MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. Vladimir Putin unveils Russia’s new technological weapons; Israel and Hamas strive to uphold a shaky ceasefire in Gaza; and Donald Trump strikes a trade deal with South Korea during his Asia tour. These stories topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Izvestia: Putin reveals Russia’s new technological weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the testing of the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater vehicle during a meeting with service members undergoing treatment at the Central Military Clinical Hospital. This is what experts describe as a "doomsday weapon" due to its enormous destructive power, Izvestia writes.

Poseidon’s entry into service will mark a quantum leap in the development of Russia’s strategic nuclear forces, experts note. The vehicle’s main feature is its unlimited range, and its nuclear power unit allows it to stay underwater for extended periods. It is comparable in size to a small submarine but is a fully robotic vehicle with a unique ability to carry out combat duty stealthily along with traditional strategic nuclear forces, military expert Dmitry Kornev said.

"The move to include Poseidon in Russia’s nuclear triad establishes a new system of strategic deterrence. This factor, along with the deployment of other advanced weapons such as the Burevestnik cruise missile, cannot be ignored by our partners amid preparations for talks on strategic weapons. The creation of systems like Poseidon may become an additional incentive for Washington to resume negotiations and develop new rules of the game," Kornev stated.

The vehicle is currently undergoing underwater trials involving the Belgorod submarine, Kornev added. Serial deployment will follow. The Khabarovsk-class nuclear submarines will serve as the main Poseidon carriers. According to unofficial data, the flagship submarine may be launched soon. Each submarine of this class is expected to carry at least six underwater vehicles, ensuring that fleets remain on continuous combat duty.

 

Media: Israel, Hamas struggle to maintain fragile ceasefire in Gaza

Israel’s security cabinet is weighing all options in case the Hamas movement breaches the Gaza ceasefire, Dmitry Gendelman, advisor to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Izvestia. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) resumed compliance with the ceasefire deal after conducting strikes on the Palestinian enclave on October 28. Earlier, armed radicals attacked Israeli soldiers near the city of Rafah, killing a service member. With tensions rising, Hamas expanded efforts to locate the bodies of Israeli hostages, and Egyptian personnel with heavy equipment entered Gaza.

Palestinian security expert Muhammed al-Masri notes that new developments following the deployment of Egyptian search and rescue teams to Gaza show that the parties cannot break the ceasefire and restart military operations, especially since the teams have entered the enclave as mediators implementing the first phase of the deal.

Meanwhile, Israel has accused Hamas of staging the discovery of hostages’ bodies to impress international observers. Roman Yanushevsky, editor-in-chief of Israel’s Channel 9 website, told Izvestia that Hamas’ statements about "a sudden discovery" of bodies could not be accidental, as they largely reflected the movement’s domestic political game. According to Yanushevsky, what made Hamas do it was pressure from mediators and Israeli strikes. "It’s absolutely clear that Hamas was well aware of where the hostages' bodies were hidden. It’s not a ceasefire breach yet, but it’s a step that can lead there," he said.

Israel believes that Palestinian militants are buying time, while they have access to about ten hostage graves in the enclave, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. In addition, US President Donald Trump has made it clear that he supports the logic of retaliatory strikes. Still, according to US media, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet held a detailed discussion of retaliation options with the US leadership. The measures on the table include sanctions on Hamas, namely a significant restriction of humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, the resumption of full-scale military operations, and the redrawing of the "yellow line" that allows the IDF to control only half of Gaza.

Despite rising violence in the Palestinian enclave, the likelihood of a full-fledged resumption of hostilities remains low, Middle East expert Leonid Tsukanov told Izvestia. "Both parties are interested in preserving the fragile truce, which is why they are willing to maintain a kind of balance, limiting themselves to short-term retaliatory strikes," the expert said. On the other hand, he noted that Israel’s retaliatory actions far exceeded Palestinian attacks in scale and level of destruction, which could eventually set the stage for new, longer clashes in Gaza.

 

Vedomosti: Trump strikes trade deal with South Korea during Asia tour

Seoul and Washington have finalized an agreement on Seoul’s $350 billion investment in the US economy to conclude a trade deal, Kim Yong-beom, South Korean presidential chief of staff, told reporters after a meeting between the two countries’ presidents, Lee Jae Myung and Donald Trump.

Under the October 29 deal, $200 billion will be directly invested in the US economy, while the remaining $150 billion will go toward cooperation in shipbuilding led by the South Koreans, Vedomosti writes.

According to Kim Yong-beom, the deal reached by Trump and Lee will cut US tariffs on South Korean cars to 15%. Until recently, Hyundai and Kia automakers were at a disadvantage, facing a 25% tariff compared to the 15% imposed on their Japanese and European competitors, Olga Belenkaya, head of macroeconomic analysis at Finam, noted. She believes that ahead of his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Trump aimed to improve relations with US allies in the region.

Along with holding trade talks, Trump once again pledged to resolve the Korean conflict, noting that Seoul and Pyongyang have been technically at war since 1953. The US president expressed regret that he had been unable to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during his Asia tour but added that he would continue to pursue a settlement.

Trump’s visit will not significantly alter relations between South Korea and the United States, which rest on Seoul’s substantial military, political, and economic dependence on Washington, Ilya Dyachkov, associate professor at the Department of Oriental Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, stressed. Seoul remains a loyal US ally, largely constrained in its choices but determined to protect its interests, primarily economic ones, the expert said: "US pressure will strongly influence the position of South Koreans. If the pressure is intense enough, Seoul will have to concede, but it won’t be pleased and will certainly try to minimize its losses."

 

Izvestia: BRICS ready to welcome ASEAN members as partners

The BRICS group is prepared to welcome all Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members as partner states, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told Izvestia. Everything depends on the positions those countries’ authorities adopt, the diplomat added. This year, this status was granted to Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. Laos and Myanmar are also seeking to join BRICS, and even the pro-US Philippines is considering such a move.

Meanwhile, too many members could dilute the group’s agenda and lead to a conflict of interests. This is why it is the partner state category that is most likely to be broadened. Among the remaining ASEAN members, Laos is showing the most interest in cooperation with BRICS. At the BRICS summit in Russia’s Kazan in October 2024, the country’s President Thongloun Sisoulith expressed a desire to join BRICS, even though Vientiane has not yet submitted an official request. Meanwhile, Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone noted that BRICS has great importance for the entire region as it demonstrates significant achievements in economic development. Myanmar, which borders two BRICS founding members, China and India, also continues to reaffirm its interest.

A gradual accession of ASEAN countries to BRICS is boosting the group’s political weight as a representative of the Global South, strengthening its positions in the emerging multipolar world, said Yelena Burova, senior researcher with the Center for Vietnamese and ASEAN Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Contemporary Asia.

However, the current tense international situation could hinder the group's expansion. Many countries of the Global South prefer to remain cautious, wary of possible difficulties in relations with the West.

"The countries that hold a pro-Western stance on the international stage could obstruct the effective development of BRICS, but we saw at some point that their influence on potential members was overestimated, as was the case with Indonesia. In my opinion, the dilution of BRICS’ agenda is more dangerous, as it could discourage countries," Pavel Shaternikov, junior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, stressed.

 

Media: Government shutdown threatens to starve ordinary Americans

November 1 will be a fateful date for the United States. As the government shutdown has been going on for 29 days, millions of Americans are about to face a new reality, while 42 million people will lose vital food aid under a government program, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports.

"Three days left before a budget apocalypse hits the US," the newspaper quoted American studies expert Malek Dudakov. "Congressmen are urgently demanding Trump step in and adopt at least some budget. However, he seems more interested in touring abroad than addressing domestic crises that cannot be resolved anyway," he added.

Both Trump and Democrats are using the expiration of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a bargaining chip, Pavel Koshkin, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, told Vedomosti. According to him, Democrats typically blame Republican fiscal hawks for trying to cut funding for social programs such as SNAP. However, now conservatives and Trump are trying to shift the narrative and place the blame on the liberals. "It is a form of manipulation aimed at winning the information war around the government shutdown. Trump is unwilling to miss this opportunity because the stakes are high, it’s about securing congressional seats in the next midterm elections," Koshkin emphasized. The expert explained that Trump was taking considerable risk, but Republicans were sometimes better at influencing public opinion than Democrats.

Still, Democrats have been more successful in promoting their claim that Trump is responsible for the possible suspension of the food aid program, Vladimir Pavlov, researcher at the Institute for International Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, remarked. He did not rule out, however, that the administration would try to avoid suspending SNAP to prevent a notable decline in voter support.

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