Zelenskyy Mending Ties, Trump In North Carolina, Saudi Arabia Gets British Support
October 21, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readZelenskyy is once again trying to mend fences with the Trump administration, meeting with the president's envoy Steve Witkoff in Oslo alongside the leaders of Norway and Finland. The Ukrainian president used the meeting to push for face-to-face talks with Vladimir Putin, a longstanding goal. "Ukraine wants peace more than anyone, and it was Russia who started this war, and the decision to keep the killing going is Russia's choice and Russia's alone," Zelenskyy told reporters afterward. Witkoff, who also joined the meeting remotely with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, now heads to St. Petersburg to discuss proposals to end the war with the Kremlin. The Nordic leaders stressed that a fair deal cannot happen without U.S. engagement and hope Witkoff returns with something constructive.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:00) **Envoy Whitkoff Heads to Moscow After Oslo Meeting** - President Trump’s envoy Steve Whitkoff travels to St. Petersburg after meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky in Oslo.
- 2 (02:38) **What Europe and Ukraine Hope Whitkoff Brings Back From Russia** - The Nordic leaders and Zelensky say a fair deal cannot happen without U.S. engagement.
- 3 (04:10) **Why Ukrainians Fear the U.S. Is Siding With Russia** - A series of recent U.S. moves have deepened Ukrainian distrust.
- 4 (05:35) **Trump’s Super PAC Spends Heavily on Midterms** - MAGA Inc. has spent over $240 million since September, according to FEC filings.
- 5 (05:57) **Trump’s Rally in North Carolina: Acknowledging Tough Races** - Trump concedes that Democratic candidate Roy Cooper may win the Senate seat.
- 6 (07:00) **Can Trump Energize His Base Despite the Outlook?** - The rally was one of the smallest Trump rallies ever covered, but those in attendance were motivated.
- 7 (09:20) **UK Sends Fighter Jets to Help Saudi Arabia Defend Against Houthis** - The UK is sending Royal Air Force jets on a purely defensive mission to protect Saudi cities and infrastructure.
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Show Notes
President Trump is campaigning in North Carolina as Republicans struggle in key races and he ties federal relief promises to the outcome of the midterms.
Britain is sending fighter jets to help Saudi Arabia defend against Houthi attacks as the war disrupts the kingdom’s economy and deepens the humanitarian crisis in Yemen.
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Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Tina Kraja, Megan Pratz, Miguel Macias, Mohamad ElBardicy and Alice Woelfle.
It was produced by Iman Maani and Nia Dumas.
Our director is Christopher Thomas.
We get engineering support from Carleigh Strange.
Our technical director is Zac Coleman.
And our Supervising Producer is Michael Lipkin.
(0:00) Introduction
(1:54) Zelenskyy U.S. Relationship
(5:29) Trump in NC
(9:14) Saudi Yemen Crisis
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