The Current Affairs Digest

Russia has agreed in principle to restart three-way talks with Ukraine and the United States, said Yuri Ushakov, a foreign affairs adviser to President Putin. He said the talks would resume after 10 November. They would be the first three-way negotiations since February, and Ushakov said they would focus on building a security system for Russia and Ukraine after the conflict ends.

The agreement followed a round of meetings. US envoy Steve Witkoff met Putin in St. Petersburg for about three hours, a day after meeting Ukraine's President Zelensky and some European leaders in Oslo. Ushakov called the Oslo proposals of little real value, though he later said they were a step in the right direction.

Kyiv's position is firm. Zelensky said he supports the push from Washington to restart talks swiftly, but insists only a meeting of leaders can break the impasse. Earlier rounds in Abu Dhabi and Geneva produced little reported progress beyond prisoner exchanges, and fighting continues with daily long-range strikes by both sides.

Why would both sides talk now? The reports do not say, but they show what each wants. Moscow frames the talks around a post-war security system for Russia and Ukraine. Kyiv wants a leaders' summit, not another round of officials. Washington, through Witkoff's shuttle between Oslo and St. Petersburg, is pushing for quick progress. Until a date is fixed, the outcome depends on whether the three can agree what the talks are for.

For readers, the lesson is to separate agreement to talk from agreement on terms. Ushakov said the plan is for talks after 10 November; he did not say a deal is close. Earlier rounds in Abu Dhabi and Geneva ended with prisoner exchanges and little else, so the new round will be judged by whether it produces more than that.

Serbians voted on Sunday 25 October in a snap parliamentary election, one called before the normal end of a parliament's term. Some 6.4 million voters chose among 18 parties hoping to enter the 250-member Parliament. President Aleksandar Vucic resigned the presidency in September to run again, this time for prime minister, who in Serbia heads the government.

The main challenge comes from a list backed by a student movement, led by cardiologist Ilija Srdanovic. The movement grew out of protests over the November 2024 collapse of a railway station canopy in Novi Sad that killed 16 people. Vucic has called the movement a foreign-funded coup attempt, which the students reject.

Pollsters CeSID and Ipsos put turnout at 67.6% by 7 p.m., described as the highest since 1992. Commentators had suggested that a final turnout of 65% or more would favour the students. The official results were not available in the sources used for this edition, so who won is not yet known.

Both sides had much to gain. Vucic was seeking a return to power in a new role. The students, whose movement grew out of the canopy collapse, were trying to turn months of protest into seats in Parliament. Which of them won was not known when this edition was prepared.

In a parliamentary system like Serbia's, voters elect parliament, and the party or coalition that can command a majority forms the government. That is why Vucic, having left the presidency, is seeking the post of prime minister. The result, once counted, will show whether the students' list or the Progressive Party has the stronger claim to that role.