MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Western countries have destroyed peaceful instruments of cooperation on the Arctic with Russia, and Ukraine seeks EU accession in 2027. Meanwhile, German lawmakers urge Russian gas imports to be resumed. These stories topped Friday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Izvestia: West blocks communication channels on Arctic with Russia

Western countries have deliberately destroyed peaceful instruments of cooperation on the Arctic with Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told Izvestia. According to him, ties have been severed in order to militarize the region and turn it into an arena for direct confrontation. On February 12, NATO defense chiefs at a meeting in Brussels discussed Operation Arctic Sentry, which was launched the previous day. Not only attempts to deter Moscow and Beijing, but also the Europeans’ ambitions to protect Greenland from the US leader’s pursuit of the island are driving the alliance’s military buildup in the region.

While Greenland itself has repeatedly signaled the absence of foreign warships near its coasts, meaning that Nuuk does not perceive any threat from either Russia or China, Washington insists that Greenland is a critical point for control over routes in the North Atlantic and a necessary "buffer" to deter Moscow and Beijing, as well as a territory possessing valuable resources.

Amid transatlantic tensions and uncertainty between the United States and its NATO allies, the alliance’s leading European powers, like France, are seeking to increase their symbolic military presence in Greenland, on the one hand playing along with US President Donald Trump, who claims that Russia and China allegedly threaten the island’s security and that it therefore needs protection, Nikita Lipunov, a junior researcher at the Institute for International Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, explained to Izvestia. "At the same time, the Europeans may in fact be driven by an ambition to prevent their main ally from launching any military campaigns or using force to resolve the Greenland issue. While the Europeans are eager to show Trump that they are ready to invest in Greenland’s defense, any military buildup there will send a message that the use of force against an ally is inadmissible," the expert stressed.

Washington does not seem to be considering a military scenario in earnest now that the United States has established a joint working group with Denmark and Greenland to discuss a potential deal. As Washington sees it, the "deal" should give the United States full access to Greenland and also involve the deployment of elements of the Golden Dome missile defense system, granting the Americans expanded access to critical minerals.

Potential expansion of the US military presence, especially its missile cover, poses long-term risks to regional and global security, Lipunov warned. Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, recently stated that Moscow will take "appropriate measures" in the event of militarization of Greenland or if military capabilities targeting Russia are deployed there.

 

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Ukraine seeks to formalize EU accession date in 2027

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky has signed a decree instructing the country’s Foreign and Defense ministries to draft international security guarantees documents as part of a peace deal, as he has once again demanded that Brussels schedule Ukraine’s accession to the EU for 2027.

Therefore, Kiev, which in the course of talks aimed at reaching peace in its military conflict with Russia insisted on the adoption of security guarantees as a priority, has apparently decided to wrap this idea into a special document for its Western allies.

At an online news briefing, Zelensky denied reports in Western media about the EU preparing a plan to grant Ukraine partial membership by next year. Zelensky dismissed those reports as rumors. At the same time, he assured reporters that "Ukraine will do everything to be technically ready for accession by 2027." He did not specify that continued talks with Brussels had stalled over the fact that Ukraine is apparently not ready to join the EU and that it fails to meet EU standards, something that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has openly opposed Ukraine’s EU membership, along with other Hungarian officials, has mentioned.

This is perhaps why a circumvention is being devised, Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. Like in the previous maneuver to ban Russian natural gas supplies to the EU, Brussels declared this pending decision an internal issue that would require a majority of member states to approve. This forced Hungary and Slovakia, which have been campaigning against the ban on Russian gas exports, to file a lawsuit.

"I think it will be difficult to circumvent the existing EU accession procedures this time around, especially since other countries, apart from Hungary and Slovakia, could protest against an expedited accession for Ukraine. And even US interference will not help here," he concluded.

 

Izvestia: Germany urges resumption of Russian energy imports

The German government has been receiving requests from lawmakers who call for Russian gas imports to be restored, the Bundestag told Izvestia. Legislators are worried over dependence on American LNG, which now accounts for 96% of the country’s imports. However, Berlin has so far refused to reverse its policies and relaunch Nord Streams. Meanwhile, Europe has been considering resuming Russian energy purchases if the Ukraine conflict is resolved. Experts confirm that such a scenario can be implemented technically, but Brussels will have to lift sanctions and revoke lawsuits for that.

Apart from economic implications, being overly dependent on the United States is risky in political terms. Amid trade disputes and the crisis around Greenland, there is a risk that gas supplies will be used as leverage: Washington may restrict LNG exports if needed, for example, to keep domestic prices low. In this scenario, Germany may face major difficulties and will also have to look for an alternative, Igor Yushkov, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund and an expert at the Financial University under the Russian government, told Izvestia.

According to political analyst Alexander Rahr, Germany will return to buying Russian energy as soon as peace is established in Ukraine, but this would require a change of government and protests within German ruling elites. So far, Germany’s right-wing AfD party and some business lobby groups have supported the idea of restarting energy cooperation with Russia. The public, too, favors dialogue, with 58% of respondents supporting the idea of holding direct talks between the two leaders. "Germany will resume [Russian gas] purchases after some other EU countries in southern and eastern Europe do so. However, Germany will no longer be a distribution hub for Russian natural gas in Europe," Rahr told Izvestia.

According to him, while at present Berlin cannot avoid relying on American LNG, the situation could change dramatically if Russia and the United States pursue cooperation in global energy, including on the European continent.

 

Vedomosti: Gallup scraps tracking of presidential approval ratings

On Thursday, the Gallup polling firm announced plans to end its presidential approval tracking polls after almost 90 years. "We’re focused on providing analytics that inform and drive meaningful change," The New York Times quoted Justin McCarthy, a spokesman for Gallup, as saying. The decision comes amid a corporate strategy shift. Simultaneously, Gallup said it will continue to track the popularity of specific political events and policy decisions.

Gallup is one of the oldest US pollsters, having been established in 1935. It has long served as a golden standard for political polls, especially monthly presidential approval ratings. Trump’s approval ratings dipped to 36%, the latest poll from Gallup (in December) showed.

As unpredictable as Trump is, it’s hard to believe that the US pollster industry could face any major risks, social scientist Denis Volkov argued. According to the expert, the move to scrap presidential approval ratings may come amid the desire not to lose government contracts, for example, for consulting services.

Gallup made the decision not because it is afraid of Trump but because it is reshaping its work to essentially return to more fundamental and complex analysis, Pavel Dubravsky, political analyst and CEO of Dubravskiy Consulting, explained to Vedomosti. Nor does its move mean that Gallup will not monitor Trump’s approval. "It will continue to conduct separate polls to measure the economy, the well-being of citizens or the situation in other fields, and this will to a certain extent reflect approval or disapproval of the [Trump] administration’s actions," he maintained.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Could Russia deliver oil and fuel to Cuba?

The Russian embassy in Cuba did not specify what fuel it will supply to Cuba in a statement about preparations to send a humanitarian delivery to the Island of Freedom, apart from saying that it will send oil and petroleum products. It will not take too much jet fuel to evacuate 4,000 people (Russian tourists) from the country: the effort will require between 12 to 20 flights and 350 metric tons of jet fuel or five railway tanks maximum. Russian National Energy Security Fund head Konstantin Simonov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the fuel shortage Cuba is facing comes as the country almost entirely relies on petroleum products and oil to generate electricity. Even as there are remaining hydropower plants and biofuels from sugar cane in Cuba, those cannot cover the energy deficit. In addition, Cuba needs fuel for its transport system.

It will be quite easy in technical terms to supply fuel there, energy expert Kirill Rodionov argued: it should only be shipped by a federal state budgetary institution rather than by a fuel or trading company. Unless the United States imposes a complete blockade on Cuba, fuel could still be delivered, the expert explained.

Valery Andrianov, associate professor at the Russian Financial University, does not see any barriers to fuel supplies either. The United States does not have the slightest capability to block them, the expert said. However, he questioned whether Russia could provide fuel to Cuba for a longer term.

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