Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia and China unite against the West
Russian President Vladimir Putin called the relationship between Moscow and Beijing exemplary during his video conference call with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on December 15.
The talks helped generate contracts for the production of over 150 mln Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccine doses with six companies, which now makes China the leader in Russian vaccine production, the newspaper writes.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the two leaders planned to discuss Washington’s and NATO’s "aggressive rhetoric," and according to a New York Times article they met as international tension was mounting. The West has been insinuating that Putin is setting the stage to invade Ukraine, while Putin is asking for NATO guarantees.
At the same time, Xi Jinping has to deal with a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics declared by the United States and other Western allied countries, along with US sanctions for the alleged persecution of Uighur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Andrey Ostrovsky, who heads the Center for Economic Research at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that the best way Moscow and Beijing could respond to international pressure is to strengthen their trade and economic relations and bolster military cooperation. "Russia and China, however, have said that they are not going to create a military bloc. Yet the good neighbor agreement on friendship and cooperation originally signed in 2001, has been extended for five years. I think that it has to be made clear to the US that if they continue to step up pressure, then the agreement on military cooperation will be signed," Ostrovsky said. He added that the two countries will be able to resist outside pressure if they are more involved in economic and trade relations. "Last year, the volume of Russian-Chinese trade amounted to $107.5 bln. And the volume of trade between China and the US is nearly $600 bln. In terms of investments, the comparison is also not in our favor. About $8 bln per year goes into Russia from China, while Russia barely invests anything into China. Hopefully, when the gas supplies from Yamal and Sakhalin to China begin, it will be possible to increase the volume of trade to $200 bln," said Ostrovsky.
Andrey Karneev who heads the School of Oriental Studies at the Higher School of Economics told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that it is complicated to predict how the parties will go about resisting the pressure. However, he agrees with Ostrovsky that increasing economic cooperation will serve both countries well.
Izvestia: What’s behind US Deputy Secretary of State Karen Donfried visit to Moscow
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov conveyed security guarantee suggestions to the United States via a letter given to US Deputy Secretary of State Karen Donfried during her Moscow visit.
Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said that on December 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping that specific suggestions were sent to the American representatives "aimed at developing legal guarantees for ensuring Russian security," Izvestia writes.
The main issues covered in the letter were focused on "the attempts made by the US and NATO to alter the military-political situation in Europe in their favor."
The American Embassy in Russia however reported that Donfried talked about the concerns the United States had on Russia’s stepped-up military presence on its border with Ukraine, while Ryabkov used the opportunity to talk about Moscow’s suggestions on European security.
Andrey Kortunov, who heads the Russian International Affairs Council, told Izvestia that the legally binding issue here is to amend the 1949 Washington Treaty, which according to Kortunov would "unequivocally define the geographical scope of NATO." However, that is something that will not be easy to achieve, especially technically. "The history of Russian-American relations shows that no matter how binding a treaty is, a country can easily withdraw from it. Ultimately, the question of NATO’s enlargement boils down to how to discourage countries from joining the alliance. They need to be provided with new opportunities to ensure their security in order to go that route," he said.
According to Kortunov, the US has an opportunity to be involved in conflict resolution, which is also important for the Biden administration.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: War between Israel and Iran looming
Mass media around the world have been buzzing about the possibility of an Israeli strike against Iran. Apparently, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has held consultations with the US on the matter and handed down an order for troops to be prepared, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes, quoting Reuters.
Potentially, Israel is displeased with how the US is handling Iranian politics as of late, and wants to have input on Iran's nuclear program, which threatens the country’s existence. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that no country other than Iran that possesses as many nuclear weapons has advanced as much in uranium enrichment. And while he admits that the Iranian government is not allowing visitors in its nuclear facilities, he says that it has enriched uranium up to 60%.
Benny Briskin, a former Netanyahu advisor said that the noise about a likely Israel-Iran conflict is aimed primarily at the European partners of Israel, the US, Russia and China to make them more concerned about the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.
Ludmila Samarskaya, a researcher at the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relation of the Russian Academy of Sciences told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that she thinks that Tel Aviv is trying to get in the way a deal being signed that it does not believe in. "There are no signs that if the negotiations between US and Iran are successful, that the world will come to an end," Samarskaya said.
Most likely, there won't be any direct military involvement, according to her, yet it is impossible to rule out "small-scale pinpoint strikes" to put the enemy in his place.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Otvet right on target
The Russian military has reported that it successfully tested the anti-submarine unit "Otvet" in the Sea of Japan. The first military exercise session has gone well, Rossiayskaya Gazeta writes.
The Marshal Shaposhnikov fleet entered the waters of the Peter the Great Gulf, where the ship had to detect and destroy an underwater target, which imitated a submarine. A source in the Defense Ministry told the newspaper that the target was found and destroyed.
Vikor Murakhovsky, a military expert and editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the Otvet system is a long-range anti-submarine weapon that is installed on surface ships. "If we compare, now the ships are equipped with the Package anti-submarine systems, which have a range of 10 kilometers, while Otvet, has a range of 50 kilometers," Murakhovsky said.
According to him, the complex itself is smart enough to find and destroy targets on its own. He added that "Otvet" can be considered a new generation weapon. "Of course, foreign manufacturers have similar missiles. But this is a significant step forward in the effectiveness of in combat against enemy submarines," he said.
Vedomosti: Gazprom ramps up gas deliveries to Europe
Since the beginning of 2021 to mid-December, Gazprom has exported up to 178.1 bln cubic meters to non-CIS countries, which is 4.8% more year-on-year, the company said on December 15. This time around, Gazprom supplied more gas to Germany, Turkey, Italy, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Greece, Slovenia, Switzerland, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Poland, Denmark and Finland than in all of 2020.
Yet, the storage facilities can’t seem to stay full. According to European underground gas storage facilities (UGS), which are used by Gazprom, there is almost two-thirds less gas than in mid-December 2020, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) indicated.
Vygon Consulting’s Maria Belova said that in 2019 and 2020 gas volumes in European UGS facilities significantly exceeded the norm. In 2019, this was due to expectations that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine would be terminated, and in 2020, because of the coronavirus pandemic. The actual gas deficit in Europe's UGS facilities is about 10 bln cubic meters, Belova pointed out.
Gas analyst at the Skolkovo Energy Center of the Moscow School of Management Sergey Kapitonov told the newspaper that in December, the average gas withdrawal from European UGS facilities, net of injection, was about 520 mln cubic meters per day. According to the expert, at such a rate of shipment, the complete emptying of the UGS facility will occur in about 128 days, that is, by mid-April. "Europe can go through the heating season, but just barely," he said.
Kapitonov added that on some days in January and February 2021, more than 1 bln cubic meters of gas were pumped out of the UGS facility.
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