MOSCOW, August 7. /TASS/. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visits Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Washington imposes an extra import duty on India for its Russian oil purchases. Meanwhile, Russian crude exports climb globally over the past week. These stories topped newspaper headlines across Russia on Thursday.

 

Izvestia: Russia, US committed to continuing dialogue​​​​​​

Moscow and Washington should preserve dialogue, and there is no wiser alternative to it, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin told Izvestia. On Wednesday, Moscow hosted talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, described as "positive developments" by the senior Russian senator. According to the Kremlin, Putin and Witkoff primarily discussed bilateral relations and resolving the Ukraine crisis. Meanwhile, Kiev has yet to respond to Moscow’s proposal to establish working online groups to address humanitarian, political, and military issues, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said. Russia and Ukraine are not even close to settling the conflict, and the media reported that US leader Donald Trump is expected to hold a personal meeting with Putin as early as next week to be followed by a trilateral summit with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.

Witkoff arrived in Moscow on his fifth Russian visit this year early morning on August 6. Special Presidential Representative for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries Kirill Dmitriev, who is also CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), welcomed Trump’s special envoy at the airport. In April, Dmitriev became the first Russian high-profile official to travel to the United States since the start of the special military operation.

Before departing for home, Witkoff visited the US Embassy in Moscow, from where he apparently briefed Trump on the outcome of his talks. A few hours later, the US president said that Witkoff had held "very productive talks" and that "significant progress was achieved." Trump later held a conversation with Zelensky, his second this week. AFP reported, citing a Ukrainian source, that NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, too, joined the call.

As bilateral engagement between Russia and the United States continues to evolve, last week, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Bakanov and interim NASA Administrator Sean Duffy held a meeting, the first between the heads of the two countries’ space agencies in seven years. And the Ukraine crisis remains a key issue in relations between Moscow and Washington. Since Trump’s return to the White House, Russia-US negotiations have diverged into two tracks of restoring bilateral relations and seeking a resolution to the Ukraine conflict, analyst at the Center for Mediterranean Studies at the Higher School of Economics Tigran Meloyan told the newspaper. Therefore, he said, it would be imprudent for Washington to reverse course here, in particular by making the Russia-US ties hostage to the Ukraine conflict.

Later on August 6, the White House threatened to impose secondary sanctions on Russia as early as on Friday. Sources refused to specify to Reuters exactly what restrictions could be introduced, even as experts doubt any economic pressure on Moscow could fast-track conflict resolution. "While anti-Russian sanctions could be tightened further, say, by imposing blocking financial measures against energy, financial, or tech majors and there is still room for such restrictions, one thing is clear that no imposing or toughening measures would affect either the negotiation process or Russia’s political course in general, which makes any pressure or ultimatums senseless," Polina Chupriyanova, an expert in international affairs, told Izvestia.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: US imposes extra import duties on India over trade with Russia

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose an additional 25% duty on India for its purchases of Russian oil. The tariff will come into effect within three weeks. And Trump’s order includes placing more taxes on importers of Russian oil.

The market reacted extremely weakly to the latest US move as it expected much harsher measures from Trump. Originally, a 500% or 100% tariff that would close the US market to Indian goods was considered. Or else, the global market would have tumbled, sparking a rally in oil prices had India refrained from buying Russian oil. However, a 25% tariff will not block India’s trade with the United States. And a three-week delay means that the decision may be reviewed or that there could be waivers, with talks and other diplomacy ongoing. The move sent oil prices down by 2% instead of causing any price rally as a result.

India is the largest buyer of Russian oil. According to data from S&P Global Platts, in July, Russia sold 1.72 million barrels per day to India, which accounts for almost a half of all Russian seaborne oil exports.

Energy expert Kirill Rodionov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that Trump’s taxes may threaten losses to Russian oil exports. The latest restrictions will likely slash legal Russian oil supplies to India and lead to a temporary rise in oil discount: oil exports may drop by less than 500,000 barrels per day with the discount of Russia’s Urals blend to the Brent benchmark potentially widening from today’s $12-$15 per barrel.

Valery Andrianov, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, gives a more optimistic forecast as he says only certain oil deliveries may be delayed for the time being. However, Indian politicians have already made appropriate statements refusing to cancel cooperation with Russia. India will continue buying Russian crude, the expert maintains.

 

Kommersant: Russian oil exports grow globally over past week

In the week of July 28, Russian seaborne oil exports increased by more than half to 480,000 metric tons per day from the previous week after a slump in late July, the Price Index Center has calculated. Shipment volumes returned to typical levels, and oil loadings from Novorossiysk reached a record high. Despite the US pressure on buyers of Russian crude, Russian oil has been flowing to India, China, and Turkey, even as growing uncertainty is impacting export routes, and delivery times and costs.

On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to place an additional 25% import tariff on India to go into effect on August 27 in response to continued purchases of Russian oil, the White House said. Should India stop buying Russian oil, it could benefit from increased output by OPEC+ countries, as that would spark an increase in Middle Eastern oil supply and push prices lower, the Price Index Center said. According to analysts, Indian Oil Corporation, the South Asian country’s largest oil refinery, has bought 4.5 million barrels of oil from the United States. However, experts doubt India can fully transition to US crude.

The Price Index Center said the bulk of US oil will be rerouted to European markets in the wake of the recent EU-US agreement.

Kirill Bakhtin, a senior analyst at BCS, said monthly Russian oil supplies to India amount to 1.8 million barrels per day, accounting for a 1.8% share in global liquid hydrocarbon production volumes. And India consumes 5.8 million barrels of oil per day, so its purchases from Russia play a significant role in the current market situation, he explains. Should Russian exports falter amid rising oil prices, all net importers across the globe will be hit, the analyst warns.

Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, too, sees risks of rising oil prices. Russia will not be able to reroute its oil exports away from India promptly, and it will therefore have to slash its crude output, he argues. This, the expert continues, will spark a global oil deficit and may even send oil prices rallying beyond $100 per barrel. The Price Index Center says even as China may increase its purchases amid a widening discount for Russian oil, redirecting all India-bound oil exports to China will hardly be possible.

 

Vedomosti: Bosnian Serb President Dodik removed from office by Bosnia

On August 6, Bosnia’s election commission unanimously voted to remove Milorad Dodik from his post as President of Republika Srpska, according to the national daily Dnevni Avaz. The commission announced on its website that Dodik has two days to appeal the decision. If the ruling stands, an early election to choose a new Bosnian Serb leader must be held within 90 days.

After the decision was announced, Dodik said he will not give up on his political survival. "There’s no surrender or giving up. Surrender is not an option," he wrote in a post on X. While the politician warned earlier this month that he will not allow holding an early election in his republic, on Wednesday, he announced his intentions to hold a referendum on whether he should leave office or not.

Russia supports the Bosnian Serb leader, as he regularly visits the country - he last attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June. On August 5, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the decision by Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Appeals Panel of the Court, which upheld the guilty verdict against Dodik as "unjust and anti-democratic."

Belgrade, too, condemned Bosnia’s decision. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic noted on Wednesday that the decision to strip Dodik of office was not simply disputable in judicial terms but also constituted a direct attack on Republika Srpska.

In Bosnia, an atmosphere for justifying a potential foreign military intervention has been gradually created, Research Fellow at the Institute of International Studies at MGIMO University Anastasia Maleshevich believes. "The situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina has been evolving in the context of a wider confrontation between Russia and NATO," Maleshevich said.

In general, the Bosnian election commission’s decision can be viewed as mere rhetoric, Oleg Bondarenko, a political consultant and the founder of the Balkanist project, argues. The president of Republika Srpska does not have a single ground to step down right now, he continues. "His powers expire in October 2026, and no new presidential election will clearly be held in Republika Srpska before that. Nothing will evolve from this story," Bondarenko believes. However, should Sarajevo have neither leverage nor the means to influence Dodik, it could turn to its allies outside BiH - in the EU, NATO or individual member countries - for assistance, he concluded.

 

Kommersant: Putin orders cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035

Russia will tighten its climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement now that the president has instructed the government to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to between 65% to 67% of the 1990 levels by 2035. The previous target of reaching 70% by 2030 was set five years ago. However, the tightening can be called largely symbolic as the emissions level stands at 63% already, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs argues, and, actually, it is only a question of preventing the compliance here from declining further. Industrialists view the new target as quite realistic and achievable without any extra effort, while experts say the decree sends a message to the world community that Russia is set to continue to adhere to its climate pledges.

The Economic Development Ministry said the 65% to 67% target forms the basis for Russia’s new national plans that will be presented at the 30th session of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to take place in Brazil on November 11-22, 2025. "Russia has significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by developing energy efficient technology as well as measures to increase the absorption capacity of Russian ecosystems," Deputy Economic Development Minister Maxim Kolesnikov said.

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs told Kommersant that the latest available data from 2023 showed that the country has already reduced its emissions to 63% of the 1990 level through "structural changes in the economy," among other things, and that the new target "takes into account the target growth rates in the Russian economy in a balanced way."

Yevgeny Tananaiko, director of operational risks and sustainable development at Kept, believes that the new target demonstrates how determined Russia is in maintaining the conservative approach here and fits into the country’s general strategy on the global climate agenda.

The tightening of the target looks quite symbolic to Vladimir Chuprov, executive director at Earth Concerns Everyone project. However, he added, this step matters ahead of the Brazil summit: "Russia, albeit with formal tightening, sends a message that it will adhere to global climate policies."

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