MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Russia and the US have different views on the results of the Anchorage summit; the political scandal around UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his appointees' illicit ties to US financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein could lead to the downfall of the British government; and Moscow insists on participation in the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. These stories topped Tuesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Vedomosti: Why 'Anchorage spirit' is so important to Moscow, but not to US

Despite the mutual understanding reached in Anchorage, Alaska, in August 2025 by US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, the dialogue between the two sides has since taken a different course in practice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with BRICS TV on February 9. Responding later to a question from Vedomosti about what the much-mentioned "spirit of Anchorage" is and what it consists of, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "There are a number of understandings that were reached in Anchorage. This set of understandings constitutes the ‘spirit of Anchorage’."

According to a Vedomosti source close to the negotiation process, Russia was ready to make some territorial "compromises" in Alaska (though not on the status of Donbass), as well as on the size of Ukraine's armed forces. A prerequisite was the establishment of broader cooperation with the US, including economic cooperation.

However, neither Trump nor his official representatives have ever mentioned the "spirit of Anchorage," the "Anchorage formula," or the "Anchorage momentum" in their public statements.

Dmitry Suslov, deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Russian National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Vedomosti that the "spirit" or "formula" of Anchorage was clearly reflected in the list of 28 provisions agreed upon by US special presidential envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Russian special presidential envoy and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) CEO Kirill Dmitriev at the end of October 2025. "Therefore, the new statement by the Russian foreign minister is a serious indicator," he said. Lavrov's words reflect Moscow's disappointment with the lack of adequate pressure from the US on Ukraine, the expert noted.

Russia is not interested in seeing the "spirit of Anchorage" fade away, but it also does not want to allow the Americans to interpret the common understanding of the problem achieved in Anchorage "too broadly," Nikolay Silayev, a leading researcher at the MGIMO Institute of International Studies, stressed. The expert explained that one of the main problems is the difference in perception of what was agreed upon in Alaska. The Americans say that the main issue is territorial, while security guarantees are guarantees for Ukraine. Moscow, in turn, points out that there are still issues of demilitarization, denazification, and Ukraine's neutral non-nuclear status, as well as other security guarantees for Russia, Silayev recalled. "Lavrov's statement that the US is not ready to fulfill its own proposal made in Anchorage indicates that such a gap in understanding the agenda may exist not only at the level of public statements, but also at the level of diplomatic work," the expert said.

 

Media: Will Epstein's files bring down UK government?

The political scandal around UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his appointees' illicit ties to US financier and pedophile Jeffrey Epstein continues to gain momentum in the UK following the US Justice Department's release of multiple files on the case. In particular, this concerns UK ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, who was appointed to the post in 2024 and removed nine months later. The diplomat referred to Epstein as his "best friend" in correspondence and shared confidential government information with him in exchange for money.

In the short term, Starmer may well remain in office, Sergey Shein, a research fellow at the Center for Economic and Political Analysis at the Russian National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Vedomosti. Scandals in UK politics are common, and there is currently no one to replace Starmer: his colleagues fear that if the prime minister is replaced by someone "nobody knows," the opposition will push for early elections.

The pool of potential candidates on the right wing of the Labour Party, which is currently in power, is very limited, Shein recalled. Even without the Epstein scandal, Starmer is an extremely unpopular politician, which increases the likelihood of early elections, something the party seeks to avoid.

Starmer is under enormous pressure, forcing him to sacrifice his closest allies, such as Downing Street Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, Yelena Kharitonova, head of the UK Studies Group at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ World Economy and International Relations Institute, emphasized. There may be those in the Labour Party who are theoretically willing to "betray" the prime minister. However, the party's situation is extremely unstable, and Starmer's allies are also unpopular, Kharitonova pointed out. At the same time, she believes that early elections are unlikely because the Labour Party remains in power and has no particular reason to call them.

In turn, Yelena Ananyeva, head of the UK Studies Center at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Starmer's resignation is a very likely scenario. "There has been talk within the Labour Party for a long time that the current prime minister is unpopular. This is because Starmer has low ratings and makes a lot of mistakes," she explained. Previously, it was expected that the results of the local elections, which are scheduled for May, would be the pretext for his resignation. "But because of the Mandelson scandal, the internal party conflict has intensified," Ananyeva noted.

 

Izvestia: Russia insists on participation in Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity

JD Vance's tour of the South Caucasus is unprecedented: he is the first US vice president in history to visit Yerevan, and the first politician of his rank to visit Baku in 18 years. The visit's main focus is promoting TRIPP, a strategic transport corridor that bypasses Russia and Iran. Experts believe that Washington's large-scale infrastructure plans are an attempt to reduce Russia's traditional sphere of influence and reconfigure the region's geopolitical map under US control.

"The main interest, in a nutshell, is to remove the South Caucasus countries from Russia's sphere of influence: to break the region away from Russia and, possibly, create another hotbed of tension for Moscow," Boris Martynov, professor at the Department of International Relations and Russian Foreign Policy at MGIMO, told Izvestia.

The US intends to expand its influence in the region through the TRIPP project, the focus of Vance's trip. The 43-kilometer-long corridor will run through southern Armenia and provide Azerbaijan with a direct link to its main territory and Nakhchivan, as well as access to Turkey.

TRIPP's launch will effectively transform the South Caucasus from a "geopolitical dead end" into a central hub of the Middle Corridor, Nikolay Novik, deputy director of the World Military Economy and Strategy Institute, told Izvestia. "The integration of TRIPP is expected to reduce delivery times for goods from Central Asia to Europe from 18 to 12 days, creating a seamless rail and road connection between Azerbaijan, Armenia, Nakhchivan, and Turkey while bypassing longer routes through Georgia," the expert emphasized.

The new transport route will be an alternative to both the Northern Transport Corridor through Russia and potential routes through Iran, further strengthening Turkey's position as the main distribution hub on NATO's southern flank, Pavel Seleznev, dean of the International Economic Relations Faculty at the Russian Financial University, stressed. "For Russia, implementing TRIPP in its current form under US control creates serious challenges affecting the economic and defense spheres," the expert noted.

Washington's strategy has not gone unnoticed by Moscow. Russia has already "reserved" its position on participating in TRIPP, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told Izvestia. According to him, Moscow is ready to hold consultations with its partners in Yerevan.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Why Bitcoin price crashed again, and what will happen to it next

Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency, experienced another collapse in the first week of February, which was far from the first in its history, dropping to $60,000. At the beginning of the second week of February, Bitcoin was already trading at $70,000, but this is just a rebound from a recent low. It is quite possible that Bitcoin will face another decline and its price will move lower.

"The twofold fall of Bitcoin from its historic high in the fall was not due to a single significant negative event, but rather the result of the end of an upward trend and a sharp change in market sentiment after a period of extreme euphoria," Sergey Potapov, senior analyst at BCS World of Investments, said. The current sharp decline in the cryptocurrency is likely due to a combination of market overheating, profit-taking by major players, cascading liquidations, and subsequent outflows from ETFs rather than any reaction to a single significant factor.

According to Potapov, the current dynamics fit into the classic Bitcoin pattern. "Every four years, there is a halving, after which the price usually reaches new highs within a year or two and then enters a protracted bearish trend. Despite the growth of institutional participation and changes in market structure, the basic logic of the cycle remains intact," the expert pointed out.

At the same time, Potapov admitted that the majority of sales by large capital investors seems to already be over. "It is highly likely that Bitcoin will remain under pressure throughout 2026, with sharp waves of decline followed by technical rebounds, similar to the movement recorded in mid-January when the price rose from around $80,000 to $98,000," he noted. Throughout 2026, Bitcoin may continue to decline, with the potential to fall to $40,000, according to Potapov's forecast.

"It's important to understand that Bitcoin is almost pure speculation based solely on people's belief that it's valuable. In a bad year for Bitcoin, I am afraid that it will not be possible to buy anything with it in the real world. In addition to its speculative nature, it's worth noting that the 100 largest Bitcoin wallets hold more than 10,000 Bitcoins each, opening up broad opportunities for price manipulation by their owners," Ilya Zharky, managing partner of the Veta Expert Group, emphasized. According to his assessment, the cryptocurrency's exchange rate could easily fall by as much as half in a year.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Will Russian oil supplies to India be halted?

Indian oil refineries are not signing contracts for Russian oil deliveries after March 2026, media reported. According to these reports, India hopes to successfully conclude a trade deal with the US. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order lifting the 25% tariff on imports from India that had been imposed due to the country's purchases of Russian oil. India has not made any official statements on Russian oil.

However, the cancellation of the 25% US tariffs does not mean the end of Russian oil exports to India, Daniil Tyun, head of the customer relations department at AMCH LTD, pointed out. This is a different kind of signal: India is getting a break from the US and will, in return, be more careful when structuring its purchases by complying with banks, insurers, traders, and contract structures. In other words, this is not about an immediate halt, but rather an increase in the risk premium, which will likely result in a reduction in volumes.

According to Finam analyst Nikolay Dudchenko, India is unlikely to completely abandon Russian oil. There will be an increase in so-called gray schemes, such as a rise in the number of shadow fleet tankers, oil transshipment operations in neutral waters, and disabled trackers on tankers. The expert noted that it is quite likely that shipments of Russian raw materials to unknown buyers will increase while preserving overall export volumes.

Maxim Malkov, a partner at Kept and head of the oil and gas sector practice, pointed out that the actual volume of Russian oil supplied to the market is unknown. Various sources provide conflicting data for January, ranging from a significant decrease in supplies to keeping them at the December 2025 level.

The expert stressed that a number of Indian refineries are geared towards processing Russian oil grades, and these plants cannot be quickly reconfigured. Currently, there is some growth in oil imports to India from other suppliers, including the US. However, Russian oil still accounts for a significant share of the global market. If Russia were to withdraw from the market, it would instantly lead to a sharp increase in oil prices.

Therefore, even if India experiences difficulties, Russian oil volumes will be redirected to regions less sensitive to restrictions, primarily China, which continues to purchase oil for strategic reserves. The preservation of discounts also supports buyers' interest in Russian energy resources.

TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews