MOSCOW, November 27. /TASS/. Media leaks related to Russia-US talks may complicate the Ukraine peace process; the EU hastens to finalize the seizure of Russian assets by mid-December; and India is rapidly increasing Russian oil imports. These stories topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Media: What to make of the Russia-US talks leak amid Ukraine peace push
US Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff will visit Moscow next week to discuss a plan to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. Earlier, the US and Ukraine held a meeting in Geneva to finalize an updated version of the plan, removing provisions on the recognition of Russian territories, Kiev’s accession to NATO, and the lifting of sanctions. Meanwhile, a leaked transcript of an October Witkoff conversation with Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov isn't helping the peace push, Izvestia reports.
Such leaks complicate the negotiation process and increase the risk of its failure, Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house of parliament), told the newspaper.
The leak reflects a deep-seated resistance within the US establishment against the current administration’s foreign policy, said Andrey Klintsevich, head of the Center for the Study of Military and Political Conflicts. "Technically, only the Americans could get access to these files, which makes it clear that the leak is targeted against Trump as an attempt is being made to discredit both Witkoff and Ushakov," the expert elaborated. He suggested that certain US and British intelligence officials and members of the US Democratic Party could be behind the leak.
Sergey Sudakov, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences, told Vedomosti that the media leak was aimed at discouraging the Trump team from holding constructive talks with Russia. In his opinion, one of the main goals that Trump’s domestic opponents are pursuing ahead of the November 2026 midterm elections is to prove his diplomatic activities futile. According to Sudakov, although the US president is trying to resist attacks on his team, Trump may be forced to make certain compromises with foreign policy hawks.
Those playing a role in the leak could have included either members of the Trump team seeking to find out how the public would react to such a story or some White House officials interested in increasing pressure on Russia, Pavel Koshkin, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, pointed out.
However, the new scandal is likely to flame out quickly, having a small impact on the negotiation process in the short term, without nixing it completely. "Relations between Moscow and Washington are too important for their future to depend solely on how Ukraine talks proceed. Both countries understand this," the analyst emphasized.
Vedomosti: EU makes year-end push to tap Russia’s frozen assets
The European Commission is ready to legally justify the seizure of Russia’s sovereign assets frozen in the European Union to meet Ukraine’s needs, commission president Ursula von der Leyen stated. The EU is stepping up activities related to the Russian assets amid US peacekeeping initiatives. Notably, the asset-related provision has allegedly been removed from US President Donald Trump’s initial 28-point plan for Ukraine, which, according to media reports, stipulated putting $100 billion worth of assets toward US efforts to restore Ukraine, Vedomosti writes.
Yegor Sergeyev, senior researcher at the Institute of International Studies of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, points out that the EU has been holding talks on the Russian assets since the beginning of the fall. Meanwhile, the media have now focused on "Trump’s plan," which raises concerns about the use of Russia’s assets in and of itself.
Vladislav Belov, deputy director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe, says that the EU recognized in the summer of 2025 that it could no longer lend money to Ukraine directly. So Brussels turned to extra-budgetary sources of financing, seeing Russia’s assets as a basis for long-term funding for Kiev. As a result, EU officials formalized the idea of a "reparations loan" for Ukraine based on the actual seizure of 140 bln to 185 bln euros in Russian assets.
The potential seizure will undermine trust in Western financial jurisdictions, encouraging the transfer of assets to China, various regional funds, and commodity baskets, Belov went on to say. Sergeyev notes that the consequences of such a large-scale confiscation are hard to predict because there’s no precedent for an action like that. Still, even if the process of approving a legal mechanism for the "reparations loan" or similar schemes slows down in the coming couple of years, Russia will almost certainly lose part of its assets, Belov stressed. "However, it will retain the ability to offer legal resistance to full confiscation," the expert concluded.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta: India's imports of Russian oil hit five-month high in November
India's oil imports from Russia in November will reach their highest level in five months, Rossiyskaya Gazeta reports, citing foreign media outlets and Kpler data.
The rapid increase in Russian oil exports in November stem from Indian refineries’ expectations of supply disruptions in December as US sanctions on Russia’s two biggest oil companies - Rosneft and Lukoil - come into force.
Mark Shumilov, resource sector analyst at Renaissance Capital, points out that foreign media reports make it clear that oil shipments from Russian ports have been stable recently. But part of these supplies cannot be delivered to customers due to sanctions. Companies will be able to normalize supplies within two months after payment chains involving all counterparties are restored.
A key factor here is that India has a strong economic incentive to buy Russian oil with a discount rather than purchase oil from the Middle East or the US at full price. Given this, there is extra motivation to find workarounds to continue purchases.
According to Freedom Finance leading analyst Natalya Milchakova, supplies will slightly decline by 5-10% in December compared to November amid efforts to improve logistics. National Energy Security Fund Director Konstantin Simonov believes that even though Russian exports will go down in December, the drop won’t be significant. Moreover, supplies will recover as early as by the end of the year.
Notably, OPEC+ is set to hold a meeting on November 30. At their previous meeting, the group’s members agreed to keep output growth at the current level between January and April 2026. If the decision is confirmed at the upcoming session, it will be in Russia’s interests, Simonov noted. The market doesn’t believe that Russian oil exports will stop, which is clear from the fact that oil prices remain relatively low, the expert stressed.
Izvestia: Switzerland debates policy shift towards Russia
Changes in Russia policy are under discussion in Switzerland ahead of the nation’s presidency in the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Izvestia has learned. The country’s largest coalition, the Swiss People's Party, has called on Bern to take a neutral stance on the Ukraine conflict and normalize dialogue with Moscow. The goal is to use the OSCE as a platform to foster Russia-Ukraine dialogue and bring Europe closer to peace.
A spokesperson for the Swiss Foreign Ministry told Izvestia that the country intended to support any initiative facilitating dialogue between Russia and Ukraine. In order for Russia to return to the negotiating table, Switzerland needs to go back to being a reliable, neutral party because the country won’t be able to offer a framework acceptable to all and ensure a solid foundation for talks unless its neutrality is recognized, Jean-Luc Addor, parliament member representing the Swiss People's Party, told the paper.
Switzerland lost its neutrality in 2022, backing almost all of the European Union’s sanctions on Russia and significantly strengthening ties with NATO. The success of the country’s OSCE presidency will largely depend on whether the Swiss are really ready to act as an impartial party.
"We expect that Switzerland will strictly follow the OSCE rules of procedure and adhere to the presidency’s mandate. We hope that the Swiss presidency will be able to launch a process to restore the OSCE’s assigned role as a platform for honest dialogue and cooperation," Vladimir Khokhlov, press secretary for the Russian Embassy in Bern, told Izvestia.
The position of Switzerland and the OSCE may change if agreements are reached on resolving the Ukraine crisis, said Vladimir Olenchenko, senior researcher with the Center for European Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations. In addition, the US could also influence the organization's activities as the ruling Republican Party is in search of allies in European countries.
"The Republican party realizes that military gains from the Ukraine conflict are over, so Trump’s plan actually indicates a desire to take relations to a track where it would be possible to benefit from ‘peaceful’ investment," the analyst noted.
Izvestia: Taiwan seeks to deepen military cooperation with US
Taiwan expects to deepen military cooperation with the United States, an official at the island's Defense Ministry told Izvetia. Meanwhile, the US Senate has passed a bill revising long-standing restrictions on official communication with Taiwan.
Washington’s handover of particularly powerful weapons to Taiwan could trigger a severe conflict with China, so the Pentagon is unlikely to take such a step, said Sergey Lukonin, head of the Chinese economy and politics sector at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations. "Neither the US nor China wants that," the expert pointed out.
Also, Washington is officially committed to the One China principle. The White House has never recognized the island’s independence, be it under Republicans or Democrats. Still, US actions are aimed at creating points of tension around China, Lukonin believes. "However, the Trump team took ‘a tactical break’ this year, avoiding overly high-profile steps regarding Taiwan, which China could see as provocative, so as not to undermine talks on trade and economic issues," Anna Voloshina, researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Contemporary Asia, noted.
Military activities are unlikely to begin in Taiwan in the near future, Lukonin said. "Clearly, mainland China will not opt for any military operations against Taiwan, and tensions can only escalate if the Americans take some actions that China sees as aggressive. This is when mainland China would jump at the opportunity to stage a blockade, hold naval drills or send drones flying over Taiwan. However, it’s just local events," the expert specified.
The US will continue to promote initiatives aimed at boosting relations with Taiwan, particularly in the military and security fields. In the future, this could increase tensions around the Taiwan issue but the parties will not take the path of confrontation, Voloshina concluded.
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