MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov castigates Western presumptuousness in address to the UN Security Council; Beijing’s diplomacy causing stir in EU capitals; and Russia concerned about US activities in the Arctic. These stories topped Tuesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Izvestia: Why the world has come to a perilous brink in international relations

No one entitled the Western minority to speak on behalf of all of humanity, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a UN Security Council meeting. The top diplomat also pointed out that the world has probably reached a more perilous brink than even what prevailed in the Cold War era. Moscow is presiding over the council this month and the Russian delegation arrived in New York to take part in United Nations events, Izvestia writes.

The Russian foreign minister emphasized that the UN-centric system was going through a deep crisis due to certain members’ desire to replace international law and the UN Charter with some order based on rules that no one had ever heard of. These rules are simply being invented and applied as a means of preventing the natural formation of new independent centers of development, which actually is the objective manifestation of multilateralism.

In his address to the UN Security Council session, Lavrov clearly stated Russia’s political view on the current world order, noted Andrey Bystritsky, board chairman of the Valdai International Discussion Club’s Development and Support Foundation. "I hope that his position will be of great importance to everyone, given the current global crises and imbalances in today’s world," he said.

Russia took over the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council from Mozambique on April 1. A number of Western countries expressed concerns about Moscow’s presidency. Speculation on the matter will continue, Russian International Affairs Council Director General Ivan Timofeyev said. "As for the agenda that Russia is promoting, it mostly reflects pervasive problems regarding international relations, including international security and development issues. Attempts at manipulation and politicization on the part of our opponents will continue to accompany Russia’s activities on the UN platform," the expert emphasized.

The Russian delegation’s departure for New York was marred by problems with the issuance of US visas to representatives of Russian media outlets. Just before they were about to board their flight, it became clear that journalists in the Foreign Ministry pool would not be getting their US visas. A diplomatic source told Izvestia that Russia would be treating US journalists in the same way.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Beijing sows discord among EU members

The foreign ministers of European Union member states held a meeting in Luxembourg, at which they confirmed that the EU would continue to provide political and military support to Ukraine but failed to agree on a new package of sanctions against Russia. Formulating a common policy course on China proved to be even more difficult. While top EU diplomat Josep Borrell called for dispatching naval ships to the Taiwan Strait, France, Germany and Italy were united in their unwillingness to aggravate relations with China, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

Chinese diplomacy played a role in the failure of the EU member states to speak with one voice. Beijing’s envoys are given a careful hearing these days because China is the world’s No. 2 economic superpower. Earlier, Chinese Ambassador to France Lu Shaye told France’s LCI outlet that the countries of the former Soviet Union lacked sovereign status under international law, adding that Crimea had initially belonged to Russia. The task of calming Ukraine down fell to Chinese Ambassador to the EU Fu Cong, who pointed out that Beijing’s relationship with the EU could not be narrowly focused on the Ukraine issue alone. The envoy also added that relations between China and the EU should not be dependent on third parties.

Alexander Lukin, scientific director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, noted that, "sometimes, mistakes are made in diplomacy, or, on the contrary, cunning steps are taken." "Attempts are made to drop an unusual idea into the mix as a means of testing the waters. National leaders and high-ranking diplomats [can and do] employ such tactics. However, it cannot be ruled out that the [Chinese] ambassador to France unintentionally blurted out what the Beijing leadership has actually been discussing," the analyst noted. "Another possibility is that the Chinese leadership had instructed their ambassador [to Paris] to make such statements to see how the West would react. The puzzle will be solved if Lu Shaye is dismissed. However, if he retains his position, it would mean that he was not acting on his own initiative," Lukin said.

"As for China’s envoy to the EU, Fu Cong, he clearly was given instructions to make it clear ahead of [French President Emmanuel] Macron’s visit to China that Beijing does not support any of the parties to the Ukrainian conflict. He was supposed to use roughly the same rhetoric as with Russia. He keeps saying that China seeks good relations with all countries, including Ukraine. It’s not just words but a style of behavior. China needs partners in various parts of the world because it is the only way to make sure that markets remain open to Chinese exports," the analyst added.

 

Izvestia: Russia concerned about US activities in Arctic

The policy of the US and its allies is raising military and political tensions in the Arctic, Nikolay Korchunov, Russian Foreign Ministry ambassador-at-large and chair of the Senior Arctic Officials Committee of the Arctic Council, told Izvestia. According to him, NATO is betting on militarizing the region. However, experts believe that, so far, the North Atlantic Alliance is not interested in an uncontrolled escalation in relations with Russia over the Arctic.

In 2022, the US administration presented its updated 2032 National Strategy for the Arctic Region, which declares the need to increase the US military presence in the Arctic and step up joint drills with partner countries.

"Given the increase in the activities of NATO and its member states in the region, we can see that deterrence and confrontation missions are taking center stage in the strategic documents of these countries and the alliance in general. At the same time, they continue to pursue a policy aimed at weakening international platforms for non-military cooperation in the Arctic," Korchunov pointed out. According to him, the situation is exacerbated by the unwillingness of the US and its allies to maintain "an inclusive dialogue between militaries in order to enhance trust and increase predictability in the Arctic region," he added.

As NATO expands to Finland (which joined the alliance earlier in April) and Sweden (whose membership bid is yet to be approved by Turkey and Hungary), Russia remains the only Arctic power that is not a NATO member. According to analyst Nikita Lipunov from the Institute for International Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), the two Nordic countries' accession to the bloc will not have a dramatic impact on the military and political situation in the Arctic because both nations are already deeply integrated with the alliance. However, the deployment of NATO military infrastructure to Finland may pose a real threat to Russia in the long run.

Additional risks to regional security come from the increased activities of non-Arctic NATO members, namely the United Kingdom, Korchunov noted. It seems that London is poised to take advantage of the growing confrontation between Western nations and Russia in order to preserve its role as a key European NATO country and justify its Arctic ambitions, Lipunov explained.

Nevertheless, neither the US nor other NATO allies are interested in an uncontrolled escalation in relations with Russia at this point, including over the Arctic, Lipunov noted. This is evidenced by the fact that Western officials have been careful in making statements about the deployment of new weapons to Finland.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Sudan sliding into humanitarian disaster

Fighting in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum is becoming more and more intense, with the death toll reaching hundreds of people and the majority of those killed being civilians. Adding to the uncertainty are reports of an attack on a local prison and the escape of former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was supposed to be handed over to the International Criminal Court, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

The fighting is raging between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the two centers of power that engineered two recent coups in the northeast African country: a 2019 coup that ousted al-Bashir and a 2021 coup that overthrew the then-civilian government. Despite having superiority in heavy equipment, the army is unable to overcome the RSF, which is underequipped but has combat experience from the conflict in Darfur and the war in Yemen.

The embassies of the US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia and some other countries are evacuating their staff from Sudan. Other nations are sending military aircraft not only to evacuate diplomats but also resident citizens of friendly countries. Meanwhile, crisis resolution experts are traveling to Sudan to help prevent a humanitarian disaster amid medicine and water shortages.

"This is a situation where little reliable information from the ground is available. One of the few indisputable assessments that can be made is that it’s not about clashes between anti-Russian and pro-Russian forces. Both Dagalo (the RSF chief) and al-Burhan (the army commander) have fairly good relations with Russia. It also cannot be said that something unusual is happening. Civil war in Sudan and South Sudan has actually been going on since independence. Riots and deadly suppressions have always been a common thing here," Leonid Fituni, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for African Studies, said.

He noted, however, that destabilization may lead to unpleasant consequences for Beijing, which enjoys a strong position in the region. "Sudan does not have much oil resources but oil is transported from South Sudan via Sudan. China actively purchases oil from South Sudan. Attempts were made to create other supply routes but they generally failed. If military activities get worse, oil supplies may stop. In fact, Russia would benefit from it to some extent because we also sell oil to China," the expert noted.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Experts assess risk of growth in global oil refining for Russian exports

Global oil processing capacity is expected to rise by nearly five million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023-2024, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes, citing a forecast by RBC Capital Markets, one of North America’s biggest investment banks.

Experts interviewed by the newspaper believe that such growth will not hinder Russia’s export of oil products as it does not stem from attempts to drive them from the market. Moreover, increasing production capacities mean that, despite the green agenda, global demand for gas and diesel fuel will continue to grow.

Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov says that the increase in global oil production capacity only partially stems from anti-Russian sanctions and related changes in export flows. The main driver of the growth is the rise in global consumption of oil products seen since the end of the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that exporters need to boost production capacities to preserve competition in the oil products market.

National Energy Security Fund Director Konstantin Simonov points out that, despite expectations, Russia’s production of oil products has not fallen and exports have not dropped due to the EU’s embargo and price cap. The analyst believes that investor understanding of an inevitable rise in hydrocarbon demand is the main reason for growing investment in new oil refining capacities.

Institute for the Development of Technologies expert Kirill Rodionov notes that Asia-Pacific nations have the greatest need for new oil refineries. In addition, there is also the Russian factor. Before the EU introduced an embargo on the import of Russian oil products, forecasts were disappointing because Europe used to be Russia’s main market. However, these expectations were not met. According to commodities data and intelligence provider Kpler, Russia’s seaborne export of oil products rose by 31.2% year on year in March. There have been discussions in Russia that it is more profitable to sell final finished products instead of commodities, but it was only after the imposition of the EU embargo that full-fledged implementation of relevant plans began, Chernov stressed.

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