Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 14 – Table of Contents

TRUMP REPORTEDLY ‘DISAPPOINTED’ WITH ATTITUDE OF PUTIN, WHO PROPOSES UN CONTROL OVER UKRAINE OR ‘FINISHING THEM OFF’ IN RUSSIAN-CLAIMED ZONES

(By Gleb Ivanov. Argumenty i fakty, April 2, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:) Russian President Vladimir Putin, aboard the Arkhangelsk strategic missile submarine, proposed transferring Ukraine to external control, “as in East Timor.”…

(Nezavisimaya gazeta, April 2, 2025, p. 2. Complete text:) US President Donald Trump said he is ready to impose tariffs on Russia if the Russian leadership does not agree to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. According to Trump, secondary tariffs on oil are something he might do if Vladimir Putin doesn’t do the work – that is, does not make peace with Ukraine. The American president recalled that he did the same with Venezuela [in his first term]…

U.S. TEMPORARILY LIFTS SANCTIONS ON RDIF HEAD DMITRIYEV FOR WASHINGTON VISIT; PUTIN’S ENVOY MEETS WITKOFF, PRAISES TARIFFS, MUM ON UKRAINE

(By Anton Vasilyev. Kommersant, April 4, 2025, p. 4. Condensed text:) Kirill Dmitriyev, the Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, held a series of meetings in Washington with officials of the Donald Trump administration.. . …

UKRAINE RECEIVES NEW VERSION OF RARE EARTH METALS AGREEMENT FROM U.S.; MINISTER SIBIGA INDICATES KIEV WILL SIGN; EXPERT: ZELENSKY DOES NOT PLAN TO SIGN, AS TERMS VIOLATE CONSTITUTION

(By Natalya Prikhodko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, April 3, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) According to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the mineral resources deal with the US should not contravene the terms of Ukraine’s future accession to the European Union.. . …

RUBIO MAKES DEBUT AT NATO MEETING AS ALLIES SEEK CLARITY ON U.S. PLANS FOR RUSSIA, COMMITMENT TO ALLIANCE; NATO SEES NO SIGNS RUSSIA IS MOVING TOWARD A TRUCE, FEARS FUTURE ATTACK

(By Nikolai Pershin. Novaya gazeta Europe, April 5, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/04/05/tridtsat-odin-i-odin. Condensed text:). .. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who assumed office after Donald Trump’s inauguration, has finally debuted at a NATO meeting. The meeting of 32 NATO foreign ministers, which took place in Brussels April 3 – 4, was supposed to help clarify what to expect from the Donald Trump administration in terms of Euro-Atlantic unity.. . …

([No author indicated.] Meduza, April 4, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/04/04/the-kremlin-s-new-ultra-nationalists. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. -. .. The independent journalists’ cooperative Bereg spoke with Aleksandr Verkhovsky, the director of the Sova Center, about how the war [in Ukraine] has shaped public attitudes toward migrants and brought veterans into the ranks of far-right groups. The following translation of that interview has been edited and abridged for length and clarity.

Answer. – When it comes to migrants, there’s no simple answer to that question. First of all, Russian society isn’t a single, unified organism – changes unfold differently in different segments of the population…

(By Aleksei Kharnas. Ekspert, March 27, 2025, https://expert.ru/mnenie/mirovoe-razdelenie-truda-veshch-ochen-nenadezhnaya/. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – Using the US dollar for international trade is a thing of the past; the [Sukhoi] Superjet [100] is an excellent aircraft; Russian arms manufacturers can definitely learn a thing or two from their international counterparts; and the Sukhoi Su 57 is the only aircraft in the world that has proven effective against the Patriot air defense system. In this interview, Rostec [Russian Technologies] CEO Sergei Chemezov explains to Ekspert how Russia’s largest industrial conglomerate is helping Russia achieve technological sovereignty.

Question. – We have seen reports in the media suggesting that sanctions against Russian companies may be eased soon. Which sanctions have created the biggest problems for you as a CEO? And do you think all sanctions should be lifted immediately?…

(By Yulia Kozak. Krasnaya zvezda, April 4, 2025, p. 2. Complete text:) Up to 600 requests are processed daily by the staff of the Military Social Services Center, which began operating last July. In cooperation with medical institutions and military units, the center helps participants in the special military operation [in Ukraine] (SMO), their family members and loved ones to resolve all issues related to benefits payments, referrals to hospitals and medical treatment. Assistance processing the necessary documentation is also provided online. Russian Deputy Defense Minister and official secretary Anna Tsivilyova provided details about this, as well as the effectiveness of support measures that have been organized for both active and discharged military personnel.

According to the deputy minister, ensuring social guarantees for SMO participants – including the disbursement of all monetary payments (for active engagement in combat, destroying and capturing enemy military equipment, etc.) – is a nonnegotiable priority for the Defense Ministry…

(By Yelizaveta Borisenko. Izvestia, March 31, 2025, p. 4. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The European Union’s attempts to gain a foothold in Central Asia can hardly be called successful, interviewed experts told Izvestia.. .. In this article: Why is it difficult for the EU to get closer to Central Asia, and what does partnering with Moscow mean for this region?

It would seem that the new convocation of the European Commission (EC), which convened at the end of last year, is hoping to strengthen Europe’s influence in Central Asia. EC President Ursula von der Leyen will take part in the EU-Central Asia summit, which will be held in Samarkand April 3 – 4. In addition to her, European Council President Antonio Costa will also come to Uzbekistan. This summit will be the third: Previous meetings between the EU and Central Asian republics were held in 2022 and 2023 in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, respectively…

(By Igor Seleznyov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, April 2, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) Civil Contract (CC), the party of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, has lost a local election in Gyumri, the republic’s second-largest city.. . .

With 42.66% turnout, 36.8% of voters voted for the ruling party, and the Communists got 20.71%. Third place went to the Our City bloc, led by Martun Grigoryan. My Strong Community and Mother Armenia received 7.94% and 6.18%, respectively. No pro-European party other than Civil Contract was able to overcome the 5% electoral threshold…

(By Dmitry Taratorin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, April 1, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Alarm is growing among opposition movement leaders: It has been several days since the disappearance of Coordinating Council (CC) speaker Anzhelika Melnikova was discovered. It turns out that no one has seen her for two weeks now. At first, her comrades did not raise a fuss.. . .

The leaders of émigré organizations admitted that it has been several days since they discovered this fact. And no one had bothered to contact the politician for quite some time before that, because it had been reported on her social media, on her behalf, that she had complications from COVID and was not willing to communicate with anyone yet…

(By Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, April 3, 2025, p. 4. Condensed text:). . . The Chisinau Court of Appeals left Gagauz Autonomy head Evghenia Gutul in custody, rejecting the protest of her lawyers. Thus, the 20-day detention previously imposed [see Vol. 77, No. 13, pp. 8 – 10] by Chisinau District Court Judge Sergei Lobanu remains in force. At the same time, the prosecutor’s office sought to extend the detention to 30 days, but the court rejected that request. What prompted such demands were criminal charges on her alleged involvement in the illegal financing of the Sor Party (this party was declared unconstitutional in June 2023). Gutul was detained for 20 days on suspicion of financial irregularities during the 2023 mayoral elections in Gagauzia.

After the hearing, Gutul’s lawyer Sergei Moraru noted that two of the judges are temporary appointments, and their future careers depend on the decisions they make…

(By Fyodor Lukyanov, research professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Rossiiskaya gazeta, April 4, 2025, p. 6. Complete text:) The US continues to play an outsized role on the international agenda – the Americans have had a gigantic head start. Nevertheless, US leaders have started talking about the advent of a multipolar word (officially acknowledged by [US Secretary of State] Marco Rubio). The US recognizes itself as an actor – albeit obviously the strongest actor – but not as the sole actor with unique rights, which is how it saw itself during the period of universal hegemony.

The concept of “multipolarity” entered the international lexicon in the mid-1990s as a response to the assertion by the US and its allies that there was no alternative to Western dominance (the liberal world order). Multipolarity became the catchword for those countries (Russia and China were at the forefront) that did not agree that there were no alternatives to the “unipolar moment.” However, there was no clear alternative at the time; the slogan was enough…

(By Andrei Zhvirblis. Republic.ru, April 2, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/115484. Complete text:) Marine Le Pen has been given a four-year prison sentence, two years of which are under house arrest, with the possibility of commutation. However, the much more serious blow to the politician was the immediate ban on holding elected office until 2030, which puts her participation in [France’s] 2027 presidential election in jeopardy. An appeal, which her lawyer has already announced, remains her only chance of changing the situation, especially with a record 37% approval rating in the polls.

Marine Le Pen was sentenced to four years, two of which are suspended and two of which are under house arrest. But even if the verdict is upheld on the appeal, which [Le Pen’s] attorney Rodolphe Bosselut has already announced, this will not mean that the politician will end up behind bars. A peculiarity of the French justice system is that prison time can, as in this case, be “aménageable,” which can be roughly translated as “subject to possible modification,” i.e., commuted or adapted to circumstances. For example, a sentence could be commuted to an electronic bracelet, community service or a regime when the convicted person only spends nights in prison. But for Marine Le Pen the politician, the immediate ban on holding elected office until 2030 is much more unpleasant. This ban can only be overturned by an appeal, even one that is only partially won. Otherwise, there is no doubt that this will cancel her participation in the 2027 presidential election. At the same time, the most recent polls are showing her with an unprecedented 37% [of the vote] in the first round…