Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 21 – Table of Contents

(By Yelena Mukhametshina. Vedomosti, May 19, 2025, https://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2025/05/19/1111194-ushakov-putin-tramp. Complete text:) [Russian] presidential aide Yury Ushakov has revealed the details of a conversation between [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump. Ushakov recalled that this was the third conversation between Putin and Trump since the latter returned to the White House. He said that the conversation lasted two hours and five minutes. “It was an open and constructive conversation. And it’s interesting that it began with our president congratulating Donald Trump on the birth of his 11th grandchild and, naturally, wishing health to the newborn and to Trump’s daughter. The conversation***was mutually respectful and reflected the nature of the personal relations that our president and Trump have developed,” Ushakov said…

(By Vitaly Tseplyayev. Argumenty i fakty, May 21, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – According to [former Russian prime minister] Sergei Stepashin, “For Zelensky, peace will mean political death, and perhaps not just political. War is the only thing that will enable him to hold on to both his power and his life.” AiF spoke about the conflict in Ukraine with [Stepashin, who is] the former Russian prime minister and the current head of the [Russian] Territorial Development Fund’s supervisory board, chair of the Construction Ministry’s public council and president of the Russian Book Union. . . …

(By Yevgeny Senshin. Republic.ru, May 19, 2025, https://republic.ru/posts/115721. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – The Istanbul 2.0 talks have ended in nothing. At the same time, Putin managed to use them to divert attention from [his] reluctance to end the war and to play for time. In an interview with Republic, Igor Eidman, a sociologist, journalist and political émigré, talks about whether the failure of Istanbul 2.0 is a victory for the Kremlin…

(By Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, May 19, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:). . . Pro-European candidate and Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan received about 54% of the vote in the presidential election, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau reported. His rival, Euroskeptic George Simion, won around 46%. And yet Simion has declared himself the winner and even announced the beginning of the “reconstruction of the institutions of the Romanian state.” The turnout for the election was 64.7%, while in the first round it was 53.21% [see Vol. 77, No. 18 – 19, pp. 21 – 22]. In total, more than 11.7 million Romanian citizens went to polling stations inside the country and abroad…

([No author indicated.] Meduza, May 20, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/05/20/completely-unfounded-allegations. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – On May 18, the day Romanians headed to the polls for the second round of voting in the country’s presidential elections, Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted a series of messages on X accusing French intelligence of pressuring him to “silence conservative voices in Romania” ahead of the vote. The timing and content of the posts were widely interpreted as an allegation of election interference. Here’s what Durov said – and how France and Russia have responded…

(By Veronika Vishnyakova. Kommersant, May 22, 2025, p. 6. Condensed text:) Leader of the Alliance for the Union of Romanians George Simion has filed a lawsuit in court to cancel the results of the second round of Romania’s presidential election, in which the far-right politician lost to the pro-European Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan by more than 7% of the vote. . . …

(By Nikolai Pershin. Novaya gazeta Europe, May 20, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/05/20/iz-eretikov-v-meinstrim. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – Right-wing populist parties that used to be widely dismissed as fringe groups just a few years ago have by 2025 established themselves as part of the European political mainstream. . . …

(By Vladimir Mokhov. Krasnaya zvezda, May 23, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Yesterday, in the Kremlin’s Catherine Hall, a ceremony was held for Russian President [Vladimir Putin] to present state awards. Among the recipients of orders, medals and honorary titles were military personnel, cosmonauts, representatives of public and religious organizations, government officials, musicians, journalists, mothers of many children, health care, culture, education and industry workers.

“The tradition of honoring outstanding citizens is proof of public recognition of your talent, labor and creative achievements,” Vladimir Putin said to them. “Pride and gratitude are evoked by the military feats in the name of freedom, independence and the future of Russia.”…

(By Darya Garmonenko and Ivan Rodin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, May 23, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) The State Duma ethnic affairs committee received a proposal from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia on modernizing the law on ethnic and cultural autonomies (ECAs) [see Vol. 77, No. 20, pp. 13 – 15], but work on the document has not yet begun.. . .

As NG found out, A Just Russia – For the Truth (JRFT) and the Russian Federation Communist Party continue to suspect the LDPR and its leader, Leonid Slutsky, of secretly lobbying for migrant diasporas. The LDPR, in turn, responds to them just as harshly: It is just like those sorts of lobbyists, they say, to criticize pretty common-sense proposals…

(By Yulia Starostina. Translation by Kevin Rothrock. Meduza, May 21, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/05/22/behind-the-ruble-s-resilience. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – After several years of rapid, war-driven growth, the Russian economy has begun to cool. Oil prices remain well below their peak levels, and the US Department of Energy has already lowered its 2025 forecast for Brent crude’s spot price. Meanwhile, the European Union is rolling out new sanctions against Russia. Yet the ruble appears unfazed by these factors, with the exchange rate holding steady at around 80 to the US dollar. Meduza examines how the ruble earned the title of 2025’s “top-performing currency” and investigates how soon it might lose that crown.

Since the beginning of the year, the ruble has gained nearly 40% against the US dollar. In terms of returns, Russia’s currency has become “more valuable than gold.” While the ruble appreciated 38% against the dollar in off-market trading, gold rose by only 23% over the same period. This surge in the ruble’s value has come despite a 20% increase in government spending (from January to April 2025, the government spent 15.5 trillion rubles, compared to 12.8 trillion rubles over the same period in 2024) and a marked slowdown in economic growth (according to preliminary estimates from Russia’s Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat), gross domestic product growth in the first quarter of 2025 was 1.4%, down from 4.5% in Q4 2024)…

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, May 23, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Members of the Kyrgyz parliament have once again raised the topic of language, leading to tense debates and nearly causing a conflict in the legislative body. In a situation where attempts to limit the use of the Russian language – which is an official language – have been unsuccessful, the deputies decided to change their tactics and focus on raising the status of the Kyrgyz language in state and public life. The day before, parliament approved on first reading a package of bills amending several legislative acts related to use of the state language.

The amendments introduce requirements for a certain level of proficiency in the state language for civil servants and deputies, language exams in schools and rules for advertising and content…

(By Dmitry Kornev and Roman Kretsul. Izvestia, May 19, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) Ukroboronprom [Ukrainian Defense], the state arms production concern, and Germany’s Rheinmetall have signed a memorandum on creating another joint venture – their third already – on [Ukrainian] territory. . . .

The new enterprise is expected to manufacture 155-mm artillery shells at a rate of 150,000 rounds per year, starting in 2026. The munitions factory will be located at the repair and maintenance center for German armor that has been operating in [western] Ukraine since summer 2024. The [exact] locations of the new and old enterprises have not yet been disclosed…

(By Anastasia Kostina. Izvestia, May 19, 2025, p. 4. Condensed text:). .. Editors’ Note. – In Izvestia’s exclusive interview with [Indian Ambassador to Russia] Vinay Kumar, we discussed the conflict with Pakistan [see Vol. 77, No. 18 – 19, p. 21] and India’s role in a Ukraine settlement.

Question. – During talks in July 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin set a goal of increasing mutual trade turnover to $100 billion by 2030 [see Vol. 76, No. 28, pp. 17 – 19]. Recently, the Russian trade mission to India said that it has grown fivefold since 2020 and has already reached $64 billion. In this context, is there a new target for bilateral trade volume by 2030?…

(By Oleg Nikiforov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, May 23, 2025, p. 6. Condensed text:) The right-wing populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), whose creation in 2013 was a reaction to the migration policies of the German government at the time, is facing a split. A direct sign of the looming conflict between the party’s two co-chairs, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, according to experts at Stern magazine, was the change of the party’s foreign policy spokesman.

The fact is that Matthias Moosdorf, who holds this position, was rebuffed by the Bundestag in the vote to appoint him to the foreign policy committee. Stern called this personnel change in the party a reflection of AfD’s new strategy toward Russia and explored possible causes behind it…