The Current Affairs Digest

Russian President Vladimir Putin met US envoy Steve Witkoff in St. Petersburg on Wednesday 21 October for about three hours. Afterwards the Kremlin's foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Putin agreed “in principle” to resume trilateral talks with the US and Ukraine after 10 November. Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner joined by video link.

Ushakov said the talks would focus on building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends. Earlier rounds, in Abu Dhabi in January and February and in Geneva in February, produced little progress beyond prisoner exchanges. Witkoff said there was “some degree of momentum”. Russia also freed American Stephen Hubbard, a retired teacher imprisoned on mercenary charges, which Witkoff called a goodwill gesture. Putin also said he was ready to consider restoring US-Russia economic ties, and Witkoff thanked him for lifting Russia's ban on diesel exports.

Ukraine's position differs. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a freeze in the fighting is the “minimum” Russia must accept, and that only a leaders' summit can break the impasse. The fighting goes on: Russian strikes in Kyiv killed three people and wounded 12, and Russia's Defense Ministry said it intercepted 373 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine launched more than 1,000 drones at Russia in one of its largest attacks of the war, and an oil export terminal in St. Petersburg caught fire.

The US role is under strain. Witkoff met Zelenskyy and European leaders in Oslo on Tuesday and plans to return there; Norway's prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, said Russia may be looking for diplomatic options. On Tuesday Trump pressed Zelenskyy to make a deal and said the US had gotten “absolutely nothing back” from Ukraine. Trump had said on 11 October that Russia and Ukraine agreed to an energy-infrastructure ceasefire, but attacks have continued.

The US Supreme Court is the country's highest court. This week, according to reports, it let New Hampshire restrict the use of student IDs in voting. In a separate unsigned order, it pushed back on lower federal courts changing election rules close to an election. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, meaning she disagreed.

Timing is the issue. Elections are run under rules that states set, and courts sometimes review those rules after challenges. The Court's order signals that judges below it should be wary of changing the rules while voting is under way or about to begin.

The ruling comes as the midterms near. The University of Florida's Election Lab counts more than 16 million people who have already voted. Democrats and Republicans are also making the Supreme Court a campaign issue in the fight for Senate control, according to the Washington Times. Democrats warn that if Republicans keep the Senate they could confirm more of President Trump's picks to the Court. The Court's 2026-27 term began on Monday 5 October with a climate-liability case, Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, and a veterans' benefits case. SCOTUSblog reported that it has also agreed to hear cases on a DOGE data dispute, prisoners' rights and what qualifies as “material support” for terrorism.

Voters are hearing the economy argued over. Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers debated in Detroit on Wednesday night. Mr El-Sayed linked rising gas and grocery costs to the war with Iran. Mr Rogers argued gas prices would be much higher if the US had not launched the war. Early voting has surged in Kansas and Texas, and Maine, North Carolina and Ohio each saw at least 30% more than four years ago, according to the Associated Press.