The Buddha’s LaughForeign Desk · Letters to the Abbot from the Laughing BuddhaThe world’s wars, as told by the people running them: the deals, the claims, the gadgets and the ceasefires nobody was told about. The joke is never the dead.
Iran’s negotiators left Qatari-mediated talks in Doha on Sunday, and a source briefed on them told Reuters difficulties were not the reason. Tehran says the talks rest on a seven-step plan it drew up in September; Abbas Araqchi was reported as saying a deal could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days, not seven. Opening the strait takes two days; agreeing to open it has taken since September.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, denied a Kyiv Independent report, sourced to Ukrainian officials, that Moscow wants a Putin and Zelensky phone call instead of a meeting. “Don’t trust them,” he said; Zelensky “should travel to Moscow.” Would Putin answer a call? “He hasn’t called yet,” said spokesman Dmitry Peskov. The Kremlin will take the call, provided it is made in person.
G20 foreign ministers meeting in Atlanta discussed keeping the world’s shipping lanes open, among them the Strait of Hormuz and Bab al-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea, Gulf News reports. The talks closed with no joint communiqué. The ministers asked tankers to pass through two narrow straits, and could not get a single paragraph through their own meeting.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Oct. 29 that Ukraine had agreed to pause strikes on Russian refineries until after the US midterms. Ukrainian officials told the Kyiv Independent nobody gave that order; one said Kyiv would keep hitting Russian oil sites but stop claiming the strikes, to avoid seeming to confront the Trump administration. The pause has been carried out in full, by the press office.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has removed Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia as head of strategy, plans and policy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CBS News reports. A Pentagon official said Sylvia was accused of leaking classified information related to the Iran war; he is the latest of several generals Hegseth has ousted. The war’s plans are now perfectly secure, there being nobody left in charge of them.
President Trump says the United States’ war with Iran “is going to get wrapped up soon,” without saying how, CBS News reports. Several outlets reported that Vice President JD Vance’s letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei was an attempt to restart peace negotiations; Trump said it was “a focused outreach intended only to help get medical supplies into Iran.” The war is ending soon, provided nobody is caught arranging it.
Finland’s president Alexander Stubb and Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre spent roughly 90 minutes on the phone with Vladimir Putin, their first known direct call since 2022, KSAT reports. Stubb called it “frank and substantive.” Both stressed they spoke only for their own countries, not for Europe, and Denmark’s prime minister said she was “very skeptical.” Europe finally has a line to Moscow, provided nobody mistakes the callers for Europe.
The Philippine foreign secretary, Ma. Teresa Lazaro, met Myanmar’s foreign minister Tin Maung Swe in Naypyitaw on Thursday as ASEAN’s envoy on Myanmar, Reuters reports. State media said the government is implementing ASEAN’s five-point peace plan in line with its national interests and sovereignty. In August the same government said it no longer needed an ASEAN special envoy. She was received with every courtesy due to a post it has declared unnecessary.
Iran’s armed forces chief, Ali Abdollahi, said on Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz “is completely closed,” Gulf News reports, calling US statements propaganda. A day later Iran’s Gulf Strait Authority warned the South Korean line Sinokor of “legal action” from 1 November, accusing its ships, Reuters reported, of the “highest number of crossing violations” in three months. Sinokor did not immediately comment. The strait is completely closed, and Iran has drawn up a league table of who crosses it most.
Hassan Daoud Kabroun, Sudan’s defence minister, told the state agency SUNA that more than 20 countries back the RSF with money, drones and fighters, Radio Tamazuj reports. Beyond earlier accusations against the UAE and Ethiopia he named none and gave no evidence; the UAE denies supporting the RSF. He also wants Sudan’s more than 100 parties merged into three or four. Of the two long lists, the minister will name only the one he wants shorter.
Qatari mediators have given Iran a new draft to end its conflict with the United States, an official told Reuters: a seven-day timeline of daily confidence-building steps, with several countries as guarantors, The National reports. Tehran has not commented publicly on the draft. An Iranian official said the country “welcomes any efforts aimed at negotiations, talks or collective consultation.” Asked about one draft, Tehran has welcomed all of them.
Volodymyr Zelensky says Moscow wants a separate agreement with NATO or the United States to reshape Europe’s security order, presented as “security guarantees” for Russia, the Kyiv Independent reports. “This isn’t the first time Russia has raised, in one form or another, the issue of security guarantees as they see them,” he said. The paper carried no Russian response. As Kyiv reads the terms, the man who kicked in the door would like a say in the locks.
Benjamin Netanyahu pressed Donald Trump for a joint strike on Iran before Israel’s election, CNN reports, citing two US officials and an Israeli source; Washington asked that any action wait. One reason Trump held back, an Israeli source said, was army chief Eyal Zamir’s warning that an attack could postpone the Knesset election. The Prime Minister’s Office called the report “fake news.” The strike, in this account, was postponed so that the election would not be.
Yuri Ushakov, Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy aide, told the state outlet Vesti that talks with Kyiv and Washington will wait for Russia’s National Unity Day, the Kyiv Independent reports: “The next deadline is now Nov. 4, our major holiday. After that, we will be ready to resume negotiations.” He called the first meeting after the pause a “trial run”, with no significant results expected. Unity gets a public holiday; peace gets a dress rehearsal.
The American envoy Steve Witkoff called Vladimir Putin “a humanitarian” after Moscow released an American prisoner on 21 October. Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent reports, has received 24 air defence missiles from its partners in the past 90 days. “Maybe not such a big humanitarian as Putin, of course,” Volodymyr Zelensky told ABC News. The title, unlike an interceptor, was delivered the same day.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, calls a Channel 12 report of a row between Benjamin Netanyahu and army chief Eyal Zamir over a new Iran directive “entirely baseless and false”. The report, citing unnamed sources, said Zamir wanted legal guarantees and signatures first. Katz also stated “unequivocally” that Israel had no intention of attacking Iran before the elections, which fall on Tuesday. An unequivocal guarantee, with a two-day shelf life and the signatures still to come.
The United States has issued travel advisories for 13 Middle Eastern countries, urging Americans to “reconsider travel” to Saudi Arabia over what it calls the risk of drone and missile targeting by Iran and the Houthis. Riyadh’s main airport has only partly reopened. A State Department official said the advisories were “not indicative of new capabilities from the Houthis.” It has taken thirteen advisories to announce that nothing has changed.
The Kremlin says Russia, Ukraine and the United States will meet in Abu Dhabi during the first half of November, in a trilateral format. Volodymyr Zelensky noted that a similar meeting planned for October never happened. Vladimir Putin said the talks should aim at a final settlement, not a short truce. A truce is ruled out for being short, an objection nobody has yet raised against the war.
Türkiye’s deputy foreign minister, Musa Kulaklikaya, told Anadolu that some Turkish aid for Gaza is being held at Egypt’s El-Arish Port, “just because they carry markings indicating they came from Türkiye.” He added that Ankara’s offer of 80,000 container homes has made no progress. The boxes reached the border on time; they are now being held for their passports.
Myanmar’s military government held peace talks in a Nay Pyi Taw hotel with a Naga armed group, the NSCN-K (AM), according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar. Both sides signed the meeting record and exchanged commemorative gifts. The government’s peace committee is chaired by Lt-Gen Yar Pyae, who is also the defence minister. Whatever else divides the war and the peace, they share a chairman.
The White House says Melania Trump “secured a ceasefire” in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine, to let aid in and residents out. The White House first gave 29 October as the start, a senior official in Kyiv gave 27 October, and the Kremlin says its military is still coordinating the timing. The guns may pause next week; the calendars have not agreed to a truce.
Sudan’s General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the army’s commander, says there is nothing to discuss with the RSF, which he calls a rebel militia that must surrender. “Whoever rules you will come only through elections,” he added, giving no timetable. He also ruled out any return for former prime minister Abdalla Hamdok and his allies. The election has no date, but its losers have been announced.
Russia’s Vladimir Putin met US envoy Steve Witkoff in Saint Petersburg on Wednesday, CubaHeadlines reports, citing EFE. Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin saw “little of practical value” in the proposals discussed in Oslo, and that Moscow is “in principle” ready for trilateral talks “around November 10.” Finding nothing useful in the plan, the Kremlin has proposed two more meetings to search it.
More than a dozen US officials have held a second round of secret talks in a month with Myanmar’s military-backed government, this time in Tokyo, Reuters reports. On the agenda were scam centres and heavy rare earths, which lie largely in areas held by ethnic armed groups. The State Department says it is “pursuing dialogue with all groups involved in Burma’s civil war.” The rare earths are with the groups at the other table.
At their sixth consultative meeting on Sudan, held in Geneva on Wednesday, envoys from 22 countries demanded an end to outside support for Sudan’s war, from mercenaries and funding to military hardware, Sudan Tribune reports. They agreed there is “no military solution.” The seventh already has its number; its date and venue, like the truce, are to be determined.
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu told Israel National News that in February 2025 he showed Donald Trump a plan to attack Iran and, on the fourth slide, asked him to join. A Financial Times report, citing three unnamed sources, says Trump stopped a planned Israeli strike this month; he calls it “incorrect” and will not describe the recent talks. Netanyahu releases his conversations with Trump about Iran on a delay of about twenty months, slides included.
Up to 500 Moroccan personnel have trained for Gaza’s International Stabilization Force, an unnamed Board of Peace official told The Times of Israel, but a proposed base still awaits Israeli approvals. “There’s limitations on what can be done by anybody given the election pressure,” the official said, hoping to go faster once Israel has voted. The stabilization force is ready the moment Israel’s coalition stabilizes.
US envoy Steve Witkoff, Volodymyr Zelensky, Norway’s prime minister and European officials are expected in Oslo for talks on a peace proposal, Axios reports, which Witkoff then hopes to present to Vladimir Putin in Russia. Jared Kushner is joining by video. Russia, which has to say yes, joins afterwards by being told.
Sudan’s Security and Defence Council, chaired by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, met on Monday and directed the authorities “to take measures to thwart the plots and relieve the suffering of the citizens,” Defence Minister Hassan Daoud Kabroun said. The council assured the public the measures are sufficient. What the measures are was not announced; that they are sufficient was.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia’s Direct Investment Fund, says the US Treasury asked his fund to “facilitate payments and solve tactical issues” for the diesel deal Donald Trump struck with Vladimir Putin. Dmitriev lamented “many layers of sanctions piled on top of one another.” They are now thick enough that the Treasury has asked Moscow for directions through them.
Malaysia received Myanmar’s coup leader-turned-president, Min Aung Hlaing, with a red carpet and an honour guard, while saying the visit did not amount to recognition. It is the fifth ASEAN state to host him since he became president in April. The bloc still bars him from its high-level meetings, which he is now attending one capital at a time.
Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine spoke on Sunday for about 40 minutes with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, his first call with senior US officials since Washington’s diesel deal with Russia. Donald Trump, defending a sanctions waiver, wrote that he does not want to “drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.” Keeping Russia at the table has cost a sanctions waiver; keeping Ukraine there, so far, about 40 minutes.
The UN’s Great Lakes envoy, Huang Xia, told the Security Council that the US and Qatar-led peace processes for eastern Congo have made “notable progress,” while the situation there “has continued to worsen.” The window of opportunity, he warned, “does not remain open indefinitely.” Kinshasa and the M23 signed a commitment towards a ceasefire in July 2025, and both remain firmly committed to the direction.
Iran’s army chief, Amir Hatami, says the Strait of Hormuz “will remain closed until the enemy respects the rights of the Iranian people.” US Central Command says “The United States and regional partners control the strait.” Britain’s maritime agency counted 125 outbound and 129 inbound transits, about 70% below pre-conflict levels. The strait is now open and closed at once, and both sides cite the same ships.
Iran’s foreign ministry “rejects any claim that Iran has played a role in Yemeni (Houthi) operations,” and has renewed its offer to mediate in Yemen. Yemen’s foreign minister, Afrah Alzouba, declined: “Tehran has made itself a party to the war on Yemenis.” The first qualification of a mediator is having no part in the war, and Tehran has issued a statement saying so.
President Trump says Iran has no navy or air force, that its army is “decimated,” and that Tehran was “ready to fold up.” An Iranian military official answers that the country’s air defenses “far surpass pre-war and wartime levels.” By Tehran’s account, the war has left it better defended than peace did.
President Putin says Russia is building a “security zone” inside Ukraine along the border and does “not plan to make this a subject for potential peace negotiations.” His spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, says it runs 660 km, 70% under Russian control, but did not say how deep it goes. Only one of its dimensions has been made available for comment.
President Trump has waived key Russia sanctions and tariffs in the Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 days before they took effect, among them tariffs of up to 100 percent on top buyers of Russian oil and gas. The waiver lasts until officials decide “further action is appropriate.” The deadline arrived on time. The tariffs did not come with it.
Israel’s COGAT says commercial trucks have stopped entering Gaza because Hamas demanded 10,000 shekels a truck and 30 percent of sales in cash, roughly halving entries to about 300. Hamas denies it, describing the payment as a contribution to a “voluntary community initiative.” The technocratic committee meant to run Gaza under the ceasefire has still not been allowed in. The toll booth, it seems, opened before the administration.
Myanmar’s regime-backed parliament has approved borrowing up to 2.1 trillion kyats from the central bank to cover the 2026-27 deficit, after approving loans from two Belarusian banks of undisclosed size. The deputy finance minister told parliament: “We are working to reduce reliance on Central Bank financing to boost state revenue.” The kyat reached 4,670 to the dollar unofficially, against an official 2,100. The reliance is being reduced, one trillion at a time.
Sudan’s army chief, Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, says he has written to President Trump “expressing Sudan’s commitment to peace efforts sponsored by the United States.” Washington wants both sides to accept the Quad’s humanitarian truce without preconditions. Last September it refused Burhan a visa for the UN General Assembly, a refusal the report links to his position on that truce. This time the letter went; its author, last time, could not.
Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico has booked talks with Ukraine in Lviv on 5 November and a revived Slovak-Russian economic commission on 25 November, a format that last met in 2021. He calls it a foreign policy toward “all four cardinal directions.” Slovakia sat out the EU’s €90 billion loan to Kyiv without blocking it. In Bratislava, a compass points wherever the next meeting is.
Ukraine has ended its three-day pause on strikes against Russian refineries, observed at Washington’s request; the Kremlin had said the truce’s scope was unspecified. “The block (on attacking refineries) is out. We’re done,” President Zelensky told the Financial Times, and predicted the next arrangement: “Maybe it will be gas. Definitely it will be gas.” The energy ceasefire lasted three days and has already been succeeded by a forecast.
Ukrainian officials say Starlink service was cut back overnight for terminals moving faster than 100mph. Elon Musk says “Any limits on speed or usage are decided by the US military.” Reuters sources say Washington threatened to withhold missile warnings to press Kyiv over refinery strikes; President Trump says the US has not stopped sharing intelligence. Poland pays the subscriptions. Everyone has denied the throttle except the throttle.
The UN has had a plan since March to keep fertiliser moving through the Strait of Hormuz: a coordination centre in Oman, ready within seven to ten days of a yes, needing only five ships a day. Iran and the United States have not said yes. The UN’s Jorge Moreira da Silva asked them to “let us work, let us do our job.” The war has found the one thing both sides agree to block.
Joseph Kabila, president of the DR Congo from 2001 to 2019 and sentenced to death in absentia last year on charges he denies, has launched a Front for the Refoundation of the Nation in rebel-held Goma, with the M23 inside it. An adviser says the aim is “to put an end to tyranny by any means necessary.” Peace talks are due in Qatar in November. Old presidents never retire. They refound.
President Trump says the Houthis are attacking Saudi infrastructure, “purposefully trying to drive up Oil Prices, probably prior to the US Elections,” and says US strikes across the region could grow after November. An AP-NORC poll finds nearly 70 percent of voters think the Iran war was not worth fighting. The President accuses the rebels of timing their war around an election, and has scheduled his own escalation for the day after it.
Sudan’s civilian anti-war coalition met the African Union’s mediators in Addis Ababa on 12 October, with envoys from the UN, the AU, the EU and the regional bloc IGAD, and Norway and Germany observing. Neither army attended. The meeting agreed to form a preparatory committee to set an agenda, identify participants and choose venues. The war’s two sides were absent; the room agreed to plan another room.
Myanmar’s junta recalled its ambassador to Thailand in September. Brokers tell The Irrawaddy his embassy routed passports through middlemen at 150,000 to 200,000 baht a head, including for activists on the regime’s own blacklist. “Even blacklisted individuals could get passports,” one said. A regime at war with its opponents has, it appears, also been issuing them travel documents, at a premium.
“Effective immediately, there is an ENERGY CEASEFIRE in the War between Russia and Ukraine. Both parties have agreed,” President Trump posted on 11 October. A senior Ukrainian official said Kyiv had no information about it and doubted Moscow had any either. Kyiv said it was waiting for details. Warring parties now learn of their own truces on social media, like everyone else.
Yemen’s truce has collapsed, a Saudi-backed offensive called Dawn of Yemen is under way, and the Houthis have a new theory of liability. After their missile reached Riyadh’s main airport, their spokesman said: “Saudi Arabia bears responsibility for any failed interceptions.” Asked if the US would join in, President Trump said: “We may. We’re going to look at it.” US media report it is already helping plan the offensive. In Washington, looking is a form of participation.
The Kremlin says President Putin has passed Iran’s terms for ending its war with the United States to President Trump. The same day, Western officials told Bloomberg that Iran has kept its missile and drone factories and that Russia is supplying it with missiles; Moscow’s defence ministry did not reply. Ten days earlier the US defense secretary said Iran’s “entire defense base” had been destroyed. Moscow, it seems, delivers both the olive branch and the restock.
Russia partially lifted its ban on diesel exports on 10 October, allowing 500,000 tons abroad. The ban dated from July, after Ukrainian strikes cut fuel output and Russia found itself importing petrol from India for the first time. Production is now “sufficient,” says Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak. Russia’s fuel shortages last exactly as long as nobody abroad is offering to pay.
The UN Security Council has renewed its Darfur sanctions for just two months, the second short extension running, after Washington withdrew a plan to widen the arms embargo. Sudan’s army-led government welcomed the result: the priority “must be enforcing the current measures rather than expanding them nationwide.” Translation: the embargo is failing to stop the other side’s weapons, so on no account should it be tried on ours.
President Trump says Russia will “immediately supply over 300,000 Tons of Diesel Fuel to the American and Global Marketplace,” with the Treasury issuing a short-term authorisation, to cool prices driven up by the war with Iran. Ukraine’s negotiators were due in the US the next day. President Zelensky called it “a weak decision.” Washington has solved the fuel shortage caused by one war by buying from the other.
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