This week we also covered the Alyoshki ceasefire with Ukraine and Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s attempt to shoehorn Canada into the EU<\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s diplomatic victories
\nFour years of unprecedented sanctions and an active conflict didn\u2019t deter four dozen African nations from sending delegations to Moscow for the third Russia-Africa Summit this week. Forty-eight out of Africa\u2019s 54 countries were represented at the summit, 22 of them by their heads of state.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Russia-Africa Summit: Putin\u2019s key proposals on trade, technology and Western finance alternatives<\/p>\n
More than 60 bilateral and multilateral agreements were signed, including a Russia-Africa Action Plan for 2027-2029, and a joint declaration opposing unilateral sanctions and the unlawful seizure of civilian shipping, pledging deeper counter-terrorism cooperation, and supporting increased African representation on the UN Security Council. RT covered the summit minute-by minute, and broke down Putin\u2019s plan to help bring about the \u201csecond awakening\u201d of Africa.
\nBefore he welcomed the African delegations to Moscow, Putin held a rare phone call with Finnish President Alexander Stubb \u2013 a figure repeatedly floated as a potential EU envoy to Russia \u2013 and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Putin later said that Russia welcomes \u201cany steps aimed at restoring full-fledged and comprehensive relations,\u201d and while the call brought the Russia\/Ukraine conflict no closer to an end, Russian analyst Sergey Strokan noted that it should serve as a warning to Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky that \u201cmetal fatigue is setting in across Europe\u2019s political machinery \u2013 and that time is running out for the regime in Kiev.\u201d
\nWith the EU nowhere to be seen, and Stubb and Store incurring the wrath of their fellow European leaders for even daring to speak to Putin, the tone in the US could not be more different. There, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov touched down in Atlanta for a meeting of G20 foreign ministers on Friday. Sanctions on Russian diesel exports have been lifted, trilateral talks between Moscow, Kiev, and Washington are slated for next month, and Putin has been invited to the G20 leaders\u2019 meeting in Florida in December. However, the most tangible result of Russian-American diplomacy came 5,000 miles away from Washington, in the besieged town of Alyoshki.<\/p>\n
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov takes part in the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, October 30, 2026<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0 Getty Images; \u00a0Michael Kappeler <\/p>\n
The Alyoshki breakthrough
\nMoscow and Kiev agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the frontline town of Alyoshki in Russia\u2019s Kherson Region last Friday, with both sides agreeing to suspend all military operations to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and prepare for civilian evacuations.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Frontline ceasefire EXCLUSIVE: Inside the aid mission to trapped residents<\/p>\n
The Kremlin confirmed this week that the ceasefire was coordinated by US First Lady Melania Trump, who said she was moved by the plight of Alyoshki\u2019s \u201celderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water.\u201d
\nUkraine had accused Russia of preventing civilians from leaving the embattled town, but residents who escaped earlier this month told RT that Alyoshki was besieged by Ukrainian forces, who carried out drone attacks on vehicles carrying food, fuel, and medicine.
\nAs Russian forces got to work clearing mines from the roads surrounding Alyoshki, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the humanitarian truce, if successful, \u201ccould set a precedent\u201d for other areas. The interactions between Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmitry Lubinets, who worked together on the ceasefire, certainly seem to confirm that cooperation is possible.<\/p>\n
Three elections, fewer answers
\nBrazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva narrowly defeated right-wing challenger Flavio Bolsonaro on Sunday, in the first of three major elections this week. After a first-round loss to Bolsonaro, whose father was jailed last year Brazil\u2019s Lula-aligned Supreme Federal Court, Lula won the runoff election by\u00a0 a margin of 51.79% to 48.21%, securing a fourth term in office.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Brazil handed Washington a setback it won\u2019t forgive<\/p>\n
The drama did not end when the votes were counted. Bolsonaro was ordered by the court to surrender his passports the following day, but he instead fled Brazil to the US, with the help of Argentina\u2019s right-wing government. After landing in Florida, Bolsonaro accused Lula of fraud, declared himself \u201cthe leader of Brazil,\u201d and pledged to \u201clead the opposition\u201d from abroad.\u00a0
\nUS President Donald Trump is a close ally of Bolsonaro, and it remains unclear whether Washington will turn up the diplomatic pressure on Lula in the wake of the election.
\nHours after Lula claimed victory in Brazil, former Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic lost his bid to extend his party\u2019s decade in power. Serbia\u2019s Student List defeated Vucic\u2019s SNS party by 53.03% to 38.97%, and despite accusing the students of doing the \u201cdirty work\u201d of \u201cvarious European countries and the American deep state,\u201d Vucic conceded and congratulated his opponents.
\nAlthough the Student List entered politics as an outgrowth of youth-led protests, its base is broader than similar pro-Western movements in the region. Student List representative Jovo Bakic told RT that his party will not sever relations with Russia or impose sanctions on Moscow, while representative Radomir Saicic has promised to negotiate long-term gas contracts with Russia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, the Student List has not yet chosen a candidate for prime minister, and Vucic has claimed that the party will walk back these promises in the coming months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
\u2018We are a country divided\u2019: Who will feel betrayed by Israel\u2019s next government?<\/p>\n
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced voters on Tuesday for the first time since Hamas\u2019 October 7, 2023 attack plunged Israel into a multi-front war. Netnayhu\u2019s opponents \u2013 most of whom differ little with the prime minister on matters of war and national security \u2013 accused him of corruption, incompetence, and failure to heed forewarnings of October 7. These arguments succeeded in destroying Netanyahu\u2019s right-wing majority, but left neither him nor the opposition bloc in a position to form a government.\u00a0
\nEnter the Arabs. Israel\u2019s Arab parties almost doubled their representation in parliament, and are now in a position to play kingmakers \u2013 if only Netanyahu\u2019s opponents would work with them. This outcome is highly unlikely, and as RT Middle East correspondent Elizabeth Blade reported, the only certainty is that somebody will be left feeling betrayed.
\nSpain\u2019s train tragedy
\nThe collision of two high-speed trains near the Spanish city of Toledo on Wednesday was the country\u2019s deadliest railway disaster in more than a decade. At least 69 people were killed and 179 injured when a high-speed Renfe AVE train struck a stationary Iryo train on the Madrid\u2013Seville line.<\/p>\n
The crash happened at a time of political crisis in Spain, after weeks of anti-government protests over housing and inflation. While the circumstances are still being investigated, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is already bearing the brunt of public anger, with the right-wing Vox party blaming Sanchez and the left-wing Frente Amplio coalition demanding political accountability.
\nFires were set outside the Spanish Transport Ministry in Madrid on Wednesday night, at a protest organized by the far-right Falange and Revuelta groups. \u201cHow many more people have to die before we throw these murderers and traitors out of our institutions?\u201d Falange spokesman Federico Campanero said in a speech.<\/p>\n
La manifestaci\u00f3n frente al ministerio de transportes exigiendo la dimisi\u00f3n de \u00d3scar Puente se calienta.
\nLa gente est\u00e1 hasta los cojones. https:\/\/t.co\/KGcoYNeIjU\u2014 Capit\u00e1n General de los Tercios (@capTercio) October 28, 2026<\/p>\n
Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s Canadian debacle<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Queen Ursula comes to Canada with velvet handcuffs<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Montreal on Thursday on what should have been a straightforward mission: secure Canadian energy and resources, expand trade links, and extract money for Ukraine and backing for the EU\u2019s latest push into the Arctic.\u00a0
\nInstead, she picked a fight with the EU\u2019s largest member states \u2013 France, Germany, and Italy \u2013 by insisting that Canada will become an \u201cassociate member\u201d of the European Union. Although the term \u201cassociate member\u201d is a legal fiction, the French, Germans, and Italians had insisted that she swap it out for \u201cever closer association.\u201d
\nVon der Leyen, as her subordinates have repeatedly complained to the press, is not the type to listen.
\nStar Wars becomes reality
\nIn space, not even Elon Musk\u2019s Starlink network is safe from Israel\u2019s sprawling spy-tech sector. RT has covered the activities of private spies in depth in our \u2018Wired for War\u2019 series, and this week it emerged that an Israeli advertising company targeted Starlink users in more than 200 countries with pop-up ads that allowed multiple Israeli spyware companies to plant surveillance software on their devices without their knowledge. The company was the largest purchaser of advertising space targeting Starlink users in more than 100 countries, with the leaderboard \u2013 Palestine, Syria, Libya, Yemen, and South Sudan \u2013 suggesting that its clients were more interested in picking targets than customers.\u00a0
\nFinally, the following video is not taken from an upcoming Star Wars movie, but from Antarctica, where footage of Russia\u2019s revamped Vostok Station went viral this week. Built in 1954, the \u201csci-fi fortress\u201d received a futuristic makeover in 2024, and now sits on stilts above the snow, 1,500km inland on Antarctica and operating in temperatures as low as -89C.<\/p>\n
RT has more fascinating details on the Metal Gear Solid-style complex here, and for more on the coming week\u2019s top stories as they happen \u2013 including the pivotal midterm elections in the US \u2013 keep an eye on our home page.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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