Media: Russia, US move towards mutual strategic containment

US National Security Adviser John Bolton wrapped up his two-day visit to Moscow on Tuesday, and its major outcome was a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kommersant business daily writes. The visit by the architect of Washington’s policy on Russia had been predetermined by US President Donald Trump’s statement on plans to withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and also Washington’s drive to become the leader of a new nuclear race.

One of the key positive results of Bolton’s visit announced at a news conference on Tuesday was the beginning of preparations on a new meeting between the Russian and US leaders. Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump are due to meet in Paris on November 11 for celebrations marking the centenary of the end of World War I.

Despite Bolton’s attempts to ease the new round of tensions in US-Russian relations, leading Russian experts are playing down his mission. The trip by Trump’s adviser to Moscow has concluded the era of a US-Russia strategic partnership, which began after the Soviet Union’s collapse, and became the first step towards a new model of relations: mutual strategic containment, they say.

"Besides the attempt to achieve military superiority, the US planned pullout from the INF accord has a political undertone. This concerns not only missiles and warheads. By breaking the INF deal, which had served as a basis for the previous partnership, the US lists Russia among politically illegitimate states such as North Korea," Senior Researcher at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Vasilyev told the paper. Like back in 1990-1991, Washington is trying to send Moscow a clear signal: "Give us an act of an unconditional surrender, since we are stronger," he noted.

According to Director of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences Fyodor Voytolovsky, under Trump, Russian-US relations built on a strategic partnership are switching to a new model of mutual strategic containment. "This model will include both symmetric and non-symmetric moves."

Expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Pyotr Topychkanov told Vedomosti the good news is that Bolton came to Russia without official notification about Washington’s withdrawal from the arms control treaty, meaning that the exit procedure has not been launched. The bad news is that Trump is sticking to his word and so the US pullout from the treaty seems to be inevitable. According to the expert, the key issue is whether the termination of the treaty will be acceptable for both Russia and the US, and the sides will be able to keep the 2011 New Start Treaty. Expert Mikhail Barabanov of the Moscow Defense Brief said the US had made a decision on leaving the INF Treaty to gain military advantages and therefore the development of intermediate-range missiles, including ballistic ones, seems to be inevitable.

 

Kommersant: Italy’s closer ties with Russia may stonewall talks with EU

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte arrived in Moscow on Tuesday and is scheduled to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, and also meet with Italian businessmen, Kommersant business daily writes. A number of trade and economic agreements are expected to be signed during the visit. On the eve of his trip, Conte said sanctions against Russia harmed Italian enterprises, but Rome was not planning to make a demarche during the discussion at the EU.

This October can set a record for the amount of visits by Italian leaders to Moscow, the paper says. Earlier, Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Matteo Salvini paid their visits to the Russian capital.

It’s noteworthy that Conte started talking about the need for closer ties with Russia shortly after assuming office on June 1. A week later at the G7 summit in Quebec he said that he hoped that Putin would attend the next Group of Seven. The Italian premier stated however that sanctions are harming both Italian and Russian businesses, but these restrictions could be removed only provided that the Minsk peace deal on Ukraine was fulfilled.

Meanwhile, Rome’s rapprochement with Moscow may worsen its talks with the EU, experts say. Rome and Brussels are currently at loggerheads over the Italian budget deficit for 2019. One of the worst scenarios is the EU possibly slapping a fine on Italy. According to the La Stampa newspaper, during his visit to Moscow, Conte may request the Russian leadership’s assistance in servicing Italy’s foreign debt.

 

Izvestia: Moscow to host talks on Afghanistan in November

The Russian capital is scheduled to host a conference on Afghanistan on November 1, three sources linked to the Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. The Moscow talks are a new platform created in 2017. It envisages holding consultations on national reconciliation in Afghanistan through dialogue between Kabul and the Taliban (outlawed in Russia).

The Kremlin’s Afghanistan envoy Zamir Kabulov said there are no obstacles to the meeting, and preparations for the talks have been underway despite the October 18 terror attack in Kandahar, which killed a number of senior officials. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, targeting top US and NATO commander Scott Miller. However, Kabulov said the incident did not affect the intention of the sides to hold the Moscow meeting.

Omar Nessar, Director of the Center for Contemporary Afghan Studies, also notes that the Kandahar attack would not impede contacts between the Taliban regime and the Afghan government. "I don’t think this attack will seriously impact the meeting," he said, explaining that the Taliban killed General Abdul Raziq, who was one of the Afghan opposition leaders.

Originally, the meeting between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Moscow was due to be held on September 4. It was expected that besides representatives of key regional powers, the Taliban would attend and agree to sit down at the negotiating table for the first time. However, a few days before the visit to the Russian capital, Kabul had refused to take part in the conference. Earlier, Kabulov told Izvestia that all the parties had confirmed their participation.

 

Kommersant: Nornickel may unveil its own ‘bitcoin’ next year

Russia’s major nickel and palladium producer, Nornickel, may launch its own cryptocurrency backed by its metals next year, company CEO Vladimir Potanin said in an interview with Kommersant business daily.

Nornickel’s stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency designed to minimize its volatility. This step is important for the company to get "cheap financing," Potanin told the paper. This move will enable Nornickel to cooperate with new investors "with very large total capital." Answering a question on the possible date of launching the new cryptocurrency, Potanin said: "I’d say the ballpark figure would be 2019." However, he noted "there is no direct answer to some issues," since the timeframe depends on "many factors."

The Russian billionaire also has projects on cryptocurrency exchange and derivative securities, which he plans to fulfill within the framework of his Interros conglomerate. The businessman said he would prefer to develop these projects in Russia, but may also launch them abroad.

According to Potanin, these tools would protect his assets from potential sanctions creating a space for "extra maneuvers." "That’s because not all of the sanctions can be used in cyber space. The digital system is more democratic and less subjected to them," the mogul noted.

 

Vedomosti: Russian agroholding to launch mega project in Uzbekistan

Russia’s major agricultural holding Eco-culture will launch an agricultural complex in Uzbekistan next year, Vedomosti writes. The company’s President Alexander Rudakov announced plans to build greenhouses on the area of 314 hectares to the tune of $472 mln. The company will also spend another $92 mln on 1,000 ha of gardens to grow cherries, apricots, plums and peaches. Eco-culture will build storage facilities, sublimate drying and deep freeze plants, he said.

Uzbekistan has a good investment climate - broad state support, not much red tape and major tax benefits for investors, Rudakov said. He noted that production costs there would be 10% lower than in Russia. Eco-culture is the first Russian company developing such a project abroad. Some 40% of goods will go to Russia and another 60% to China, South Korea, Japan, the Middle East and Europe, where there is a high demand for organic food.

In Russia, one hectare of greenhouses costs up to $4 mln, while in Uzbekistan this may be 30% cheaper, President of the National Fruit and Vegetable Union Sergey Korolev said.

Now Russia is able to produce 80-85% of its cucumbers and nearly 50% of its tomatoes. However, by 2020 it will be capable of becoming self-sufficient in producing these vegetables, Korolev said. So, it’s not surprising that investors are searching for new markets.

Arkady Abramovich, the son of Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich and owner of Greenhouse, had earlier announced plans to build 300 ha of greenhouses in the Far East for further exports to China, the paper writes.

 

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