Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 23 – Table of Contents

([No author indicated.] Meduza, June 2, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/06/03/still-no-ceasefire. Complete text:) Russia and Ukraine agreed to hold another prisoner exchange and return the bodies of thousands of fallen soldiers during peace talks on Monday [June 2] in Istanbul. The negotiations, which lasted about an hour and took place behind closed doors, marked the second round of direct talks between the two sides since March 2022 [see Vol. 74, No. 27 – 28, p. 19]…

(By Fyodor Lukyanov, research professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Rossiiskaya gazeta, June 4, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) The second round of talks between the Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul and the events immediately preceding it are a good indication of the status of the ongoing conflict: It is nowhere near over. Paradoxically, Ukrainian attacks on the first day of summer effectively confirmed Russia’s general position: No ceasefire is possible until at least a basic understanding is reached on the contours of a future agreement. For better or worse, military force remains the most important negotiating tool. And no one will give it up in a confrontation of such intensity and scale as the current one. Nor has Russia ever intended to do so, as it has officially stated [more than once]. All of Ukraine’s recent actions fully confirm this point. If you recall the largest and longest military confrontations of the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century (this does not include expeditionary operations against a clearly weaker opponent), [you will see that] political and diplomatic talks did not start with a ceasefire but continued in parallel with military actions. Sometimes – as, for example, in Korea and Vietnam – that took a long time. There is nothing to be happy about here, but this is the only realistic scenario that offers a chance for a stable result. Not surprisingly, the issue of a ceasefire has now been put on the back burner…

(By Maksim Bazanov. Izvestia, June 5, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:) Vladimir Putin has doubts about the possibility of holding a top-level summit and reaching a truce with Ukraine following recent terrorist attacks. . . …

(By Gennady Petrov. Nezavisimaya gazeta. June 6, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) The Russian and Ukrainian governments are equally dissatisfied with the results of the second round of talks in Istanbul. Vladimir Zelensky even spoke out in favor of canceling the next round of negotiations. The Kremlin has expressed disappointment not only that the meeting in Istanbul was followed by new Ukrainian strikes against Russia, but also that the US refused to condemn Kiev for this. Meanwhile, Donald Trump plans to continue his peacekeeping efforts and is bringing Iran – not Ukraine – to the forefront in US-Russian dialogue. . . …

(By Natalia Portyakova. Kommersant, June 3, 2025, p. 6. Condensed text:) Karol Nawrocki, a protégé of the right-conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, became the new president of Poland following the results of the election held on Sunday, June 1. Mr. Nawrocki managed to snatch victory from his rival – Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who won in the first round – with an extremely modest margin of victory. . . …

(By Aleksei Kornilov. Rossiiskaya gazeta, June 3, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) The victory of conservative Karol Nawrocki in the Polish presidential election, albeit by a small margin, has dealt a serious blow to the positions of the ruling pro-European liberal coalition and effectively become the starting point of a fundamentally new stage in the country’s political life. This time, the Polish State Electoral Commission managed to count the votes in record time, and on Monday morning it issued a rueful verdict for Prime Minister Donald Tusk: His candidate, Rafal Trzaskowski, received 49.11% of the votes. The rest was taken by Nawrocki, who managed to convince his electorate to go to the polls and at the same time help set a new turnout record, which amounted to 71.63% across the country. Nawrocki ran for president with the “Poland First” program, which envisaged a strategic alliance with Donald Trump’s America, strengthening the country’s position in NATO and creating a strong national army as the basis of Polish security…

(By Natalya Prikhodko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, June 3, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:). . . As a result of the June 1 election, Karol Nawrocki, the nominee of the right-wing opposition PiS, became Poland’s new president. He has been called an anti-Ukrainian candidate in contrast to his rival, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, supported by the ruling Civic Coalition…

(By Darya Garmonenko and Ivan Rodin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, June 5, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) United Russia is increasingly producing socially oriented statements and legislative initiatives at the federal and regional levels. If not for its status as the party of power, bringing the leftist course to the fore could be called populism. However, this is most likely a combination of preelection political spin and the intention to improve the one-and-a-half party system. This is when there is one real political force, while the number and size of others are of no importance. . . .

The State Duma’s database currently has three bills on enhanced guarantees and protections of orphans’ housing rights. Deputies from all party factions have put their signatures on these initiatives. But what is more important is that many ranking United Russia members are among the sponsors. What is probably even more important is the fact that two of the three documents bear the signature of Vladimir Yakushev, first deputy speaker of the Federation Council and secretary of United Russia’s General Council, among other senators…

(By Sergei Tolmachov, Vlad Nikiforov and Aleksandr Chernykh. Kommersant, June 2, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Two bridges were destroyed last Saturday and Sunday [May 31 and June 1] in Russia’s border provinces with Ukraine as trains were moving either across or under them. In addition, several military airfields were simultaneously attacked by drones in various parts of Russia. A new tactic was used to carry out the attacks: Drones were launched from special containers delivered to the targets by trucks. The railroad incidents, possibly caused by explosive devices, resulted in seven people killed and dozens injured. The attacks on military installations resulted in several aircraft catching fire, the Defense Ministry reports.

Around 11 p.m. on May 31, a road bridge on the A 240 highway in Vygonichi District, Bryansk Province, collapsed while a truck was moving across it. The bridge and the truck fell on a passenger train, No. 86, traveling from Klimovo to Moscow. As a result, the locomotive and four passenger cars were derailed. One car was crushed under the rubble. A total of 388 people were on the train. The passengers started finding their way out on their own in the dark until emergency workers arrived and set up light towers to help search for survivors under the debris. A large-scale rescue operation was organized, with dozens of special vehicles and hundreds of emergency and railroad workers helping to clear the debris. Damaged rail cars were cut into pieces. A crane lifted the truck that was on the bridge when it collapsed. A recovery center was set up for surviving passengers in the town of Vygonichi, five kilometers from the disaster site…

The rear area of the special operation zone [in Ukraine], where the outcome of the confrontation is determined daily, has emerged as a training opportunity. Here, on training fields and on simulators, masters of aerial reconnaissance and precision strikes are born – individuals capable of altering the course of combat with a single joystick movement…

(Valery Vladimirovich Ageyev, aviation and space historian and journalist. Nezavisimaya gazeta, June 2, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) June 2, 2025, will mark 70 years since the foundation of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a unique scientific, technological and production complex. All space achievements of the USSR and Russia are connected to it. Baikonur is the first and still the largest space center in the world.

Between Oct. 4, 1957, and Feb. 28, 2025, 1,546 orbital rocket launches were made, with 2,005 spacecraft put into near-earth orbits and departure trajectories. In short, Baikonur has become a key element in the history of space exploration, facilitating the development of the rocketry and space industry and emerging as a symbol of Russia’s greatest technical achievements…

(By Nurlan Gasymov. Vedomosti, June 4, 2025, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2025/06/04/1114815-pochemu-vlasti-armenii-opolchilis-na-sluzhitelei-armyanskoi-tserkvi. Complete text:) During its meeting, the Supreme Spiritual Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) reported on the threat of a “schism in Armenian society” and an “undermining of the nation’s spiritual unity” caused by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s antichurch campaign. In a statement published on the AAC’s page on Facebook (owned by Meta, an organization banned in Russia), the council also called on government bodies to put an end to this “unlawful and short-sighted policy” by the Armenian prime minister.

The meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council was held at the official AAC residence in Etchmiadzin and was chaired by Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians. The statement says that Pashinyan’s social media posts regarding the clergy are rife with foul language, lack basic ethical norms, violate basic human rights and grossly insult believers’ religious feelings. According to church bishops, the Armenian authorities’ antichurch campaign “serves the ambitions of external Armenophobic forces” and is associated with “false accusations against the Armenian people by Azerbaijani propaganda.” The council added that all church matters are resolved in accordance with church rules and canons and are outside the jurisdiction of secular authorities…

(By Igor Seleznyov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, June 6, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:). .. The Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament has adopted a report on the political events in Georgia in 2023 – 2024, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party was essentially accused of occupying the republic. Fifty-five deputies voted in favor, 14 were against and four abstained. One of the report’s authors, Lithuanian EP member Rasa Jukneviciene, stated that “This is an example of how a country can be taken over from within by a pro-Russian government without firing a shot.”

She went on to say: “The rigged election, the ruling party’s decision to block [the] European Union, the arrests of journalists and opposition politicians, attacks on the EU and its representatives – these are just some of the facts mentioned in the report.”…

(By Anna Batta, Novaya gazeta Europe, June 5, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/06/05/dimming-hopes-en. Full text:) Delegations from Ukraine and Russia met for the second time in a month in Istanbul on June 2. Missing, again, were the countries’ two leaders.

For a fleeting moment ahead of the first meeting in mid-May [see Vol. 77, No. 20, pp. 3 – 6], there existed the faintest prospect that [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would join, sitting down in the same room for face-to-face talks…

(By Ksenia Vakina and Polina Berlyand. Izvestia, June 6, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Europe does not want Russia and the US to normalize relations, but as long as the two countries keep pushing forward, Europe won’t be able to stop them, Konstantin Kosachov, deputy speaker of the Federation Council, told Izvestia. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz met with [US President] Donald Trump on June 5, hoping to persuade him to adopt a tougher stance toward Moscow. This was their first meeting since Merz was elected chancellor. Speaking after the meeting, Trump said he might impose sanctions on both Russia and Ukraine if they fail to come to an agreement. Trump’s conversation with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin on June 4 demonstrated that Washington would prefer to resolve the situation through negotiations. The European Union, on the other hand, is pursuing militarization.

With the NATO summit in The Hague looming, European leaders have stepped up their diplomatic efforts to convince the US to be tougher on Russia. The US has not imposed any new sanctions on Russia since Donald Trump became president – at least, not publicly – and there have been no official announcements of new deliveries of military aid to Ukraine. “There is no doubt whatsoever that Europe does not want Russia and the US to normalize relations,” Konstantin Kosachov told Izvestia…

(By Vladimir Skosyrev. Nezavisimaya gazeta, June 4, 2025, p. 6. Complete text:) The news that US President Donald Trump may speak by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping lifted the spirits of a number of analysts who advise individuals on where to invest their money. In Hong Kong, which serves as a gateway to China’s economy for many foreign investors, the stock market fell on Monday but rebounded on Tuesday, recouping the previous day’s losses. What does tomorrow have in store, and how will Washington and Beijing interact? Or will something happen that pulls down stock market indices in many countries?

The US and China are the two current superpowers. Much that happens in the world depends on their relations. Some political analysts have hypothesized that Washington and Beijing could come together to create a kind of condominium whose instructions would have to be heeded by all the other countries. Other analysts, however, have predicted that tensions between Beijing and Washington could rise and then develop into a military confrontation over Taiwan or control in the South China Sea. Fortunately, neither has happened. The conflict has taken on a more prosaic nature. It’s about who owes whom more money…

(By political analyst Konstantin Asmolov. Izvestia, June 5, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) Following an election on June 3, 2025, Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung has become president of South Korea, defeating his conservative opponent by a margin of 8%. This is interesting in and of itself, since the election took place in the wake of conservative Yoon Suk-yeol’s impeachment [see Vol. 76, No. 50, pp. 17 – 18]. In 2017, after Park Geun-hye was impeached, Democratic candidate Moon Jae-in won by a margin of 17%. A much more serious defeat was expected for the conservatives.

Perhaps it’s a matter of the victor’s character. Lee is a defendant in several criminal cases (corruption, abuse of power, perjury) that do not seem to be fabricated. He is not in jail thanks to five miraculous coincidences: Five key witnesses who could have testified against him died or committed suicide. But since there is no proof [of foul play], we’re talking about miracles…