Izvestia: US, NATO step up aircraft presence near Russia’s southern border

The US Air Force has stepped its presence near Russia's southern borders. Four reconnaissance planes, including an American U-2, were seen there in a 24-hour period. According to Izvestia’s military sources, NATO jets are gathering information on the situation in Crimea. Experts say that it is possible that the United States wants to "encourage" the Ukrainian government to act in the country’s southeast.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that three US Air Force and NATO member jets were spotted over the Black Sea in 24 hours. Another reconnaissance aircraft was pinpointed over the territory of Ukraine.

Washington is pressuring Russia like never before, former Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ordzhonikidze told Izvestia.

"These are coordinated actions. The political statements are accompanied by military demonstrations and vice versa. The US wants us to be nervous. But NATO countries are not ready for serious action or provocations. They know the strength of the Russian army. However, they can push their Ukrainian ally to take action against Donbass. Anything can be expected from Kiev," Ordzhonikidze said.

According to him this is a radar game. Why does the United States send ships and planes to the south of Russia? And why is an American fleet destroyer visiting Batumi, while fighter jets are deployed to Romania and Bulgaria?

Former Commander of the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army Lieutenant General Valery Gorbenko told Izvestia that there is no doubt that reconnaissance planes are seriously exploring the territory of Ukraine and the Black Sea from a military point of view.

Gorbenko explained that while maps of the area have been available for a long time with the help of satellites, NATO is now seeking out Russian air defense locations. "For example, they are searching for where and at what frequencies radar stations operate. During an attack, the air defense systems are the first to be targeted, the enemy needs to penetrate safe corridors for its aviation to infiltrate the area," he said.

 

Vedomosti: Polish-Belarus migrant crisis causing trucker headaches at border checkpoints

The migrant crisis is causing problems for cargo trucks from the EU to Belarus and into Russia,

Sergei Safoninkov, who heads PEC Global, told Vedomosti. "These are high-tech products, chemical products, children's goods, wood, furniture, plastic products, roofing and facing materials that go from Belarus and Russia to Europe," he said.

Ilmir Fayzullin, operations director at Gebruder Weiss, also mentioned rubber and related products along with animal products coming from Russia along this route, and spare parts, food and clothing to Russia. Safoninkov says that transport companies are already warning customers about delays of at least three days. If the situation is not resolved, delays might rise to 6-7 days. The Belarusian route makes up 80-90% of goods going to the Central Federal District, as well as transit shipments to Kazakhstan, Deputy Operations Director for Road Transportation of the AsstrA Group of Companies Vitaly Eremenko told Vedomosti.

On November 10, Polish government spokesman, Piotr Muller, said that due to the escalation of the migrant situation, Warsaw is considering completely closing the border with Belarus. Carriers are discussing what to do under such a scenario.

Senior researcher at the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vadim Volobuev, explained to Vedomosti, that Warsaw is unlikely to close the border, since this cargo transit route is important for the EU as a whole.

However, border crisis has already become extremely difficult. According to Eremenko, the wait to enter the EU already ranges from 30 hours to two days, and the line is 25 km long. Information about the 25-kilometer line was confirmed to Vedomosti by Vladimir Pavlovsky, founder and CEO of the Cargotogo logistics platform. He said that this situation is at the Bobrovniki checkpoint, while other lines are as much as 15 km. The border crossing time, according to Pavlovsky, now ranges from 40 to 80 hours, each day of truck downtime costs companies 500 euro. Evgeny Dyatlov, head of the procurement department for transportation of FM Logistic in Russia, added that trucks cost from one to four days in each direction, and also confirmed the length of the lines up to 25 km. Dyatlov predicts that the waiting time at the checkpoint will increase to four days.

 

Kommersant: China shifts gears in its development strategy

The Sixth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China is concluding its work, which sums up the "hundred year heroic struggle" by Chinese Communists in achieving the transformation of a backward Asian country into a 21st century superpower.

The main outcome will be a "historic resolution" defining a new strategy for the country’s development. Given the confrontation with the West, China is focusing on internal development, designed to make it a self-sufficient global center of power that does not depend on the external environment. Moreover, it is becoming the dominant military power in Asia and the largest economy in the world, which in its technological development is not inferior to the United States.

The main goal of the current plenum, held on November 8-11, was "a comprehensive generalization of the great achievements and historical experience of the 100-year heroic struggle of the Party."

"Traditionally, the last plenary session of the CPC Central Committee, preceding the party congress, is devoted to ideological issues. But this time, the significance of the meeting of 400 members and candidates for members of the Central Committee taking place in Beijing goes far beyond tradition," Yuri Tavrovsky, a Sinologist and author of books on the history of the CPC and its current leader Xi Jinping, told Kommersant. He drew attention to the fact that the plenum will adopt a "Resolution on the Most Important Achievements and Historical Experience of the CPC in a Hundred Years of Struggle." Similar documents were previously adopted in the history of the Chinese Communist Party only twice in 1945 and 1981.

"The growing contradictions with the United States, the weakening of the world economy during the coronavirus pandemic and the widespread slowdown of globalization forced China to make serious adjustments to its development model," Alexander Lomanov, deputy director of IMEMO RAS, told Kommersant. "The first step was taken in the spring of 2020, when PRC chairman Xi Jinping proclaimed a ‘double circulation’ strategy, which assumes that the internal cycle of production, distribution and consumption should prevail over the interaction of the Chinese economy with external markets. Without refusing to cooperate with the outside world, China is focusing on the domestic market in its new development strategy." According to Lomanov, this is the " fundamental difference between the new model and the previous one, in which China performed the function of a cheap assembly shop for foreign companies."

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Coal price hikes to make groceries more expensive in Russia

The energy crisis in Europe, Asia and America may lead to big losses for Russia. Exporters of hydrocarbons will receive additional profits due to world price spikes and increasing global demand. But for Russia in general, this will mean another wave of grocery price hikes, a shortage of familiar goods and a halt in production due to interruptions in the supply of components, the newspaper writes.

The Russian government wants to tackle the consequences of the energy crisis with restrictions on the export of fertilizers and food. President Vladimir Putin discussed these measures with the government on November 10. Nezavisimaya Gazeta’s experts warn that imported inflation could cause many more problems in Russia. Economists believe that the more effective measures to combat the consequences of the energy crisis are the development of competition between domestic producers, the reduction of monopoly tariffs and lifting the food embargo.

The main topic of President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the Cabinet of Ministers on November 10 was measures to prevent the negative impact of the energy crisis on the Russian economy. First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov delivered a presentation. Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev reported on the provision of the domestic market with food products.

President Putin instructed the government on October 25 to present a set of measures to neutralize the risks of Europe’s energy crisis on Russia, while giving an extremely tight deadline - until November 1. The Cabinet seems to need more time.

The most negative scenario of unleashing the energy crisis is a further rise in prices, although inflation has already surpassed all forecasts, Igor Nikolaev, director of the Institute for Strategic Analysis of FBK Grant Thornton, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

"Its further growth will create more and more problems. It will be difficult for us to resist the import of inflation. The costs of foreign producers are growing due to the rise in the cost of materials and energy resources, we are forced to buy these more expensive products," Nikolaev said. However, there are factors, especially internal ones, that can work to slow down inflation. "Prices, of course, are growing all over the world, but our growth rates are almost twice as high. If in OECD countries in September in annual terms inflation was about 4.5%, then in our country it is about 7%. This is primarily about stimulating competition. There are also reserves for reducing prices due to state regulation of tariffs of monopolies. The removal of "anti-sanctions" would lead to a decrease in prices," said Nikolaev.

 

Izvestia: Why Ukraine won’t stand in the way of Nord Stream’s launch

Germany may politicize the Nord Stream 2 certification process if it engages Ukraine in it, the European Parliament told Izvestia.

In October, Naftogaz Ukraine and the GTS Operator of Ukraine submitted applications to the Federal Network Agency of Germany (BNetzA) to participate in the pipeline certification process. As BNetzA told Izvestia, they are still being considered, but if Ukrainian companies receive the status of a participant, they will be able to provide their own conclusions during the procedure. However, the Bundestag told Izvestia that the inclusion of Kiev in Nord Stream 2's certification process is just a diplomatic concession from Berlin. This decision will not in any way affect the launch of the gas pipeline, since third parties to the process do not have the right to veto.

Despite the fact that the United States and Germany during Angela Merkel's farewell visit to Washington DC agreed to protect Ukraine from any possible consequences of the launch of Nord Stream 2, Kiev is still looking for new ways to harm the project. In July, Berlin and Washington agreed that in the event of Russia's attempts to "use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive actions against Ukraine," Germany would have to take measures to restrict Russian export opportunities, including applying sanctions, both at the national level. and at the European level.

Member of the European Parliament Gunnar Beck told Izvestia that if BNetzA greenlights Ukraine's applications, Germany risks politicizing the Nord Stream 2 certification process.

"In legal practice, third parties have the right to be heard in court proceedings only if it affects their rights. Economic interests are not rights. If BNetzA ties Ukraine to the process, it will be possible to speak unambiguously about politicization. In Germany, there is an influential part of politicians, especially among the "Greens", who want to prevent the pipeline’s launch under US pressure, although the project undoubtedly meets the interests of German business and the public," Beck said.

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