MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Donald Trump appears unable to either win or end the Iran war; Ukraine seeks new allies in Europe; and the killing of the Zaporozhye nuke plant’s chief engineer may impact peace prospects. These stories topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.
Media: Trump appears unable to either win or end Iran war
After resuming military operations against Iran, US President Donald Trump has found himself in a strategic deadlock with no clear way out. The US leader is caught between escalation and talks as he threatens to destroy all of Iran’s infrastructure while having no idea how to bring the conflict to an end, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.
Four and a half months into the war, the US president has arrived where he started. Trump is grappling with a choice he created himself: either opt for a full-scale escalation of violence that could cost him his presidency or admit that he is unable to win the war. Neither option was part of his initial plan. This is why the Iran gamble increasingly appears like a trap the US leader does not know how to escape.
Meanwhile, the ranks of mediators between the US and Iran are shrinking. Pakistan, Oman and Qatar are still capable of bringing the parties back to the negotiating table, but Saudi Arabia is likely to considerably scale back its efforts, Middle East expert Murad Sadygzade told Izvestia. Apart from continued strikes on infrastructure facilities, Saudi Arabia is facing a new round of standoff with Houthi rebels, traditionally backed by Tehran. Every Iranian attack on the country’s oil facilities in retaliation against the US makes it clear that Washington cannot guarantee the security of its regional partners. All this is adding to other disagreements with Washington. That said, Riyadh’s relationship with the Trump administration is not easy at the moment, Sadygzade pointed out.
Still, the remaining mediators should not be expected to do much either, Vladimir Sazhin, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, noted. Arab monarchies, wary of Iran, are unlikely to soften their stance. The mediator with the closest ties to Iran is Pakistan. Islamabad acted as the key diplomatic mediator in preparing a memorandum of understanding between the parties, and another important factor is that, unlike the Gulf monarchies, the country is not having to deal with the costs of the conflict, such as constant attacks.
Whether the mediators succeed in restarting the settlement process depends entirely on the willingness of the US and Iran: in June, both were interested in a ceasefire and accepted mediation efforts by Islamabad and Doha. But now, in Sazhin’s words, neither party is convinced of the need to return to talks.
Media: Ukraine seeks new allies in Europe
Kiev is looking for ways to boost foreign military support, particularly from Southeast Europe. Ukraine may be interested in launching drone production in Balkan countries, experts interviewed by Izvestia said.
A Southeast Europe-Ukraine summit has taken place in Kiev. The focus was on energy cooperation, the synchronization of European integration efforts, and support for Ukraine. The latter is certainly what Kiev is primarily interested in. Croatia is already providing tangible assistance to the Ukrainian armed forces, having supplied Kiev with 14 military aid packages and transferred all of its Mi-8 helicopters. Romania serves as the main transport hub. However, some of Ukraine’s allies have already run out of weapons, which is why Kiev now plans to establish joint arms production facilities with Southeast European countries, St. Petersburg University Professor Natalya Yeryomina noted.
What drew everyone’s attention was the Serbian president’s arrival in Kiev. At home, Aleksandar Vucic’s visit was perceived ambiguously. Dragan Stanojevic, head of the parliamentary Committee on the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, told Izvestia that the president’s trip to Kiev could provoke outrage among the public and lawmakers, including members of the ruling party, despite the fact that Vucic declined to sign the summit’s final declaration, as he did at the previous meeting. The reason must be that some of the document’s provisions are directed against Russia, particularly those calling for stricter sanctions.
Serbia has been going through a political crisis since November 2024 due to public protests, and contact with Ukraine can only heighten criticism of the country’s leader, Milan Lazovic, program manager at the Russian International Affairs Council, pointed out. Public support is crucial for Vucic at the moment, as he has announced plans to hold early parliamentary elections that could guarantee him the position of prime minister.
For now, Vucic continues to refuse to support sanctions on Russia, Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes. However, this position cannot help reduce pressure on Serbia, while the country has been shaken by two-year-long protests against the current authorities and in support of European integration.
Izvestia: Killing of Zaporozhye nuke plant’s chief engineer may affect peace prospects
Moscow must ensure a full-fledged international investigation into the killing of Alexander Yakovlev, chief engineer of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s (upper house of parliament) Committee on Foreign Affairs, told Izvestia. Yakovlev was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike on July 15.
Kiev has resorted to using terrorist methods, as 13 people have been killed near the ZNPP and its host city, Energodar, over the past two and a half months. Experts believe that Russia could respond by increasing strikes on Ukraine’s defense industry sites and energy facilities. Meanwhile, international organizations are unlikely to demonstrate a harsh reaction.
The killing of the ZNPP chief engineer is an act of terrorism aimed not only at hitting strategic infrastructure but also at intimidating the personnel who ensure the facility’s operation, Yevgeny Semibratov, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts at Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, emphasized. All senior managers and engineers at the plant, located relatively close to the Ukrainian border, are now facing increased risks.
If evidence is found that the decision to kill Yakovlev was made by the Ukrainian leadership, the situation will escalate to a completely new level, with attacks not only targeting energy infrastructure but also removing the people who run it, Valdai International Discussion Club expert Andrey Kortunov said.
In his view, Russia may reach out to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the UN Security Council with a request to launch an international investigation and provide an assessment of the incident. Should tangible evidence emerge pointing to Kiev’s involvement, a military response will also be possible, including expanded strikes against Ukraine’s defense and energy infrastructure.
Continued Ukrainian attacks are clearly not contributing to a transition to peace talks. Dialogue has remained stalled since February, when the latest meeting of Russian, US and Ukrainian delegations took place in Geneva. In this regard, the ZNPP incident shows that, rather than working to reduce tensions and ensure the plant’s normal operation, Ukraine is escalating strikes and employing terrorist methods against its personnel.
Vedomosti: Upcoming US midterm elections may threaten Trump’s power
The Democratic Party could secure enough seats in the upcoming US midterm elections to win a majority in the House of Representatives and weaken the Republican Party’s standing in the Senate, Vedomosti reports, citing a forecast by the Decision Desk HQ think tank.
As uncertainty rises over the Republican Party’s ability to maintain an effective majority in at least one chamber, US President Donald Trump is trying to speed up the passage of the Save America Act aimed at reforming the electoral system. The US leader argues that he seeks to protect the election process from both foreign and domestic interference, including ballot stuffing and election rigging. However, Trump’s critics in political and media circles view this as an attempt to give Republicans an administrative advantage at the local level.
If a scenario is implemented in which Democrats succeed in securing a 50-50 split between the parties in the Senate, efforts to advance Trump’s agenda would be considerably stalled, American studies expert Pavel Koshkin said. He explained that, in practice, such a development would result in a greater number of government shutdowns due to a lack of financing. "As for promoting the partisan agenda in such a situation, Trump will have to forget about it altogether," the expert stressed.
Still, the problem is not so much that the Senate, and Congress in general, would be paralyzed, but that the chances of a party betrayal would grow, Vadim Kozlov, head of the Internal Policy Department at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, observed. Some of Trump’s opponents among Republican senators could deviate from the president’s course, preventing him from carrying out his agenda. In such a scenario, Trump would find it more difficult to advance budget-related bills. A divided Senate and Democratic control of the House could also restrict Trump’s military powers with regard to Iran.
"However, when it comes to immigration issues, tariffs and sanctions, the White House retains significant options for unilateral action based on the president’s executive power," Kozlov added.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta: EU steps back from sanctions on Russian fish imports
A Brussels meeting of European Union countries failed to agree on the bloc’s 21st package of sanctions against Russia. Interestingly, fish products disappeared from the draft document at the very last moment. The European Commission had initially suggested a full ban on the import of certain types of Russian fish, but the initiative was met with resistance from several member states and the European fishing industry, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.
German Zverev, president of the All-Russia Association of the Fishing Industry, noted that both the governments of several EU countries and European fish processors had rejected the new sanctions. According to him, industry associations warned the European Commission about the serious consequences of the sanctions already in effect, including increased tariffs and difficulties with the import of products from Russian companies.
European businesses’ concerns are easy to explain. Despite the pressure of sanctions that Russia has faced in recent years, the country remains one of the largest fish suppliers to the European market. According to the Russian Fish Union, in 2025, EU countries purchased 210,000 metric tons of Russian fish and seafood worth $831 million.
Although fish exports to Europe are gradually declining, the market remains significant for Russia, a source in the Fish Union stressed.
Codfish is the most sensitive item on the European market. Over recent years, allowable catches in the Barents Sea have continued to decline. Ilya Bereznyuk, managing partner at Agro and Food Communications, emphasized that codfish catch quotas for Russia and Norway had dropped several times over the past decade, while cod prices in Europe had nearly doubled, from about 4.5 euros to 8.5 euros. Additional restrictions on Russian imports would only worsen shortages and drive prices even higher, the expert believes.
Meanwhile, the Fish Union points out that Russian fishers have adapted to sanctions pressure, with companies restructuring logistics and expanding export destinations, while the government is working to encourage higher domestic fish consumption.
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