Izvestia: Moscow says sanctions against Ukraine not attempt to ‘get even’
Moscow’s sanctions against Kiev will not be an attempt to "get even" with the Ukrainian people, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. The Ministry noted that various Russian agencies continue to hammer out their proposals for restrictive measures against Ukraine, reassuring that the sanctions lists would affect only those who are actively harming Russia's national interests. Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that side effects of the sanctions on ordinary Ukrainians are unlikely to be completely avoided, but these measures by Russia were urgently required, and Moscow will try to minimize damage to the population.
"It is safe to say that this will not be an attempt to ‘get even’ with the Ukrainian people, which Kiev has already rushed to declare. But those Ukrainians, who with their actions deliberately harm Russia’s national interests and violate the rights of its citizens, will undoubtedly end up on the Russian sanctions lists," the Ministry told Izvestia.
Similarly, the sanctions will be very tough, judging by the remarks coming from officials, Ukrainian political analyst, Director of the Kiev Center for Political Studies and Conflictology, Mikhail Pogrebinsky told Izvestia. "It is difficult to disagree with talk that sanctions would not affect ordinary citizens, who are not to blame for the policies of the current authorities. Surely there will be sanctions against individuals," the Ukrainian expert told Izvestia.
Most likely, Moscow will introduce personal sanctions similar to those that the United States has slapped on Russian businessmen and politicians, Deputy Director of the Institute of CIS Countries Vladimir Evseev told the newspaper. According to him, when it comes to sanctions of this kind, they are bound to affect ordinary citizens somehow.
"Russia will try to do everything possible so that the damage to ordinary Ukrainians is minimal. If restrictions are imposed against a big businessman, then some part of the population, naturally, will indirectly feel it. However, Moscow was compelled to take these measures, and besides, they were not taken immediately after the slew of unfriendly steps from Ukraine," the analyst explained to Izvestia.
Izvestia: Leaders of Russia, Turkey, France, and Germany to discuss Syria
The leaders of Russia, Turkey, France, and Germany will meet in Istanbul on October 27 to discuss the conflict in Syria, and debate over the war-torn country’s future. The press service of German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Izvestia that creating a constitutional commission in Syria and discussing the Russian-Turkish agreement in Sochi should top the agenda. The French Foreign Ministry told Izvestia that they are hoping for further cooperation between representatives of the ‘small group’ and the Astana trio. At the same time, Damascus believes that the summit will initiate the removal of EU sanctions against the Arab republic, the People’s Council of Syria told Izvestia.
Germany, France and members of the ‘small group’, represent an irreconcilable position on the issue of restoring the country's infrastructure destroyed during the conflict that has been raging for nearly eight years, the newspaper wrote. Germany believes that funding can only be provided if the transition of power is successful, based on UN Resolution 2254. The press service of the French Foreign Ministry told Izvestia, Paris "is counting on support from Russia" and the "Astana guarantors in convening the constitutional commission." They confirmed the desire of the French side to lay the groundwork for joint efforts by the two groups towards a settlement to the Syrian conflict.
The Russian position differs from the views of its Western colleagues primarily on the political transition and solving the country's humanitarian problems. Russia not only supports the creation of a constitutional commission, it became its initiator.
The Moscow platform’s leader of the Syrian opposition, Qadri Jamil, also spoke positively about the contacts of representatives of the two groups on the Syrian settlement. He told Izvestia that political negotiations between them would contribute to the development of common solutions, even in spite of the current contradictions.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: US ditching arms treaties over global instability fears
Moscow seems to have calmly accepted Washington’s decision to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), and might react the same way to the United States possibly withdrawing from the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) that is in effect until 2021, Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been ready and waiting for this and will respond to these steps "quickly and efficiently."
It is not completely clear why the United States decided to cease participation in nuclear treaties with the Russian Federation. Many Russian and American experts understand that the breach between Moscow and Washington on the INF and New START accords is not so much related to the ‘condemnation’ of the opponent represented by Russia or China, but rather a testament to the current situation in the world, the newspaper wrote. That is, the fact that other ‘weapon factors’ are starting to affect the strategic stability and security of various states.
The US sees potential threats from Russian lasers capable of jamming satellite signals or destroying them altogether, as well as hypersonic rockets, and Beijing recently announcing the successful testing of such a weapon. At the same time, Vladimir Putin has repeatedly pointed to the successful tests of these types of weapons in Russia.Military expert Colonel Shamil Gareyev told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Washington’s build-up of its nuclear potential is "associated with the illusions that Russia, China and other countries are allegedly undermining stability in the world. However, this is not the case." According to him, in March 2018, President Putin, for the first time, said in his Address to the Federal Assembly that "Russia has the newest types of weapons. It is thanks to them that Russia would be able to maintain a strategic balance and parity with the United States and NATO for decades." However, the expert is convinced that a possible arms race is clearly unprofitable for Moscow and could undermine the overall weak national economy.
"Right now, Russia doesn’t have to push its weapon achievements, but rather sit at the negotiating table and have a substantive conversation with the Americans about reducing strategic and other weapons, eliminating tension between countries, and creating an atmosphere of trust and transparency," he told the newspaper.
Kommersant: White House Security Advisor visits Azerbaijan and Armenia
US National Security Advisor John Bolton is wrapping up his tour of the Caucasus, following his trip to Moscow. He plans to hold talks in Georgia on Friday, and the day before he visited Azerbaijan and Armenia, where he tried to garner support against two US rivals to the north and south of the Caucasus Mountains - Russia and Iran, Kommersant wrote. Speaking there about the importance of relations with Azerbaijan, Bolton explained that this is the only country that borders both Russia and Iran.
At the meeting in Baku, Bolton made it clear that Washington’s main goal is to enlist support in a growing confrontation between the US and Iran, Kommersant wrote. At the same time, Bolton tried to reassure Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, noting that although US authorities plan to increase pressure on Iran, they do not want this to harm their friends in Azerbaijan.
"Baku will never allow it to be used as a springboard for actions against its neighbors, because it threatens the security of Azerbaijan itself. At the same time, Azerbaijan understands quite well the importance of interacting with Washington and offers it a range of topics in which possible progress benefits both sides." Head of the Baku-based "South Caucasus" Club of Political Scientists Ilgar Velizade told Kommersant. According to him, this includes settling the crisis in Afghanistan.
Simiarly, in an interview with a local radio station, Bolton openly called on the Armenian authorities to buy American weapons instead of Russian ones. Head of the Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute Alexander Iskandaryan believes that US weapons sales to Armenia are unfeasible. "The cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the field of defense includes dozens of treaties, and it is impossible to change the situation so dramatically. The weapon standards of NATO and Russia are incompatible," the expert told the newspaper.
Kommersant: Russia’s government develops support measures for green energy
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has drawn up a number of instructions to departments, as well as Rosnano and Rosatom (key investors in renewable energy sources), who are to present common positions on a mechanism to further back green energy generation in 2025-2035 by November 20, Kommersant wrote. The document contains an analogue of a "road map" of measures, which include tying support measures to equipment exports, separating garbage incineration from traditional green energy, giving customs privileges to wind generation, and reducing the costs of loans and the tax burden.
The instruction also includes a requirement to separate the program for the development of "real" renewable energy sources from waste-burning thermal power plants. Incineration was introduced into the system of renewable energy sources in 2017, and it received a part of the ‘green’ quotas, which made investors of wind and solar stations unhappy. A source in the government told Kommersant that the support for waste-burning plants will have a different quota, but now the mechanism is not clear. "Waste-to-energy in many countries primarily includes disposal of waste after sorting and only then energy," a source in the industry told Kommersant.
Kozak also asked to submit proposals to reduce duties and reset the VAT for imports of components for renewable energy sources. According to Vladimir Sklyar from VTB Capital, the effect of reducing duties and resetting the VAT for renewable energy sources components can cut equipment cost by 10%, and a full compensation of the loan rate could lower the price of green energy by 25%, zeroing the income tax - by another 10%.
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