MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. Baghdad cultivates its Moscow ties as it seeks to pursue a multidirectional foreign policy; the US plans to bundle military aid for Israel and Ukraine into a single funding package; and the Gaza conflict between Israel and Palestine puts Turkey in a difficult position. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Media: Baghdad charts course for multidirectional foreign policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani have held talks in Moscow. The Iraqi prime minister’s trip is notable in and of itself given that such high-ranking officials are not frequent visitors to Russia these days. Meanwhile, Al-Sudani’s visit comes amid a war between Israel and the Gaza Strip Palestinians, and thus the Moscow talks gave the parties an opportunity to express their view about events in the region, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

The situation within Iraq also remains complicated. The country’s economic status leaves much to be desired, and a dispute between the central government and Iraqi Kurdistan is still unresolved. Things are exacerbated by a rise in tensions between Baghdad and Washington. The Iraqi authorities are dissatisfied with the fact that US troops remaining in the country have not gotten rid of their offensive weapons, while Washington resents the activities of pro-Iranian forces in Iraq. Thus, the first meeting between Putin and Al-Sudani took place amid significant tensions internally within Iraq and externally in the greater Middle East.

"It’s no surprise that the Iraqi leadership is demonstrating a multidirectional approach and readiness to balance. In particular, Baghdad maintains relations with both the US and Iran. The Middle Eastern country will only benefit from reaching out to the Russian platform," Russian International Affairs Council expert Kirill Semenov said.

He points out that the overall attitude toward Russia is not as negative as it used to be. Attempts to isolate Russia have failed and the Russian-Iraqi talks in Moscow offer further proof of that.

Semenov also told Vedomosti that Iraq was trying to pursue a balanced policy amid sanctions on Russia, refusing to give in to pressure from the United States. "Iraq is certainly a difficult political partner for Russia because of its multidirectional approach, but, on the whole, Moscow can rely on Baghdad in the Middle East," the expert noted.

 

Vedomosti: US plans to bundle Israel, Ukraine military aid in single funding package

The administration of US President Joe Biden and members of the US Congress are mulling the option of bundling military assistance for Israel with increased funding for Ukraine. The White House presented the initiative as a potential way to ensure funding for Kiev despite resistance from some Republican lawmakers, Vedomosti writes, citing US media reports.

Tel Aviv has sent several requests for military aid to Washington since hostilities broke out on October 7. However, providing assistance to two countries at once may increase the budgetary burden on the US. While the Republican Party is divided over continued military and economic aid to Ukraine, it is nearly unanimous in its support for Israel. US officials and some lawmakers believe that the move to combine the two aid packages into one bill will induce the GOP to back the initiative as they would not wish to block military assistance to Tel Aviv.

The Biden administration is trying to sit on two chairs, realizing that Congress will pass any initiative on aid for Israel and thus seeking to attach the latest Ukraine aid package to it, Vladimir Vasilyev, senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, pointed out.

According to Denis Denisov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, the US maintains a special relationship with Israel and Kiev simply cannot compete with Tel Aviv as far being a foreign policy priority for Washington. However, in Denisov’s words, the Gaza conflict signals the start of a trend toward the resumption of frozen conflicts around the world and tensions can now be expected to flare up again in other "hot spot" regions, including Taiwan and Cyprus. Washington will be able to meet the needs of the Israeli military as long as Iran does not enter the conflict in the Middle East, Vasilyev noted. "Especially since, unlike the Ukrainians, the Israeli armed forces are dealing with militia fighters, not a regular army," the expert concluded.

 

Izvestia: Israeli-Palestinian confrontation puts Turkey in difficult position

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has held talks with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Ankara, which harbors ambitions of becoming the leader of the Islamic world, has always advocated for Palestine and fiercely criticized the Jewish state, while also actively boosting economic cooperation with Israel, Izvestia notes.

All has not been well between Israel and Turkey over the past decade. The two countries almost severed relations in 2010 following the Israeli armed forces’ attack on a ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip. In 2018, Ankara recalled its ambassador from Israel and expelled Israel’s envoy amid Gaza protests against the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. It was only in the summer of 2022 that the parties managed to fully restore diplomatic relations.

Andrey Ontikov, Middle Eastern studies scholar and publicist, notes that Turkey has found itself in a very uncomfortable situation. "On the one hand, it is seeking to assume the role of the Islamic world’s leader and defender of Palestine and the interests of its people. On the other, the Republic of Turkey has recently been increasing economic cooperation with Israel, and at a very rapid pace," the political scientist explained.

He added that gas fields had been discovered off the Israeli coast a while ago. Now, there are plans to ship the gas to Europe across the Mediterranean Sea. "Naturally, Turkey wants to benefit from these projects. The two countries also have common interests in Nagorno-Karabakh and share somewhat similar views in terms of their anti-Iranian approach," Ontikov said.

"Ankara is now caught between two fires. It has a neutral stance and is highly interested in making sure that the situation returns to the pre-Gaza escalation status quo ante so that it can support one party on the ideological front while de facto building bridges with an entirely different player," the expert emphasized.

 

Vedomosti: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent presidential run to harm both Trump, Biden

Environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of US Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of US President John F. Kennedy, both assassinated, has announced plans to run for president as an independent candidate, after earlier having thrown his hat in the ring as a rival to incumbent President Joe Biden for the Democratic Party nomination, Vedomosti writes.

Kennedy stated that both the Democrats and Republicans were right in accusing him of trying to attract voters away from them. According to an Ipsos poll published on October 6, 56% of voters are not enthusiastic about the candidacies of Biden and Trump, while 48% have a positive attitude toward Kennedy. The poll showed that as presidential contenders, Trump, Biden and Kennedy would garner 33%, 31% and 14% of the vote, respectively.

Kennedy’s participation in the election as an independent candidate will first and foremost harm Biden, Vladimir Vasilyev, senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, said. A certain segment of the Democratic electorate that is frustrated with Biden’s policies may be attracted to Kennedy, together with Democratic-leaning independent voters. However, in the expert’s words, Republicans are unlikely to vote for him because "they view Kennedy as an ordinary leftist."

Political strategist Pavel Dubravsky believes that Kennedy "will easily cut into the votes of both Biden and Trump." "I assume that he will take more votes away from Biden in [the November 2024 general election] because he will win over those Democrats who are unhappy with [Biden’s] policies. It’s easier for them to vote for Kennedy than for Trump," the expert explained.

According to Dubravsky, Kennedy still has little chance of winning the presidential election as an independent candidate, however, due not only to historical precedents but also to the specifics of his political rhetoric. "The two audiences that he is seeking to attract have diametrically opposed values. That’s quite problematic given the current extreme polarization [in US society]," the analyst stressed.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Uranium prices nearly double since start of 2023

Prices on commodity exchanges for uranium have jumped by over 48% since the beginning of the year. As a result, prices for the metal have reached a 12-year high. Meanwhile, there are no lingering doubts concerning Russia’s dominant position in the market, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.

The major nuclear accident at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 triggered a nuclear energy phobia across the world, causing uranium demand to collapse. However, the situation changed after the military coup in Niger in the summer of 2023. The West African nation boasts one of the world’s richest uranium reserves, followed by Kazakhstan and Russia.

"The current situation may disrupt the supplies of this raw material. Besides, a rise in prices may be due to growing uranium demand as many countries plan to develop their nuclear energy sectors," Dmitry Baranov, leading expert at Finam Management, noted.

"Not only has Niger refused to sell uranium at bargain prices, there is also another aspect that is even more important. Kazakhstan, the world’s largest uranium producer, is facing a sulfur shortage this year, which is necessary for the production of the ore," Boris Martsinkevich, editor-in-chief of the Geoenergetika.ru online magazine, said. However, the global market is not expected to see a shortage of uranium because the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Russia’s Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation and Kazakhstan’s Kazatomprom National Atomic Company have created a low-enriched uranium bank in Kazakhstan.

The world has long been dependent on Russian uranium supplies and now it is becoming an indisputable fact, Martsinkevich pointed out. Russia has purchased a block of shares in the Budenovskoye deposit in Kazakhstan. In addition, exploration work will soon begin in two African countries.

In Baranov’s view, uranium prices will primarily depend on how the global situation unfolds. "It’s also important to see where the nuclear energy industry goes and whether certain countries stick to their plans to build nuclear power plants," the expert concluded.

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