MOSCOW, October 17. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin and US leader Donald Trump agreed to hold another summit in Hungary during a phone call, while Europe prepares for a continued conflict in Ukraine. Meanwhile, India appears reluctant to halt its oil purchases from Russia. These stories topped Friday's newspaper headlines in Russia.
Vedomosti: Putin, Trump agree to meet again in Hungary
On Thursday evening, Moscow time, Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Donald Trump of the United States spoke by phone at Moscow’s initiative. According to Trump’s Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, the call lasted around two hours, while Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov mentioned a longer talk of almost two and a half hours. The main result, as stated by the US leader on his Truth Social media network, was an agreement to hold another meeting with Putin in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, though no specific date was set. The agreement came ahead of Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to Washington for discussions with Trump on October 17. The US leader said he would update his Ukrainian counterpart on his conversation with Putin.
Putin and Trump last held a phone call on August 18, three days after their first bilateral summit in Alaska. That exchange was followed by Trump’s talks in Washington with Zelensky and other high-ranking guests.
Statements from Trump and the duration of the call indicate that both sides continue to engage in substantive discussions on resolving the Ukraine crisis and address specific settlement parameters, Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, told Vedomosti. Cooperation on the Ukrainian issue between the United States and Russia is ongoing, and Trump’s positive reaction to his conversation with Putin shows that the momentum from the Anchorage summit remains intact, the expert added.
The call outlined the agenda of Trump’s upcoming meeting with Zelensky, Suslov stressed: "Tomahawks will not be handed over to Ukraine tomorrow. [Today’s meeting] will focus on the outcome of the US leader’s discussion with Putin," he said. Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, too, believes that no Tomahawk deliveries will be approved at Friday’s meeting. Trump will revisit the issue after the Budapest summit, Vladimir Vasilyev, senior research fellow at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, surmised. He does not exclude that during the call, Putin made it clear to his US counterpart that if such a decision is made, the ‘Anchorage spirit,’ favorable for dialogue, will be lost, and both sides will need to build bridges anew.
Vasilyev described the choice of Budapest as the next summit venue as a symbolic victory for Russian diplomacy. He views the Hungarian capital as a more convenient location for Moscow than Istanbul, and suggests that this may bolster Hungary in its dispute with the EU. Moreover, the upcoming talks in Budapest will symbolically mark Russia’s return to Europe, he added.
Izvestia: Europe preparing Ukraine for prolonged war of attrition
Russia has no doubt that the EU and NATO are seeking to keep the Ukraine conflict brewing, Vladislav Maslennikov, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Issues, told Izvestia. At a NATO Defense Ministers’ meeting in Brussels on October 15, Kiev requested additional Western aid, while Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said that European countries must be ready to support Ukraine for another three years. Experts argue that Kiev will be able to sustain its combat capability only through broader forced mobilization or if the European defense industry increases arms production.
"There is no doubt that the EU is committed to prolonging the Ukraine conflict and intends to move further along the path of escalation. The same applies to NATO, as shown by the October 15 meeting of the alliance’s defense ministers in Brussels," Maslennikov told Izvestia. "As for the EU’s resources, they are being absorbed by the Ukrainian black hole 'faster than expected,' as European bureaucrats admit," he added.
A large-scale anti-Russian indoctrination campaign is currently unfolding across Europe, Yulia Zhdanova, head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, told Izvestia. "In fact, Europeans are being prepared for a scenario in which the continent will sooner or later become involved in an armed confrontation. The notion that a Russian threat is unavoidable is now being instilled in people’s minds," she emphasized. According to Zhdanova, this anti-Russian policy is clearly reflected in the doctrinal and strategic documents of EU and NATO member states.
If Ukraine maintains its current governance system and tightens domestic policies, it will be able to preserve a degree of combat capability for some time, editor-in-chief of the National Defense journal and military expert Igor Korotchenko told Izvestia. "Kiev can forcibly recruit citizens and deploy them to the front line. Another factor is Western military support. Today, Poland is striving to play a key role within the European Union as it expects Ukraine to endure for three more years, since the EU’s program goal is to transition to a military track by 2030 and prepare for a war with Russia," the expert noted.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: India will not abandon Russian oil despite US pressure
US President Donald Trump claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pledged to stop purchasing Russian oil, noting, however, that "it’s a little bit of a process." That statement sparked debate within the government and the opposition in parliament in New Delhi. The Indian Foreign Ministry skillfully framed its official response, stating that the government puts the interests of domestic consumers above those of other nations. But the leader of the Indian National Congress party said that the prime minister had yielded to foreign pressure.
Indian NDTV television reported that Western countries have been criticizing India for buying oil from Russia since the conflict began in Ukraine. In August, the Trump administration doubled tariffs on Indian imports from 25% to 50%, demanding that New Delhi halt purchases of Russian oil. Modi rejected US demands, and Indian officials accused Washington of double standards, pointing to the fact that some of the US’ allies continue trading with Russia.
Commenting on the issue of Russian oil purchases, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "We rely on the official statements issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, as well as a statement from Beijing." "These statements are publicly available, and we are guided by them," Peskov explained.
Alexey Kupriyanov, head of the Center of the Indo-Pacific Region at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta in an interview that India has no intention of ending Russian oil imports. "Trump said that this is a process that will take some time. <…> Trump did mention a process. And, in fact, this process may take many years, if not decades. And India will buy oil from the Americans if they offer a competitive discount. Why not? Even if Trump manages to push [India into purchasing] a limited amount of US oil, it will not make a major difference. America will not be able to replace Russian supplies," he said.
Tony Sycamore, a market analyst at Britain’s IG, believes that India’s refusal to buy oil from Russia would help steady global oil prices. However, India may ultimately fail to meet Western leaders’ expectations, he acknowledged.
Izvestia: Europe to refrain from banning Russian nuclear fuel imports
Hungary is categorically against an embargo on Russian nuclear fuel imports, the republic’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto told Izvestia. According to him, no embargo will be introduced as several more EU countries, also, are planning to continue cooperation in nuclear energy with Russia. Earlier, the European Commission (EC) proposed refraining from signing new contracts on nuclear purchases from our country, but postponed the publication of countermeasures after objections. France, Slovakia, Hungary, and Bulgaria have all opposed sanctions on the Russian nuclear sector. Russia currently accounts for 20% to 25% of the EU’s uranium imports, and any attempt to replace these deliveries will push prices higher and lead to a drop in competitiveness, experts warn.
Now, there are 101 operating nuclear reactors in the European Union, of which 19 are Soviet-made VVER water-water energetic reactors, located in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, and Finland.
"Rosatom is one of the world’s largest players in the sphere of enriched uranium, present in all segments of the finished nuclear fuel market. It also reprocesses spent nuclear fuel, and cooperates with Europeans as well," Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation and the National Energy Security Fund, told Izvestia. The expert warns that any market reshaping will trigger a price rise in Europe, which already hurts the competitiveness of the European economy and keeps prices for consumers high. The EC has calculated that building its own supply chain will require €241 billion in investment, while the bloc’s budget amounted to €189.3 billion last year.
Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of Moscow State Pedagogical University’s Institute of History and Politics, stressed that Germany dismantled its nuclear industry, while France and Britain have lost the necessary expertise for its development. Add here difficulties with buying other energy resources, in light of the EU’s intentions to stop buying Russian oil and gas. In rational terms, the EU would not benefit from damaging relations with Moscow in peaceful nuclear energy as no country, including the United States, would be an appropriate replacement for Russia.
Kommersant: Brazil emerges as major source of DDoS attacks
In the third quarter, Brazil appeared as the leading source of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks (19%), surpassing Russia and the United States. The attacks mostly targeted fintech, e-commerce, and media. Meanwhile, bot traffic volume decreased by 37%, but the bots themselves have become more advanced, mimicking human behavior, experts note.
A report showed that Vietnam, the Netherlands, and Germany are among the top ten sources of DDoS attacks. Experts attribute the growing share of Brazil, Vietnam, India, and other developing markets to the rapid digitalization of these countries, where the widespread connection of vulnerable devices to the Internet coincides with low cybersecurity. Illegally leasing botnets for attacks on Russia has become unprofitable or challenging, so attackers have switched to leasing capacity in another country, Sergey Levin, head of the Anti-DDoS department at Solar Group, told Kommersant.
And the number of personal data leaks in Russia has fallen to 65 this year from around 135 last year, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev reported at a conference on October 16, referring to the number of officially registered major personal data leaks.
Product director at Servicepipe Mikhail Khlebunov notes that bots have become more sophisticated, as he explains that the decline in the number of attacks amid their growing complexity may suggest a shift from mass attacks to more targeted operations.
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