the US navy to investigate “potentially unlawful comments” in a social media video.
In the past year, tens of thousands of New Zealanders have left the country, surpassing the last increase in 2012 and raising fears of a “hollowing out” of mid-career workers.
Stat of the day: Previously unknown Renoir painting sells for €1.8m at Paris auction
A previously unknown work by the French impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir depicting his son Jean has sold for €1.8m ($2.08m) at a Paris auction. The oil painting, named L’enfant et ses jouets – Gabrielle et le fils de l’artiste, Jean (The Child and His Toys – Gabrielle and the Artist’s Son, Jean), had never before been exhibited or sold.
Don’t miss this: ‘Drone operators are hunted. You feel it from your first day’ – the female pilots on Ukraine’s frontline
Women have been involved in Ukraine’s drone operations since the early months of the full-scale invasion, but as shortages in the military increase their presence has grown, particularly in FPV (first-person-view) attack units. Three women talk about why they signed up for a brutal combat environment.
… or this: JD Vance might want to run in 2028 – but does he have a Palantir-shaped problem?
“The VP wouldn’t be where he is today without the patronage of the Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel,” writes Arwa Mahdawi. “But with voters becoming more and more concerned about the firm’s surveillance tech, could that relationship affect his chances?”
Climate crisis: US, Russia and Saudi Arabia create axis of obstruction as Cop30 sputters out
More than two decades ago, the US railed against the “axis of evil”. Now, after international climate talks spluttered to a meagre conclusion, the US finds itself grouped with unflattering company – an “axis of obstruction” that has stymied progress on the climate crisis, writes Oliver Milman.
Last Thing: ‘Queen of the Zoo’ – Gramma, tortoise who lived through two world wars, dies aged 141
After more than a century of munching on her favorite foods of romaine lettuce and cactus fruit, the beloved Galápagos tortoise Gramma, the oldest resident of the San Diego Zoo, has died. As the world changed around her, she delighted visitors with her sweet, shy personality. She lived through two world wars and 20 US presidents.
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