MOSCOW, October 14. /TASS/. Kiev’s allies lay the ground for their exit from the Ukraine conflict; the US and the EU hit Iran with fresh sanctions; and Zelensky’s pleas to Scholz to supply Kiev with long-range missiles go unheard. These stories topped Monday's newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Izvestia: How Kiev’s allies are going to get out of Ukraine crisis

As Vladimir Zelensky wraps up a series of visits to Europe, the Western mainstream media seems to be talking more and more about a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine conflict, Izvestia writes. Meanwhile, Kiev’s allies are tightening their belts at home, and experts predict a significant reduction in the volume of financial assistance to Ukraine in 2025.

Leading Western media outlets are already writing about the waning desire to help Kiev on both sides of the Atlantic, according to the newspaper. Just last week, Politico, The Guardian, The Economist, Fox News, The Washington Post, Le Figaro, Stern, Spiegel and others reported on this.

This change in narrative first started gaining traction in March 2023, although It seemed to subside from March to July 2024, when the hype around the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counteroffensive was at its peak. But after Kiev’s widely publicized military action failed, fatigue set in again. At the same time, rhetoric inside European countries is changing as well, where politicians demanding an end to hostilities are starting to be heard.

According to economist Alexey Bobrovsky, with chronic budget deficits and the gradual departure of business becoming the norm, the continent faces an uphill battle to turn things around. As for the United States, in the current conditions of political and economic uncertainty, the toxic topic of further financing Kiev is not even raised.

Valdai Club expert, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive Economic Studies at the Higher School of Economics Dmitry Suslov told Izvestia that at the moment Moscow and Washington are very far apart on how to end the crisis.

"Russia keeps saying that the cause of the crisis lies not in the territories, as the United States insists, but in NATO’s policy in Ukraine. Moreover, the Istanbul agreements signed by Moscow were much better for Ukraine compared to conditions in any future negotiations. There are three options for the West: escalate, freeze, or accept Russia’s conditions. The first is too dangerous, the second means capitulation. Thus, the West is trying to simultaneously put pressure on both Kiev and Moscow in order to freeze the conflict, but at the same time leave Ukraine in its orbit of influence as a proxy tool against Russia. This is a fundamental mistake and, of course, Moscow will not be satisfied with this option," the expert believes.

 

Kommersant: US, EU slap Tehran with fresh sanctions

EU foreign ministers will approve new sanctions against Iran on Monday amid swirling accusations that it is sending ballistic missiles to Russia. Europe is choosing to punish Tehran despite the new Iranian leadership’s desire to normalize relations with the West and its repeated denials of providing Russia with ballistic missiles, Kommersant writes. Earlier, the US administration introduced new sanctions against Iran’s oil sector, calling them a response to the missile attack on Israel on October 1. Washington also accuses Tehran of plotting to assassinate US presidential candidate Donald Trump. As attempts to further isolate Iran grow, Moscow and Tehran intend to finalize a strategic partnership agreement at the BRICS summit in Kazan.

Moscow and Tehran categorically deny information about Iranian arms deliveries to Russia for use in Ukraine. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov also denounced the accusations as false.

Meanwhile, in America, talk is ramping up about a possible Iranian terrorist attack on US soil. The target, according to numerous leaks, could be Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The increasing pressure on Tehran, coming simultaneously from Brussels and Washington, has put Iran’s new reformist president, Masoud Pezeshkian, in a difficult position, as it appears that he will not be able to achieve any reconciliation with the West in the near future. After addressing the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly advocating for cooperation with the US and the EU, President Pezeshkian is now forced to make urgent adjustments to his position. At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ashgabat late last week, Pezeshkian said that the US and Europe do not want the situation to normalize, while at the same time calling on Moscow to actively support Tehran in its conflict with Israel.

According to Pezeshkian, Tehran expects to complete the process of formalizing an agreement with Russia on strategic cooperation, which should take place during the BRICS summit in Kazan, scheduled for October 22-24. Earlier, the Russian government reported the practical completion of the procedures necessary for signing a new interstate treaty on comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

 

Vedomosti: Zelensky asks Scholz to supply long-range Taurus missiles, gets nowhere

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky was not able to convince German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to supply Kiev with long-range German Taurus missiles, nor could he get any guarantees on Ukraine’s fast-tracked admission to NATO, Vedomosti writes. The reaction of the Chancellor at the meeting, which took place on October 11, was reported by the German tabloid Bild, citing sources. According to them, Berlin "ignored" Ukraine’s requests, and Scholz did not give a clear answer to the question of whether Berlin would meet Kiev halfway after the meeting with Zelensky. Still, as Bild writes, the Chancellor did not give a categorical "no."

But despite the fact that Germany isn’t taking a firm position on the delivery of Taurus missiles and Kiev’s accelerated accession to NATO, its military aid to Ukraine continues. As Scholz stated at a press conference with Zelensky, Berlin has handed over to Kiev another aid package worth a total of 600 bln euro.

Berlin is now trying to carefully move away from a radical position on ending the special operation in Ukraine, research fellow at the Center for European Studies at MGIMO Artem Sokolov told Vedomosti. According to him, this is also influenced by domestic political processes in Germany itself - the parties of the right and left opposition are showing good results in the eastern parts of Germany, actively sending signals to resolve the crisis by diplomatic means.

As for the Taurus missiles, Scholz will most likely be able to keep Germany from providing such assistance to Ukraine, Sokolov believes. The Chancellor, the expert recalls, has previously said that German specialists are needed to use Taurus missiles, and that sending them to Ukraine would lead to the direct involvement of Germany, a NATO country, in this conflict and would only further escalate things.

The potential for deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Germany has already been exhausted, Senior Researcher at the Sector for Analysis of Political Changes and Identity at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations Alexander Kamkin believes. The pressure on Berlin as Ukraine’s main financial backer is building because the United States is busy with its own internal affairs, namely the presidential election. And if Republican candidate Donald Trump comes to power, the flow of military aid to Kiev may suffer.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia champions sanctions-proof payment system within BRICS

Russia hopes to create a system of cross-border payments that works around US sanctions, at least with friendly BRICS countries, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. The Russian project is based on a network of local banks that are not dependent on the dollar for direct cross-border transfers in national currencies. Such a settlement system could allow participating countries to save $15-30 bln annually.

"We intend to create this system on the basis of new technologies using digital capabilities. The result of the development of these proposals is our report on improving the international monetary and financial system, which will be presented to the leaders of our countries this month in the city of Kazan," Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov announced. According to him, the document contains such initiatives as the BRICS cross-border payments initiative, the BRICS interdepository interaction system, and the creation of its own reinsurance system.

Creating its own payment system will help solve problems with payments, analyst at Tsifra Broker Kirill Klimentyev told the newspaper. "Russia proposes to create its own payment system for BRICS countries, which will work with digital financial assets. This will allow payments to be made without using Western infrastructure, which creates the risk of payment cancellations or delays, and also leads to an increase in the cost of goods due to commissions," he explained.

At the same time, Western agencies reported that other countries had not yet consolidated on the idea. According to Reuters, most of the BRICS finance ministers and central bankers did not attend the pre-BRICS summit meeting in Moscow.

"The BRICS countries account for more than 36% of the world’s GDP. In 2006, this figure was 1.5-fold lower at only 22%. Despite the fact that developing countries account for 63% of global trade, the situation with investment flows is exactly the opposite, with two-thirds of them remaining in developed countries. This gap clearly shows the enormous potential of developing countries, which the current financial infrastructure does not allow them to reveal," partner and expert at Yakov & Partners Ilya Ivaninsky told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

 

Izvestia: Moldova may hit Russia with new sanctions after elections

The ruling party of Moldova plans to ramp up sanctions against Russia if it wins the presidential election and is able to pass the referendum on joining the EU on October 20, the leader of the opposition bloc Victory Ilan Shor told Izvestia. At the same time, the current authorities continue to put pressure on the opposition. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Transnistria proposed to the Moldovan authorities to hold a referendum on European integration on the territory of the unrecognized republic, but Chisinau said no.

"The current authorities will go along with whatever the EU tells it to do, if they manage to deceive the people and push through their European agenda. They support every move by Washington and Brussels and are ready to stand in front of a train to approve their sanctions against the citizens of their country. And they will sign all anti-Russian measures without giving any second thought to the consequences for the people," Shor told Izvestia.

Nevertheless, Moldova was not included in the list of eight countries - partners and candidates for accession to the EU, which fully joined the 14th package of anti-Russian sanctions, including restrictions on gas transit. The country, as a candidate country for the European Union, joined only half of it, the EU specified earlier.

Chisinau has never publicly announced which measures it has joined, Moldovan MP from the parliamentary bloc of communists and socialists Bogdan Tirdea told Izvestia. "There is practically an unspoken ban on export-import relations with Russia. For example, some of our producers cannot export fruit and vegetables," he said. The victory could untie the hands of Moldova’s current president, Maia Sandu, and prompt her to be even more restrictive, he added.

Nevertheless, at the moment it is obvious that Moldova is not able to implement all the sanctions adopted by Brussels against Russia, the newspaper writes. This is due both to geography and the socio-economic situation in the country. Its population cannot afford expensive energy resources, which remain the only alternative to Russian gas.

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