MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. Russia and Ukraine conclude their Alyoshki ceasefire, while Russia’s top diplomat Sergey Lavrov takes part in the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta. Meanwhile, a power struggle over control of Poland’s Constitutional Court breaks out. These stories topped Monday’s newspaper headlines in Russia.
Izvestia: Moscow, Kiev positive about results of Alyoshki ceasefire
The mission in Alyoshki has "successfully concluded," Russian ombudswoman Yana Lantratova said. Humanitarian aid was delivered to Alyoshki residents, and those who chose to leave the dangerous town did so. They have already been accommodated in south Russia’s Krasnodar Region, with some receiving medical assistance. The evacuees said many of them literally ate grass and lived under incessant Ukrainian aerial attacks for days over the past few days. The humanitarian ceasefire officially ended at 11:59 p.m. Moscow time (8:59 p.m. GMT) on November 1, but Lantratova did not rule out organizing new missions to help those remaining in the town leave. Washington, Kiev and Moscow have acknowledged the success of the campaign. It could create a positive backdrop for reviving trilateral peace talks, experts say.
"Our troops have accomplished all tasks as part of the humanitarian operation. The Ukrainian army was only required to keep quiet and not to open fire," military expert Viktor Litovkin told Izvestia. It was the Ukrainian army that blockaded the town by mining all roads leading to it with drones, which ultimately created a challenging humanitarian situation there, he recalled.
US First Lady Melania Trump, who mediated the ceasefire agreement, was satisfied with the results of the mission and expressed hope that it would help resolve the Ukraine conflict and "become the starting point for lasting peace."
The localized ceasefire in Alyoshki could pave the way for further humanitarian operations, Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Russian Government, argued. According to him, another humanitarian ceasefire under international monitoring could take place at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which would help establish a safe zone for personnel rotation and reduce nuclear risks.
In the event of victory in the November 3 congressional election, US President Donald Trump could show greater interest in targeted humanitarian initiatives, researcher at the Institute of CIS Countries Alexander Dudchak told Izvestia.
The successful completion of the Alyoshki operation will create a positive backdrop for reviving trilateral talks between Moscow, Kiev and Washington, experts argue. However, the humanitarian and political tracks between Russia and Ukraine obviously run in parallel, so one should not expect any automatic progress in the peace process. Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov stressed earlier that the upcoming round of talks in Abu Dhabi following a lengthy pause will be "a trial meeting."
Vedomosti: Russia’s top diplomat attends G20 Foreign Ministers’ meeting in US
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to the United States for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Atlanta showed that Washington and Moscow have been making little headway on Ukraine and have yet to tackle key issues. However, the positive sign is that America is still trying to act as a mediator, Pavel Koshkin, a senior researcher at the US and Canadian Studies Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vedomosti. According to him, this is reflected in more constructive remarks from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. "Against this background, Patriot supplies to Ukraine have been approved, but this should be considered in the context of long-term allied obligations. They are also trying to involve Russia in the diplomatic orbit," the expert noted. In the US understanding, Russia will remain a threat anyway, he explained, but the approach to relations with it is that risks must be reduced. The other issues, including the diesel deal announced by Trump on his Truth Social media platform on October 9, are linked to whether the Ukraine crisis will be resolved, the expert pointed out.
In this context, it cannot be said that Lavrov’s trip was related exclusively to bilateral relations between Russia and the United States, as the agenda was centered around issues facing the G20.
"However, Ukraine remains a key issue for the two countries. And no progress is in sight here. And it will be difficult for the Trump administration to pursue a constructive policy course in the next two years. In other words, the bilateral agenda remains hostage to the Ukraine crisis," Koshkin concluded. The difficulties in relations between Europe and the US do not alter the fact that Washington will have to take Brussels’ opinion on Ukraine into account, he added.
Among other things, Lavrov held talks with Rubio on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, the Russian foreign minister said at a news conference on October 30. The two top diplomats discussed "bilateral relations and interaction at multilateral venues, including the UN, the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, which is set to hold a summit in China’s Shenzhen in November soon," Lavrov said. While in Atlanta, he also held talks with his Japanese counterpart, Toshimistu Motegi, marking the first meeting with a top Japanese diplomat in several years.
Lavrov arrived in Atlanta for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on October 30. The two-day meeting that concluded on October 31 became a key event ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit scheduled to be held in Miami in mid-December.
Media: Potential outcome of political crisis around Constitutional Court in Poland
On Friday night, Poland came to the brink of a coup as a dispute broke out between Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Karol Nawrocki, supported by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, over control of the Constitutional Tribunal, the republic’s supreme constitutional court.
Last weekend, Nawrocki held consultations with political forces, but a way out of the crisis is still not on the horizon as the conflicting sides continued to accuse each other of attempting a coup and abusing power. Lawyers are at a crossroads as the current situation extends beyond the existing laws, and neither solution has any legal basis. The key paradox is that the body tasked with resolving disputes is at the epicenter of the dispute.
Many Poles view the developments as a power struggle between politicians who have gone too far. "What is happening is living proof of how a serious state can start morphing into a banana republic sooner than anyone expected," Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted Polish lawyer Marcin Matczak as saying. "All it takes is for politicians from the two most influential forces to decide that a violent confrontation could earn them more brownie points politically than compliance with laws," he argued. "The whole situation reflects a deeply divided society and a weak political class," the newspaper Fakt reported. According to it, "the current Polish political elites care neither about the state, nor about democracy, or about citizens."
The current situation around the Constitutional Tribunal reflects a long-standing conflict in Poland between the liberals, led by Tusk, and the country’s national-conservatives, led by PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Dmitry Bunevich, an advisor to the director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, explained to Vedomosti. Both Tusk and Nawrocki are using this conflict to rally their respective electorates ahead of the upcoming elections to Sejm, scheduled for next fall. While Nawrocki has managed to strengthen his position as the leader of the right-wing camp, a snap election is unlikely; and Tusk holds a majority in the Sejm and has no interest in such a scenario, Bunevich argued.
Tusk sought to demonstrate his strength, relying, among other things, on verdicts by European courts, Stanislav Kuvaldin, researcher at the European Union Research Sector at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO RAS), said. Tusk’s actions have led to the unification of right-wing forces, including those that previously had strained relations with one another, in Poland. In this light, Nawrocki is indeed strengthening his position as he has emerged as a leader of the right-wing camp - a significant development ahead of the elections due to take place a year from now, the expert told Vedomosti. According to Kuvaldin, protests may also continue, and even if an overhauled Tribunal begins its work, half of the political parties and a large segment of Polish society will simply refuse to recognize its legitimacy.
Kommersant: OPEC+ moves to keep oil output targets steady for fourth consecutive month
The seven OPEC+ countries once again put adjustments to their output policy on hold, agreeing to leave their December targets unchanged at the levels set in September. Despite rising production and exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the core oil-producing countries, including Russia, continue to produce below their assigned quotas. The alliance may resume output increases in the spring of 2027, provided its forecast of growing crude demand proves accurate.
At a meeting on November 1, the seven OPEC+ countries agreed to keep their December output quotas unchanged at the levels set in September, according to the organization’s decision. As a result, production levels have remained unchanged for four consecutive months. The OPEC+ producers raised their collective oil production quotas by 188,000 barrels per day (bpd) between June and September.
The decision to maintain current oil output levels was largely expected in a situation where supply volumes remain below the established limits and the market is paying less attention to OPEC+ decisions than to how the conflict in the Middle East evolves, Open Oil Market Director General Sergey Teryoshkin told Kommersant. According to him, the current level of quotas will likely remain unchanged until the end of 2026, and future decisions will depend on when and how the Middle East conflict is resolved.
OPEC+ may resume easing its output curbs next spring, before the peak season begins, if incoming data support its forecast for oil demand in 2026-2027, Andrey Polishchuk, senior oil and gas industry analyst at Euler, argued. OPEC expects global oil consumption to increase by 200,000 bpd in 2026 and by as much as 2.6 million bpd in 2027.
Media: Binance hack sends Bitcoin plunging
The Binance hack and a record $6.3 billion heist sent Bitcoin prices tumbling to $76,000. The crypto firm was hacked after its infrastructure was compromised, experts said. This means that Russian crypto custodians will have to implement multi-layered security measures, including cold wallets, key distribution and multi-signature protocols, to safeguard client funds when full-scale trading opens on the Russian cryptocurrency market. Such security measures will require significant investment from market players, meaning only a few of them will be able to build robust infrastructure.
A major decline in Bitcoin prices began on the night of October 29 after reports of the Binance hack emerged. Binance reported a heist of about $6.3 billion. "That could potentially be the largest heist ever in the history of cryptocurrencies," Shard, a Russian platform for assessing digital asset risks, noted. The downturn was further fueled by a massive outflow from ETFs that reached $643 million on October 30.
The Binance hack shows that "neither the scale of the company nor its billions of dollars’ worth of investment in security guarantees complete protection for its assets," Alexander Peresichan, CEO of Tehnobit Systems, told Kommersant.
Should the withdrawal of funds remain blocked longer than the stated period, the risk of a large-scale client exodus will increase, Managing Director of the Investment Business Development Department at Sberbank Roman Kozhura warned in an interview with Vedomosti.
The incident will likely prompt further scrutiny of the safety of Binance’s internal systems by the US Department of Justice and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Kirill Komalenkov, director for strategic communications at Bitbanker, argued.
TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews