Ukraine launched one of its largest aerial assaults against Russia on Sunday, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy publicly warned Mr. Trump that siding with Moscow would be a “historic mistake.” Mr. Putin, meanwhile, reportedly floated the idea of a Russia-U.S.-China leaders summit to negotiate an end to the war, without representation from Ukraine.

Mr. Putin raised the prospect of a summit in a phone call with Mr. Trump in early October, according to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Trump subsequently announced his plan to allow Russian diesel sales to the U.S. and waived sanctions on Moscow. The president also has ramped up pressure on Ukraine to halt attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, saying the strikes are to blame for high U.S. diesel prices, despite assertions from analysts that the high prices are as much a result of the U.S. war with Iran.

Ukraine’s attacks on Russia, which involved more than 1,000 drones, hit a key oil export terminal in St. Petersburg and targeted a major data center in the Leningrad region. One person was killed and five others were wounded in the St. Petersburg attack, which sparked fires at the Petersburg Oil Terminal and the city’s Ruchyi oil depot, Russian authorities said.

A mysterious Russian satellite came within less than 100 feet of a key U.S.-Finnish radar satellite Sunday, stoking fears that Moscow may be preparing to launch attacks in orbit and kick off an era of kinetic space warfare. Satellite tracking website Orbital Radar showed that at their closest point, the two objects had an estimated “miss distance” of about 85 feet. 

Such a close encounter is exceedingly rare and highly dangerous. The incident involved the Russian satellite Cosmos 2612 and the ICEYE-X36, a U.S.-registered satellite made by Finland-based company ICEYE that is believed to provide high-resolution space intelligence to the Ukrainian military. Tracking data suggests the near-miss was intentional on the Russian side.

Analysts have been closely tracking Russia’s Cosmos 2612 for days. Late last week, a report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, detailed the Russian satellite’s trajectory and potential intentions.

FBI counterintelligence agents are not doing enough to confront and thwart technology theft and other threats carried out by unofficial spies, mainly from China, according to a new report by Congress’ Government Accountability Office.

The report called on FBI Director Kash Patel to implement a plan to strengthen FBI partnerships with academic institutions to improve information sharing that can help defeat threats from what the report calls nontraditional intelligence collectors, or NTCs.

The congressional watchdog said greater FBI effort to mitigate threats from nontraditional spies targeting academia would bolster the broader mission of protecting American national security and economic interests.

The Egyptian military is preparing to increase its support for Saudi Arabia amid a major escalation in combat between Saudi forces and Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, following waves of Houthi strikes that have wreaked havoc on Saudi airports and oil facilities and caused growing unease in global energy markets.

Egypt’s National Defense Council, chaired by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, has decided to provide “all possible forms of support” to enable Saudi Arabia to defend its security, according to a presidential statement. An Associated Press report on the development noted that Saudi Arabia’s defense minister separately met Sunday with the United Arab Emirates president on ways to strengthen Saudi-UAE cooperation against the Houthis.

Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. security partner, and the Saudi-Houthi escalation has marked the latest front in the wider U.S.-Israel war against Iran. The developments come as Turkey and Pakistan, which inked a three-way security pact with Riyadh in August, have resisted providing offensive support to the Saudis.

The Houthis, backed and “armed by the murderous regime in Tehran, have intensified attacks that threaten not only Saudi territory but also vital energy infrastructure and maritime routes,” S. Rob Sobhani writes in an op-ed for The Washington Times. “Observers increasingly warn that attacks on Saudi energy facilities and Red Sea shipping lanes could have profound consequences for global markets.”

Saudi Arabia sits at the “heart of the global energy system. When threats emerge against the kingdom’s ability to export energy safely and reliably, the entire world economy feels the consequences,” writes Mr. Sobhani, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. “Inflation, higher fuel prices, disrupted supply chains and slower economic growth would be felt from Asia to Europe and across the U.S.”

He argues that “America has compelling strategic reasons to stand firmly with the Saudis at this critical juncture. The stakes extend far beyond the Middle East. American credibility, global energy security and the stability of the international economy are all on the line.”

• Oct. 20 — Toward a New Golden Age of Science: A Conversation with White House Office of Science and Tech Director Michael Kratsios, American Enterprise Institute

• Oct. 21 — A Discussion with U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Andrew Puzder, Hudson Institute

• Oct. 22 — What’s at Stake in the Israeli Election? Brookings Institution 

• Oct. 22 — Israel’s First Post-Oct. 7 Election: What Could Change? Middle East Institute

• Oct. 27 — Chemistry of Combat: Rebuilding America’s Energetics Base, Hudson Institute

• Oct. 28-29 — China’s Power: Up for Debate 2026, Center for Strategic and International Studies

• Oct. 30 — Gen. Dagvin R.M. Anderson, Commander of U.S. Africa Command, on U.S. Strategy and Security in Africa, Atlantic Council

• Nov. 17 — Special Threat Status Event: The Golden Age of Space, Threat Status

• Nov. 20-22 — Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada, HFX