MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. Trump and Zelensky seek a deal with Russia as Washington retains significant leverage over Kiev, Moscow sees scope for renewed dialogue with Washington amid a more pragmatic US approach to the UN, and Iran strengthens cooperation with Russia as its conflict with the US continues. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

 

Izvestia: Trump, Zelensky signal interest in Russia deal as US retains leverage over Kiev

Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky met in New York on September 22. The US president said Ukraine wanted to reach an agreement to resolve the conflict and raised the prospect of further direct contacts with Vladimir Putin. Kiev, meanwhile, hopes for increased military support despite another round of scandals stemming from high-profile investigations involving members of Zelensky’s inner circle. Corruption in Ukraine’s defense industry may be linked to the interests of Kiev’s Western sponsors, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia.

Following the public portion of the talks, the US president said he expected Russia and Ukraine to reach an agreement. According to Trump, he has repeatedly discussed possible terms of a settlement with Vladimir Putin, among others.

A possible halt to strikes on energy facilities was also among the topics discussed. The US president previously said that Russia and Ukraine had allegedly agreed to refrain from such attacks, although no official confirmation followed and the strikes continued.

The White House’s push for an energy ceasefire is driven not only by the president’s peacemaking ambitions but also by decidedly pragmatic considerations. Ahead of the US congressional elections, Trump wants to lower diesel prices, as voters are highly sensitive to rising fuel costs.

The United States still has considerable ability to influence Kiev’s position on a wide range of issues, according to Rodion Miroshnik, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador-at-large for crimes committed by the Kiev regime.

"The United States continues to sell enormous quantities of weapons and provide intelligence. It wields significant diplomatic weight on many issues, so if Trump has the desire to state his position on this and put pressure on Zelensky, he is entirely capable of doing so," he told Izvestia.

However, the upcoming exchange of views on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly is unlikely to produce results, former Ukrainian lawmaker Igor Markov believes. In his view, a single meeting in New York will not substantially change the situation as long as European countries continue to finance Kiev and support its current approach to the conflict.

 

Izvestia: Moscow sees potential for renewed US dialogue as Washington shifts to pragmatic UN policy

At their upcoming meeting in New York, Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio will discuss further cooperation at the UN, the Russian Foreign Ministry told Izvestia. Moscow and Washington have long struggled to find common ground on contentious issues at the organization. However, US policy at the UN has become more pragmatic since Trump took office, while raising the issue of cooperation at the UN to the ministerial level will give fresh impetus to Russian-US dialogue, the ministry stressed. A new round of talks on normalizing bilateral relations will take place in the near future. However, experts believe that a thaw in relations between the two countries should not be expected.

"During the upcoming meeting between Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio, issues concerning cooperation between the two countries at the United Nations will be among the topics discussed. As permanent members of its Security Council, Russia and the United States have enormous potential for developing cooperation. Unfortunately, it remains largely untapped," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

The ministry also noted changes in US policy at the UN. "Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Washington’s policy at the UN has taken on a more pragmatic character. Against this backdrop, our main disagreements are not with the Americans but with the Europeans, who continue to take radical and ideologically driven positions in line with the broader policy pursued by EU officials in Brussels," the ministry added.

However, experts see little prospect of a swift resolution to the crisis in bilateral relations. Ignatyev stressed that the new restrictions hinder improved relations and that this key irritant cannot be eliminated within the framework of the UN General Assembly. He was referring to the "sanctions from hell" package signed by Trump on September 18, which imposes secondary tariffs of up to 100% on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil and gas. By threatening China, India, and Turkey with tariffs, Washington is seeking to force them to completely abandon Russian energy supplies.

New arms deliveries to Ukraine could become a key point of contention at the talks. According to Gleb Ignatyev, a lecturer at the School of Politics and Governance at the HSE University Faculty of Social Sciences, if Moscow raises the issue, the White House could theoretically halt the next stage of military assistance approved at the summer NATO summit.

 

Vedomosti: Iran sees deep mistrust of US as key obstacle to settlement while expanding ties with Russia

Iran has been under unprecedented US military and economic pressure for six months, since late February. It began with a decapitating strike against Iran’s military and political leadership and intensive US and Israeli bombardments, followed by a naval blockade. No lasting ceasefire has been achieved, and as a result, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has yet to resume, Iranian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Kazem Jalali said in an interview with Vedomosti.

Speaking about supplies of various products from Russia, including grain, amid the US-organized blockade, Jalali said the situation had helped strengthen economic ties between Moscow and Tehran. "This has helped develop economic cooperation and relations, and we cannot deny that. For several years now, we have been trying to import all necessary and essential products and goods through our northern neighbors, including Russia. We are making every possible effort to expand economic cooperation with Russia," he said.

"At the same time, the pressure our adversary is exerting on us by trying to draw our neighboring countries into the blockade may help and contribute to the development of both our countries - Russia and Iran," he said.

Jalali also discussed the previously announced construction of the Rasht-Astara railway as part of the North-South International Transport Corridor. "The North-South International Transport Corridor is one of our largest projects with Russia. We launched it in 2023. The volume of goods transported along it is growing every day. The second route is the Caspian Sea," he said.

Another major area of Russian-Iranian cooperation is nuclear energy, primarily the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. "The second and third phases of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant are currently being carried out [in addition to the first operating power unit, which entered commercial service in 2013]. We are working together on these projects, and the project is progressing," he said.

Jalali also addressed the prospects for a settlement with the United States. He attributed the failure of the previous attempt at reaching an agreement through Switzerland to Washington’s conduct during the negotiations. "The reason for the collapse of the previous agreements reached in June is, I think, obvious to everyone - the American side did not respect the negotiations. The Americans began to deceive us," he said. "All of this clearly shows why all these negotiations ended in failure. Thus, Iran’s wall of mistrust toward the US has, unfortunately, become very high," Jalali added.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Non-resource sectors gain share of Russian tax revenues

Over six years, revenues to Russia’s consolidated budget more than doubled, from 20.7 trillion rubles ($246.05 bln) to 45.4 trillion rubles ($539.64 bln), excluding the new regions, according to a study by the Analytical Credit Rating Agency (ACRA). The share of revenues generated by industries unrelated to mineral extraction is gradually growing. Experts told Rossiyskaya Gazeta they see signs of an emerging structural shift toward non-resource sectors but caution that it is not yet a sustainable trend, with its durability depending on continued growth, efficiency, and export potential in non-extractive industries.

Federal taxes and fees account for the bulk of revenues, or about 90%. Revenues under special tax regimes increased amid growth in the number of small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed individuals, although their share remained modest at 4% in 2025. Among individual taxes, personal income tax revenues showed steady growth amid an increase in the overall wage bill and the introduction of a progressive tax scale, the agency noted.

Three industries - mineral extraction, manufacturing, and trade - remain the main contributors to the budget, together generating more than half of revenues. In 2025, revenues from manufacturing increased by 15% and those from trade by 11%, while revenues from mineral extraction fell by 20%.

According to experts, it is too early to speak of a sustainable structural shift toward non-resource sectors. "It is still too early to describe the transition toward a non-resource model of tax revenues as an established trend - it is more of an emerging tendency, and its durability will depend on how sustainable growth proves to be within the non-extractive sectors themselves," deputy chairman of the Bureau for the Protection of Entrepreneurs’ Rights at the Moscow branch of OPORA Russia and head of the AIP Audit and Consulting Group Sergey Yelin told the newspaper.

Mikhail Khachaturyan, associate professor at the Department of Strategic and Innovative Development at the Financial University under the Russian Government, also noted that while the increase in the share of non-resource sectors has been substantial, it remains subject to fluctuations and could result in a return to the traditional situation in which extractive industries generate the bulk of revenues. At the same time, he said, the increase in the efficiency and export potential of non-resource sectors over the past six years is evident, pointing to structural changes that could make the economy more resilient to external shocks in the future.

 

Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Global diesel crisis drives up prices as Russia’s export ban shields domestic market

Diesel fuel shortages have been recorded in Europe, the United States, and some countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America, while diesel prices have risen worldwide. Russia has not been spared from the increase, with prices at gas stations rising 23% over the past year. Despite the ban on diesel exports, Russia remains part of the global market. Experts told Nezavisimaya Gazeta Russia’s diesel export ban has taken about 10% of supply off the global market and helped shield domestic consumers from surging global prices, but it is also weighing on refining margins and oil production.

The crisis stems from a shortage of diesel supply directly linked to geopolitics. Global refining capacity was already barely sufficient before this year, but the Middle East conflict has taken local oil refineries offline, halted petroleum product exports from the Persian Gulf, and reduced the supply of crude oil to refineries in other countries. Less oil means less finished fuel. More diesel is exported and imported worldwide than gasoline, at a ratio of approximately 60 to 40. Russia’s ban on diesel exports has also had an impact. Yury Stankevich, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the reduction in Russian diesel exports has effectively removed roughly 10% of global supply from the market.

The situation in Russia is different. As noted above, the country has completely banned diesel exports since the beginning of August, with the restriction currently in place through the end of September. The measure was prompted by unscheduled refinery repairs following UAV attacks, which reduced fuel production. Russia had been producing 40% more diesel than it consumed, and the ban effectively guaranteed sufficient supplies for the domestic market while putting downward pressure on prices, which did indeed decline slightly in September, Rossiyskaya Gazeta writes.

Sergey Tereshkin, CEO of Open Oil Market, told the newspaper that the diesel export ban cuts refining margins while also constraining oil production. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), Russian oil production fell to 8.36 mln barrels per day in August 2026 from 8.56 mln barrels per day a month earlier. The expert believes that the fundamental conditions for lifting the ban are already in place.

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