MOSCOW, July 17. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addresses UN Security Council in New York; Moscow has not received any proposals from Bern on a second Ukraine peace summit; and Trump wants to make America great again, again. These stories topped Wednesday's newspaper headlines across Russia.
 

Izvestia: Lavrov addresses UN Security Council, meets with counterparts in New York

Left to its own devices, the United States will push all of Europe and beyond into war, ​so it is up to Moscow to act as the voice of reason, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his speech to the UN Security Council on July 16. This month, Russia took over the presidency of the Security Council, replacing South Korea. The Russian minister flew to New York for several days of speeches and bilateral meetings with the main topic of discussion being the conflict in Ukraine and the search for a compromise, Izvestia writes.

The confrontation of the last few years has not greatly affected communication with other delegations within the UN – Moscow has not become a pariah there, the newspaper writes. On the first day of Lavrov's visit, in addition to meetings, he held a number of bilateral negotiations. One of the meetings was with Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis, and Lavrov also sat down with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

Szijjarto told Izvestia that the European strategy, basically a carbon copy of the American one, was a failure, because the sanctions hit Europe harder than Russia, and weapons supplies did nothing to change the situation on the battlefield, where more and more people are dying, so a ceasefire is needed as soon as possible. He added that Moscow is ready to compromise on Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Minister used his platform at the UN Security Council to talk about how the United States was trying to dominate every part of the world, dictate terms to anyone and everyone, and put its interests above the decisions of the UN. The Russian Minister also mentioned that the Americans have put the entire collective West in a very precarious position, while they themselves do not take much risk.

 

Izvestia: Russia has not received any proposals from Bern for new peace conference

Switzerland is working with Ukraine to continue the peace process to resolve the conflict, the Swiss press service of the Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. At the same time, the ministry emphasized that the peace process is unthinkable without Russia. That said, the Russian Embassy in Bern reported that the Swiss side has not sent any requests to Moscow regarding the holding of a second international conference on Ukraine. In addition, there has been no reaction from the EU to Vladimir Putin's proposals for resolving the crisis. Meanwhile, in the West there is a growing number of supporters of a settlement that includes a ceasefire and a de facto freezing of the conflict along the line of contact.

Elisa Raggi, spokeswoman for the press department of the Swiss Foreign Ministry, told Izvestia that Switzerland is in touch with Ukraine and working on further steps. At the same time, Switzerland is convinced that Russia must be involved in this process as it moves forward, she added. Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in Bern told Izvestia that the Swiss side has not sent any appeals to the Russian Federation regarding the holding of the second peace conference on Ukraine.

Switzerland expects the second "peace summit" to be held before the US presidential election – before November 5. At the same time, Zelensky also mentioned that Russia’s representatives should be present at the summit. The US State Department welcomed Ukraine's readiness to invite Russia, but the Kremlin reacted cautiously to the Ukrainian president's words, the newspaper writes.

German political scientist Eike Hamer told Izvestia that 80-90% of Westerners may support Trump and Orban's approach to ending the conflict.

The Russian expert community is cautious about Trump's plan. Alexey Fenenko, professor at the Faculty of World Politics of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, believes that neither the "Zelensky formula" nor Donald Trump's possible proposals are beneficial for Russia. According to the expert, freezing the conflict along the line of contact and Ukraine's non-aligned status will not guarantee that the West and the United States will stop providing military support to Kiev.

 

Vedomosti: Trump is preparing for conservative revolution

US President Joe Biden's team believes J. D. Vance, who was tapped as his Vice-Presidential running mate on July 15, will help Trump implement the so-called Project 2025, a set of proposals to reform the federal government put together by the conservative Heritage Foundation. Until the July 13 assassination attempt on Trump, his opponents called him a threat to democracy and accused him of trying to establish a dictatorship in the United States, including in connection with Project 2025. Trump himself has disavowed these claims several times. According to experts interviewed by Vedomosti, the potential policies will affect not only domestic policy, but also US foreign policy.

The more than 900-page report includes proposals to decentralize the federal government. In terms of foreign policy, the experts suggest increasing economic pressure on Beijing and preventing it from modernizing its armed forces. Russia is mentioned often in conjunction with China – it is emphasized that containing China should be the main priority. To contain Russia and China, it is proposed to modernize and expand the US nuclear arsenal.

Taiwan already has the full support of the US, senior researcher at the Institute of US and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences Igor Shkrobtak told Vedomosti. As for building nuclear potential, it is possible, but it will take more time. Despite the Republicans' desire to reduce overall budget spending, spending on nuclear forces will only increase.

If he wins, Trump will focus on China, but Russia should not expect to be given a pass either, Director of IMEMO RAS Fyodor Voitolovsky told the newspaper. The expert explained that it was Trump who actively continued to destroy the legal mechanisms governing relations between Moscow and Washington. "Therefore, there is no need to be under any illusions about Trump and his statements," he said. Iran should also prepare for difficult times and increased US pressure if Trump wins, the expert added.

The failed assassination attempt on Trump on July 13 significantly increased his lead in the presidential election. But from the point of view of Trump's electoral chances, Vance was the worst possible candidate, political scientist Yan Veselov said. At the same time, Head of Minchenko Consulting Evgeny Minchenko believes that Vance has a chance to attract voters in the Rust Belt states (Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan) because he appeals to the working class.

 

Vedomosti: US afraid of Russia transferring its experience of fighting American weapons to China

The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party has become concerned about information Beijing is allegedly receiving from Russia about how to counter US weapons, Vedomosti writes. Reuters, citing sources, reported that the congressmen had contacted Assistant to the President for National Security Jake Sullivan with a request to obtain relevant data.

The letter refers to reports in the media and think tanks about Russia adapting to American weapons, reducing their effectiveness, particularly with the help of electronic warfare against precision-guided munitions. Reuters did not mention specific cases, but the Western press has written about them several times before. For example, according to The Daily Telegraph, the use of Russian electronic warfare systems prevents the US HIMARS MLRS systems from hitting targets.

The United States apparently believes that relations between Russia and China entail the sharing of such military intelligence, researcher at the Center for International Security at IMEMO RAS Dmitry Stefanovich told Vedomosti. He added that interaction between the military departments of the two countries continues to grow. But even more "mundane" things, for example, the vulnerability of American armored vehicles, can be useful for Beijing, the newspaper writes.

In addition to the fact that China itself keeps a close eye on what is going on in the special military operation, Russia and China do exchange best practices, including during exercises, Director of the Center for Comprehensive Research and Development of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Vasily Kashin said. In addition to military contacts, which are viewed positively in China, the Chinese are constantly interviewing prominent Russian war correspondents and bloggers, he added.

For Russia, this is both a way to strengthen relations with China and to create additional problems for the US, the expert believes.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Europe increases gas purchases from Russia, reduces its imports from US

In the first half of 2024, the European Union increased purchases of Russian pipeline gas by 24%, according to the semi-annual report of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. The increase in supplies from Russia happened against the backdrop of a general decline in gas consumption in the EU and a drop in imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes. In addition to Russia, Norway and Azerbaijan increased their pipeline supplies.

In total, over six months, all EU pipeline gas imports reached around 80 bcm (6% more than in the six months of 2023), of which, according to various estimates, Russia accounted for about 15-16 bcm.

At the same time, LNG supplies to the EU in the same period decreased by 19% compared to the previous year to 47.2 mln tons. Despite this, global LNG exports to the world increased by 1.3% due to a premium for LNG sellers in Asia. They simply increased supplies to countries in the Asia-Pacific region and the Europeans had to return to the most accessible and cheapest gas – pipeline gas, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.

Maria Belova, Director of Research at Implementa, told the newspaper that in late spring the share of Russian gas in Europe was higher than the share of US LNG because of the planned maintenance shutdowns of large American LNG facilities.

The growth of Russian gas supplies is also connected with the low base effect of the first half of last year, Deputy Head of the National Energy Security Fund Alexey Grivach said. At that time, supplies were at their lowest level in 40 years. Now supplies are actually at the maximum possible level with the existing infrastructure.

However, the EU is not in danger of running out of gas – demand there is currently quite weak, which is why prices have been lower than in the Asia-Pacific region, where demand has been rising. Underground gas storage in the EU is already 81% full. Moreover, gas consumption in the EU continues to decline, albeit at the expense of the development of some industries.

According to Grivach, Russia can no longer consider the European gas market strategically important and promising. In the past, however, gas trade was mutually beneficial and convenient for purely geographical reasons. Therefore, it is possible that that it will be partially restored if the geopolitical background improves.

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