Reuters World News - Bolton charged, Zelenskiy, Putin and Russian oil

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser, is charged with sharing classified information. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy heads to the White House as Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin make plans to meet in Hungary.  The admiral who leads U.S. military forces in Latin America says he'll step down early. And Trump piles the pressure on India and China to turn off their Russian oil imports.  Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter here. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast here. Find the Recommended Read here. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Carmel Crimmons in Dublin. It's Friday, October 17th. Today, Trump's former advisor John Bolton is charged with sharing classified information. The head of the U.S. military for Latin America steps down as tensions escalate with Venezuela. Zelensky heads to the White House hoping for Tomahawk missiles, while Trump and Putin put a Budapest meeting on the schedule, and Israel and Hamas trade blame over violations to their fragile ceasefire. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. Former National Security Advisor John Bolton has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified information. Bolton is the third high-profile critic of US President Donald Trump to be indicted in less than a month.

The indictment says Bolton shared notes with two relatives in electronic messages, including information from meetings with senior government officials, discussions with foreign leaders and intelligence briefings. In a statement, Bolton said he looked forward to defending his lawful conduct and accused Trump of seeking retribution. In a surprise move, the Admiral who leads US military forces in Latin America is stepping down two years early. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters

that there had been tension between Admiral Alvin Holsey and Defence Secretary Pete Higgseth over operations in the Caribbean. The news comes as the US military carried out another strike on a suspected drug vessel in the region, and this time there were survivors. That's according to a US official. It's the first known case of survivors from these operations, which have killed at least 27 people so far. President Trump says he'll meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest

to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. No date has been given. This comes after Trump hailed a productive conversation with the Russian leader on Thursday. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky meets with Trump today at the White House. It's their second Oval Office sit-down since their highly contentious meeting back in February. Since then, Trump's stance on the Ukraine war has shifted dramatically from this. But you're not acting at all thankful, and that's not a nice thing. To this.

Frankly, Ukraine is doing a very good job of stopping this very large army. White House reporter Jeff Mason says this Putin news may change the dynamic. a Friday's meeting. Initially, I think Zelensky probably had reason to believe that he was going into this Friday meeting with a strong hand to potentially get new

Tomahawk missiles from the United States or at the very least more support from Trump for Ukraine's efforts to end this war. But that has been sort of shaken up by the phone call that President Trump had with President Putin

on Thursday, which led to the announcement that those two men are planning to have another summit, following up on the Alaska summit, which really didn't lead to anything. And in fact, led to days and weeks afterwards greater frustration from President Trump with Putin. But as we sort of all know from having covered President Trump, his mood or his views change largely based on the most recent person that he's spoken to. And in this case, that happens to be Putin. And that is a lot of the is now changing the dynamic for Zelensky on Friday. While Trump talks with Putin and Zelensky this week, he's also pressuring nations like

India and China to stop buying Russian oil. The move is seen as a way to increase leverage on Putin as he escalates attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Simon Webb, our global energy editor in New York, is watching how Trump's tactics will play out in the energy market. It is going to be complicated for India to do this. In September alone, it was 1.6 million barrels a day that India was importing from Russia. That's the single biggest supplier of oil to India. And there are lots of reasons for that. Russia's had to sell its oil at discount since the war started and the US and European Union and others imposed sanctions. So India and China were the importers that benefited the most, but to suddenly come on the market and try and find 1.6 million barrels a day, or even half of that,

it's a lot. And it means additional demand for other crude, which of course drives up the price for the other crude. The caveat for that is not the worst time for this to be happening. Oil has hit a five-month low on Wednesday because there's plenty of supply around. Russia's embassy in London says the sanctions would destabilize markets and push up costs, but they'll have no impact on Russian foreign policy. The Middle East ceasefire remains fragile as Israel and Hamas point fingers at each other over violations. A dispute has erupted over the return of 19 dead hostages. Hamas says that it will take time and heavy equipment to execute.

the remains. There are other issues, too. Israel hasn't set a date to reopen the Rafa crossing for much-needed aid, and Hamas accuses Israel of killing up these 24 people. Meanwhile, President Trump is threatening action if Hamas doesn't disarm and derails the deal. If they behave good, if they don't behave, we'll take care of it. Foreign policy reporter Matt Spitalnik. The next phase of the 20-point plan that Trump brokered calls for Hamas to relinquish its weapons and deceive power, which it is so far refused to do. It has said that it has the right to continue, what it calls the resistance

against Israeli occupation. Israel says, no, that's not part of the deal. So these are the main stumbling blocks ahead for this agreement to move into true force. The Israelis, meanwhile, have pulled back partially to what's called the yellow line within the Gaza Strip, but they're not going to start moving further back or even out of the strip, if they ever do, until some of these other issues are dealt with. That is going to take some time, it's going to take some effort. And then there's a reconstruction of Gaza. The strip has been turned into a true demolition zone after two years of warfare. So that's still a plan that's still in the making and far from coming to fruition. Now to Kenya, where the death of longtime opposition leader Rala Odinga has brought

thousands out to mourn. Odinga is seen as a crucial figure in bringing democracy to Kenya in the early 90s. Thongs of crowds rushed to the airport, stopping flights for two hours. Odinga's body returned home from India on Thursday, where he died while undergoing medical treatment. And at the Moy International Sports Stadium, at least two mourners were killed after security forces fired in the air and dispensed tear gas to clear crowds trying to view the body. And for today's recommended read, how the maker of Swiss Army knives is sharpening up its act. Victorinox is experimenting with new tools and exploring new markets. all while trying to hold down its US prices as it finds itself on the sharp edge of Trump's

trade tariffs. We'll drop a link to that story in today's pod description. And we'll have a new episode of our long-form on assignment podcast out tomorrow. All about Victor Orban and Hungary. For more on any of the stories from today, check out roiders.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just asked for the latest news from Reuters seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.