MOSCOW, July 10. /TASS/. Europe becomes a production base for the Ukrainian military; resumed military operations in the Middle East intensify the US political battle; and the global economy adjusts to ongoing Strait of Hormuz crises. These stories topped Friday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Media: Europe turns into production base for Ukrainian military

The recent NATO summit strengthened the role of the bloc’s European members as a key procurement hub for Ukraine. Meanwhile, a Russian Foreign Ministry official pointed out to Izvestia that assistance in terrorist attacks on Russian civilians and infrastructure was making NATO countries complicit in Kiev’s crimes.

The NATO summit effectively confirmed Europe’s role as the Ukrainian military’s logistics base, political scientist Denis Denisov said. Despite a sharp decline in grant-based military assistance, the United States also continues to support Ukraine militarily. At an Ankara meeting with Vladimir Zelensky, US President Donald Trump announced that Washington would grant Kiev a production license for Patriot missiles.

Meanwhile, a strategic victory over Moscow cannot be achieved regardless of how many Western-made drones Ukraine launches at Russia, said Olli Kotro, an advisor on international affairs and EU relations for Finland’s Alliance for Freedom party. According to him, the European Union is being forced to increase its borrowing to maintain support for Kiev, while many Western countries acknowledge the need to restore relations with Russia.

The latest NATO aid package for Ukraine makes it clear that advocates of a peaceful solution have so far been unable to prevail in the Western camp. Additional funding for Kiev is likely to prolong the conflict and further postpone peace talks. The NATO summit indicates that apart from the US and some European nations, no one plans to press Kiev to resume the peace process.

As for the possibility of Patriot missile production in Ukraine, military expert Viktor Litovkin told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that Trump’s pledge to authorize Ukrainian production of interceptors "was just empty words and political smoke and mirrors." According to the expert, manufacturing these sophisticated technological weapons requires an advanced chemical industry, specialized alloy production, and complex electronic guidance systems, which Ukraine currently lacks. "The only thing they can do is try to launch production abroad. But no such plans have been discussed yet," Litovkin concluded.

 

Izvestia: Resumed military operations in Middle East fuel US political battle

The latest series of US strikes on Iran has increased domestic political pressure on President Donald Trump, triggering another wave of criticism against the White House. Still, experts believe that the current tensions are unlikely to escalate into a full-scale war as Washington will try to strengthen its negotiating position rather than become involved in a protracted conflict, Izvestia writes.

The regional balance of power has not changed, military expert Dmitry Kornev noted. "The parties appear fully determined to pursue their goals. In such a situation, Donald Trump’s claims of Iran signaling its readiness to return to the negotiating table look more like an element of information warfare," he explained.

The Trump administration is not interested in a large-scale conflict, which the White House has consistently sought to avoid, military analyst Boris Dzhereliyevsky said. "Anti-war sentiment is extremely strong inside the United States at this point, and the incumbent president’s political opponents are sure to take advantage of any prolonged military campaign as they are ready to play the Iran card to exert intense pressure on him," he added.

According to the expert, Washington sees the recent attack more as a one-time demonstration of force. Its key goal was to convince US voters that Washington pursues a tough policy and also to force Tehran to take a more cooperative stance in future talks. Even if the situation returns to where it initially was, Trump will seek to "sell" the strikes to the American people as his unequivocal victory.

However, if Iran rejects dialogue, Washington will find itself at a dead end, as the Americans have run out of conventional economic and hybrid levers. The crucial point to understand is that the West comes to the negotiating table only when it realizes that a conflict cannot be resolved by force. Once the US administration crosses that line, it risks being left with no room for further action.

 

Media: Global economy adapts to ongoing Strait of Hormuz crises

Another closure of the Strait of Hormuz did not surprise the global economy. Oil prices will jump to $100 per barrel or higher only if a ground operation against Iran is launched, said experts interviewed by Izvesita. Furthermore, rising gasoline prices in the United States could threaten President Donald Trump’s ratings, so the White House is unlikely to opt for further escalation ahead of the November congressional elections.

Oil prices will continue to fluctuate depending on whether the Strait of Hormuz remains closed or open to shipping, Valery Andrianov, associate professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, said. "If diplomatic channels of communication are preserved, prices may gradually stabilize. However, if the conflict begins to affect physical supplies, the market will respond with significant volatility," Dmitry Kasatkin, managing partner at Kasatkin Consulting, noted.

Still, the global economy's ability to adapt to crises surrounding the Strait of Hormuz does not eliminate long-term risks. Resumed strikes are making it impossible for the market to return oil production to February 2026 levels during the peak season, Alexander Frolov, deputy director general of the National Energy Institute, pointed out.

As Russian oil prices follow international trends, they will inevitably increase given the current situation on the global market, Dmitry Skryabin, portfolio manager at the Alpha Capital asset management company, predicts.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta, in turn, draws attention to the way recent developments unfolded: first, the US announced the end of the ceasefire with Iran and carried out strikes; then oil prices began to rise, followed by vague signals of a possible deal. Washington appears to view the current round of escalation not only from a military but also from an economic perspective, with Trump simply "betting on the stock market."

 

Izvestia: Russia seeks to strengthen relations with Africa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Mozambique as part of his Africa tour. As in Niger earlier, the parties discussed economic and security issues. Moscow is ready to assist Mozambique in its fight against terrorism but the two countries seek to avoid focusing solely on military cooperation, Izvestia writes.

The energy sector offers vast possibilities for cooperation, given Mozambique’s rich gas deposits. Moscow proposes a partnership that does not involve resource exploitation but is based on a long tradition of support for the country’s independence.

Mozambique’s current leadership has pursued a pragmatic foreign policy, with the country attracting the interest of numerous foreign investors, from traditional partners such as Portugal to newcomers, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, and South Korea, said Andrey Tokarev, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for African Studies. China also invests in infrastructure projects. Russia has its own niche as well, even though Mozambique’s authorities have faced pressure from unfriendly countries seeking to limit the country’s cooperation with Moscow. Implementing joint energy projects with Russian companies is a pressing topic on the bilateral agenda, Tokarev noted.

The advantage of working with Russia could lie in its rejection of neocolonial practices. Russia is interested in equal cooperation, especially as African countries are no longer interested merely in exporting raw resources but seek to process them at home, creating added value in the countries where these resources are produced. Moscow supports this approach. Furthermore, Russia does not impose political conditions when contributing to the defense of other countries, Tokarev emphasized.

 

RBC: Donald Trump’s political decisions continue to generate personal gains

Donald Trump’s financial disclosure revealed over 21,000 share transactions in 2025. Purchases were often made ahead of his high-profile decisions that affected the market. Before Trump, no US president in modern history had traded shares while in office, RBC notes.

Proving insider trade requires establishing that a specific transaction was based on material nonpublic information, while "it’s usually not enough to point to coincidence in timing between a deal and a political decision," Sergey Vakhrameyev, head of foreign-issued share analysis at Sinara Investment Bank, explained.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice are formally authorized to investigate the president’s trading activity, Freedom Global analyst Yeldar Shakenov noted. However, both agencies are controlled by the White House, while Congress’ ability to act depends on the political majority, he said.

Experts agree that a "trader president" does not pose a fundamental threat to the US market. "The United States remains the world’s largest and most liquid capital market," Shakenov stressed. Yegor Toropov, an analyst at the Higher School of Economics, points out that the US stock market "has faced numerous corrections, crises and regulatory swings," and that the remainder of the current president's term in office is too short for him to cause systemic damage.

However, the reputational impact should not be underestimated. For investors, "it's crucial that all market participants retain equal access to information and the rules of the game," Shakenov emphasized. Vakhrameyev agreed, saying that such incidents "raise investor concern about the quality of state governance."

As for global investors, the key question is "whether institutions are capable of maintaining equal rules, transparency, and trust in the system," the expert noted. So far, there is no answer, as no investigations have been launched and no restrictive laws have been passed, with the latest disclosure showing that Trump continues his controversial deals.

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