War in Ukraine: Trump gets angry, Europe unites around Zelensky and Putin wants to conquer

Have you missed the latest events on the war in Ukraine? 20 Minutes takes stock for you every evening. Here is the gist of this Friday, October 16, 2026, on the 1,696th day of the conflict.

Fact of the day

“We will not let go of Ukraine”, the role of the Europeans “is to hold the line” in the face of “ambiguities”, insisted from Brussels Emmanuel Macron who, like kyiv's other European allies, tried to reassure Volodymyr Zelensky, abandoned by the Americans. “Now is not the time to withdraw our support from Ukraine. This is not the time to ease sanctions against Russia,” explained the President of the European Council António Costa, referring to the agreement made by Donald Trump with Vladimir Putin.

But to keep this promise, the European Union will have to put its hand in its pocket. The Ukrainian president is asking them for an extension of “70 billion” for 2027. “It’s a realistic amount. And I ask you to find that support. It will help us contain Russia,” he insisted during his speech.

Today's statement

“I think it is more difficult to work with Zelensky than with Putin”

In the middle of the night for us, the American president once again attacked his Ukrainian counterpart. Donald Trump called Ukraine’s resumption of bombing of Russian refineries a “disgrace”. “All” Volodymyr Zelensky is doing “is driving up global oil prices,” added the American president.

In response, and without directly attacking the billionaire, Volodymyr Zelensky simply pointed out from Brussels that his country had been struck by a thousand drones on Thursday. “1,000!” But the American side says that it is difficult to talk with Zelensky, that it is less difficult to manage Putin, come on! »…

The number of the day

10%. This is, according to Vladimir Putin, the portion of the Ukrainian region of Donetsk that remains for the Russians to conquer in the Donbass. “Overall, I see that the dynamics of the actions of our force groupings are positive,” declared the Russian president during a visit to a military command center, according to images released by the Kremlin. For the Ukrainian president, it is about “liberating the Donetsk People’s Republic”.

As a reminder, Moscow has conditioned any hypothetical peace agreement on a withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from this territory, which kyiv refuses, believing that it would amount to capitulation and make the country vulnerable to new Russian attacks.

The trend

Even from his hospital bed, the pope remains active on the diplomatic front. Leo XIV spoke to Vladimir Putin on the phone this Friday. He asked for a ceasefire in Olechky, a Ukrainian town in the Kherson region (south), caught between the two armies on the banks of the Dnieper.

Our file on the war in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin provided “a detailed explanation on the responsibility of the kyiv regime in the difficult humanitarian situation” which reigns in the region, the Kremlin does not fail to indicate. “It was agreed that the two parties would coordinate their efforts” regarding “creating conditions guaranteeing the safety of the city’s population and facilitating the delivery of essential supplies,” says the Russian presidency.

Vladimir Putin did not fail to express “his sincere wishes for the health of the Pope and his speedy recovery”.