MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. US weapons deliveries to Ukraine via the EU could face delays; clashes in southern Syria raise alarm in Turkey; and the West intensifies efforts to destabilize security in the Asia-Pacific region. These stories have topped Friday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Media: US-EU weapons deliveries to Ukraine may face delays
The United States and its European allies are discussing ways to implement Donald Trump’s order to resume the supplies of US weapons to Kiev. Although the US president declared his intent to provide military aid to Ukraine, neither the volume of shipments nor delivery times nor the list of weapons meant to be handed over to Ukraine is clear at this point. Besides, the projected mechanism does not make it possible to quickly increase supplies and restore Ukrainian air defenses, Izvestia reports.
St. Petersburg State University Professor Natalya Yeryomina points out that Trump’s goal "is to make sure that money keeps coming to the US and is spent only on the projects that will serve the United States." "He will promise everyone everything but not at his expense; this is clear to the European Union and now, the organization is working to develop its own policy of support for Ukraine. However, there still is an understanding that nothing can be done without US assistance," the political scientist noted.
Ilya Kramnik, research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, believes that in the current situation, Germany is facing particular difficulties as Berlin is going to lose about half of its air defense systems and it’s unclear when the loss will be recovered.
Yelena Panina, director of the Institute for International Political and Economic Strategies, emphasizes that Trump has taken the step that globalists needed him to take. The political scientist wonders if the US president realizes where the road will lead himself and his country. "Given the 50-day delay in sanctions on Russia, he understands everything, or at least he can sense it on political instinct. However, the US president’s room for maneuver is shrinking with every passing week," the expert added.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Zelensky plans to strengthen the activities of intelligence agencies, which could spread to acts of sabotage on Russian soil, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes. This follows from a bill submitted by Zelensky and passed by the Verkhovna Rada, which has significantly increased the size of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). "The SBU already has a center for special operations," a Soviet security service veteran told the newspaper. "Apparently, the group’s powers will now expand. Martial law has been extended in the country, which means that a 'special period' continues, and the SBU’s size will exceed more than 40,000," he specified.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Fighting in southern Syria raises alarm in Turkey
Turkey is concerned that large-scale clashes between the Druze, Bedouins and government forces in southern Syria could trigger Kurdish self-defense units in the country’s northeast. The leaders of Syrian Kurds have set up land corridors amid massive bloodshed in the province of Suwayda in order to save the Druze population, they said. On July 16, Damascus announced a ceasefire in the south following active foreign interference. However, this did not ease the level of tensions, Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was the one who pointed out that the Kurdish self-defense units that control northeastern Syria had stepped up their activities amid a massacre in the Suwayda province. He warned Kurdish leaders against attempts to take advantage of the unrest. Fidan’s warning came as Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) continued a peace process. Notably, the Turkish authorities see Kurdish self-defense units as a PKK branch.
The Suwayda developments have most likely strengthened Turkey’s position in Syria because it was Ankara that provided a deterrent, preventing Druze militants and members of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from building coordination, Russian International Affairs Council expert Kirill Semyonov said.
According to him, the Israeli leadership "had a huge desire to drag the Kurds into the conflict." "It would have greatly exacerbated the situation for the government in Damascus," the analyst pointed out. "Everything could have been possible if not for Turkey’s stance. I think after the Suwayda clashes, a new agreement between the SDF and Damascus is highly likely to enshrine the alliance’s current position. Of course, as long as Turkey does not provide Syria with significant military support in order to eliminate these Kurdish forces," Semyonov added.
The Damascus government is now facing a double threat, coming both from the Israel-backed Druze in the south and the Kurds in the north, the expert concluded.
Izvestia: West attempts to weaken security framework in Asia-Pacific
Major military drills are currently underway in Australia and Taiwan, aimed at preparations for a future conflict. Western countries are consistently increasing their presence in the region, with Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula being the most likely future hotbeds of conflict, Izvestia writes, citing experts.
The US army has conducted a test of the Typhon missile system in Australia. This was the first such test carried out outside US territory and the second time a Typhon system was deployed to the Asia-Pacific region (the first one being to the Philippines). Missile launches are part of large-scale drills dubbed Talisman Sabre 2025, which are taking place in Australia and involve over 35,000 troops from 19 countries. What makes this year’s exercise different is that India participated for the first time. Besides, apart from sea, land and air, the areas where the parties practice cooperation now also include cyber operations.
The West seeks to fragment the Asia-Pacific by creating small alliances that won’t make it possible to establish a single security system in the region, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the newspaper. "This is one of the features of an Indo-Pacific strategy where small, narrow-bloc alliances are created instead of a single security system. As we see it, they are working to fragment the single ASEAN and Asia-Pacific space, while this space has contributed to the current economic and social prosperity of the region’s countries," the diplomat stated.
In recent years, the West has sharply increased the level of attention to the region, starting to build military alliances. In 2021, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on military cooperation, which was named AUKUS.
The European Union also carries out military and political activities in the region. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa on the sidelines of a G7 summit in June. The parties agreed to launch substantive negotiations on a security partnership. In December 2024, the EU made similar partnership agreements with Japan and South Korea.
Izvestia: London intensifies efforts to seize Russian assets
British political circles have increasingly discussed a possible confiscation of Moscow’s frozen assets, an official at the Russian embassy in London told Izvestia. This makes it clear that London is looking for ways to offset the costs of support for Ukraine. Meanwhile, the UK is unwilling to engage in talks with Moscow, Russian diplomats stressed.
Debates regarding the potential confiscation of Russian assets are underway in the British parliament, Richard Balfe, member of the House of Lords, told the paper. According to him, there is a group of people who are more interested in provoking Russia than acting within the law. The legislator noted that the majority of banking community members agreed such a move would negatively affect the reputation of Britain’s financial institutions.
So far, the UK has not developed a legal mechanism to seize Russian assets. However, some other countries already have such tools, Russian International Affairs Council Director General Ivan Timofeev said. "There is a legislation in Canada that makes it possible to seize a Russian asset and hand it over to Ukraine based on the Foreign Ministry’s request and a court ruling," the analyst explained. "There is also a mechanism in the European Union, where a percentage of profits from the sovereign assets is seized; what is important is that it’s sovereign assets, not private ones. There is also a US mechanism that allows the use of sovereign assets and assets involved in criminal cases, which also can be handed over to Ukraine," Timofeev specified.
Still, Yekaterina Arapova, deputy head of the Department of International Relations at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, is confident that the UK is unlikely to take practical action to confiscate Russian assets. "The banking lobby is quite strong in the United Kingdom, and it is urging the government to prevent such measures without proper legal reasoning," the expert noted.
Besides, London is also wary of the retaliatory steps Russia could take. The Russian assets stuck in the UK amount to about $25 billion, while British assets in Russia are worth some $18-20 billion. That said, Moscow could take tit-for-tat measures that would cause serious damage to British companies.
Vedomosti: Europe’s growing LNG imports may support Russian gas flows to EU
The export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to European countries (the United Kingdom and Turkey included) is expected to reach all-time highs in 2025, exceeding 126 million metric tons, Vedomosti reports, citing a forecast made in the June report of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
The jump in Europe’s LNG imports stems from a decline in pipeline gas supplies, high demand for fuel to be pumped into European underground gas storage facilities and a decrease in domestic production.
According to Europe’s Bruegel think tank, in 2024, Russia was the second-largest supplier to the EU after Norway in terms of gas volumes and the second-largest LNG supplier after the United States. Russia provided a total of 54.5 billion cubic meters of gas to the EU last year, a 21% increase from the year before. This year, the EU will need more gas to fill its underground storage sites before the heating season, Finam analyst Sergey Kaufman pointed out.
The suspension of Russian gas transit via Ukraine and increased summer demand due to hot weather have also contributed to the rise in LNG demand. His view is shared by Ivan Timonin, project manager at the Implementa company, and Andrey Smirnov, stock market expert at BCS World of Investment. According to Smirnov, another reason behind high LNG demand is that nuclear power plants in France and Belgium are currently undergoing repairs.
All these factors raise the likelihood that European countries will set a new record for LNG imports in 2025, experts said.
In the short term, the increase in Europe’s LNG demand may support Russian LNG exports to the region, Timonin noted. However, Russian LNG supplies to the EU are restricted from growing by sanctions, as Russia can only export gas as part of the Yamal LNG project, while all other LNG projects, even those that haven’t been launched yet, are under sanctions, Kaufman explains.
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