Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 33 – Table of Contents

PRYAKHIN: TALKS MARK START OF ‘ARDUOUS PATH’ TOWARD A SETTLEMENT; U.S. POSITION HAS BECOME ‘FLEXIBLE’ AS RUSSIA HAS ADVANCED IN UKRAINE

(By Vladimir Fyodorovich Pryakhin, doctor of political science, member of the Association of Russian Diplomats, professor in the department of regional studies and foreign politics at the Russian State University of the Humanities. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Aug. 12, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump will take place in Alaska on Aug. 15. As the respectable Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote, Trump has raised eyebrows with his new pivot in Russia policy. He has put himself in a difficult position with his ultimatum [of new sanctions and severe tariffs; see Vol. 77, No. 32, pp. 3-7 – Trans.], but a face-to-face meeting with Putin may provide a way out of the situation…

GRAHAM: SUMMIT OFFERS CHANCE TO NORMALIZE U.S.-RUSSIA TIES; U.S. HAS DE FACTO RECOGNIZED RUSSIAN CONTROL OF SOME UKRAINIAN REGIONS

(By Semyon Boikov. Izvestia, Aug. 12, 2025, p. 2. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – In an interview with Izvestia, Thomas Graham, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former special assistant to [former] US president George W. Bush for Russia and Eurasia, said that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump may reach an agreement to lift some US sanctions against Russia. . . …

HEFLIN: U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY BEING RUN BY THE ‘B TEAM’; SUMMIT IS ‘AMATEURISH’; IT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN 2-3 WEEKS TO GIVE TIME TO PREPARE

(By Donald Heflin, executive director of the Edward R. Murrow Center and senior fellow of diplomatic practice at Tufts University’s Fletcher School. Novaya gazeta Europe, Aug. 12, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/08/12/the-b-team-en. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – A hastily arranged summit between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is set for Aug. 15 in Alaska, where the two leaders will discuss a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky will not attend, barring a last-minute change…

THEY STOOD AROUND BEFORE THE JOURNEY.¹ (By Andrei Kolesnikov. Kommersant, Aug. 16, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – On Aug. 15, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met at an American military base in Alaska and began negotiations, causing the entire world to freeze in its tracks. Kommersant special correspondent Andrei Kolesnikov, deplaning onto the runway before their meeting, recorded details that may help us understand what would happen. Here’s the result.

Alaska welcomed us with its characteristic hospitality. However, it was a long time before we could exit the plane onto our almost native soil and embrace its birch trees, which are just as bountiful as they are in Moscow Province. In fact, the area is painfully reminiscent not so much of Kamchatka, but of Yaroslavl itself. . . …

CHERNIKOV: TRUMP SECURES U.S. ROLE AS MANAGER FOR ZANGEZUR ROAD, GUARANTOR OF AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIAN PEACE AS LEADERS SEEK HIS APPROVAL, BUT PASHINYAN FACES POLITICAL, CONSTITUTIONAL HURDLES TO SIGNING LEGAL, BINDING PEACE TREATY

(By Roman Chernikov. Meduza, Aug. 11, 2025, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/08/11/the-deal-that-wasn-t. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – Azerbaijani President Ilkham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s meeting in Washington on Aug. 8 set off a wave of celebration. The White House called it historic, and Western media were quick to report that thanks to US President Donald Trump’s mediation, a decades-long conflict had finally been put to rest. Aliyev and Pashinyan even went so far as to say that Trump deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. But the truth – believe it or not – is more complicated. For Meduza, Caucasus expert Roman Chernikov breaks down what really happened at the White House summit and what issues the two countries still need to resolve…

SELEZNYOV: RESPONSE TO TREATY AMONG ARMENIAN ELITES SPLIT ALONG TYPICAL PARTISAN LINES; PUBLIC FEELS MIX OF HOPE, FEAR AT PASHINYAN’S AMBITIONS

(By Igor Seleznyov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Aug. 14, 2025, p. 5. Complete text:) Armenian authorities and the opposition are arguing over the significance of the peace agreement initialed with Azerbaijan. Supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claim that April 8 [sic; Aug. 8 – Trans.] was a triumph of Armenian diplomacy, while opponents consider the day another betrayal of national interests. Meanwhile, ordinary residents of the republic have not yet felt any changes after the US talks, but they are worried that the new regional security system may affect their rights and freedoms…

EXPERTS: ZANGEZUR ‘TRUMP ROUTE’ COULD IMPEDE EAEU TRADE, ENDANGERING ARMENIAN MEMBERSHIP; YEREVAN’S WESTERN ECONOMIC TIES INSUFFICIENT SO FAR TO REPLACE TRADITIONAL TRADE PARTNERS

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Aug. 15, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) Two significant events will take place on the Issyk-Kul coast in Cholpon-Ata on Thursday and Friday: the Third Kyrgyz-Russian Business Forum and the 43rd meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EaEU). The event is slated to include the prime ministers of the union member states, with the exception of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, whose presence is especially important in the light of potential geopolitical changes related to the Zangezur corridor, which is expected to come under US control…

(By Ivan Chuprov. Argumenty i fakty, Aug. 13, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – “In the USSR, the social system was fairer. The majority of the population lived without excesses, but with sufficiency.” Writer and public figure Yury Polyakov is sure of this. He told AiF why he considers the 1991 coup noble, and whether the collapse of the Union could have been avoided.

Question. – Yury Mikhailovich [Polyakov], on Aug. 19, 1991, we all woke up and the TV was showing the State Committee for the State of Emergency and “Swan Lake.” Do you think the collapse of the USSR was predetermined, or was there a chance to save it?…

(By Tatiana Samusenko. Rossiiskaya gazeta, Aug. 12, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) Russian telecom operators are proposing blocking voice calls on foreign messenger apps. Experts say that such an initiative could lead to increased cell traffic and decreased cyber fraud.

Information has appeared on several Telegram channels that operators have proposed completely blocking voice calls through foreign messenger apps…

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Aug. 13, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) The party A Just Russia  For the Truth (JRFT) has opposed limitations on foreign messenger apps. The party Noviye Lyudi [New People] (NL) also has taken a similar stance. . . .

JRFT chair Sergei Mironov assessed the situation in harsh terms and opposed cell operators’ idea to ban calls through messenger apps. “The operators need to fix their failures in fighting cybercriminals instead of trying to establish a communications monopoly,” the politician stressed. It had been reported earlier that in meetings with the Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media Ministry, the “Big Four” operators proposed banning calls through messenger apps. According to them, that would decrease phone fraud and increase operators’ profits. “I have no doubt that profits in particular are the key motive behind operators wanting to send people back to the previous century. Cell companies are losing out on people giving up voice calls and texts, but at the same time they’re raising rates, including charges for mobile Internet. They’re doing so in a synchronized way, and I believe that it is long overdue for the Federal Antimonopoly Service to check the ‘Big Four’ for signs of a cartel and generally curtail their appetites,” Mironov said, denouncing the operators…

(By Nikolai Pryakhin. Krasnaya zvezda, Aug. 14, 2025, p. 1. Complete text:) The training takes place in the rear area, behind the zone of the special military operation [in Ukraine]. Intensive exercises are conducted during breaks between the unit’s combat tasks. The soldiers speak of the benefits of such events, noting that one can never have too much training.

At one of the training grounds of the Center Grouping of Forces, soldiers in an assault unit of a combined tank formation are training. They already have dozens of combat missions under their belts. Yet the refinement of techniques and teamwork continues…

(By Aleksandr Volobuyev. Ekspert, Aug. 11, 2025, https://expert.ru/intervyu/v-rossii-rabotayut-bolee-milliona-aytishnikov/. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – The digital transformation of state governance systems and sectors is a strategic task. Without the government’s involvement, protectionism, and direct subsidies for technological development and innovation projects, this transformation will drag on for years, if it ever happens at all. In an interview with Ekspert, Maksut Shadayev, minister of digital development, communications and mass media, talks about how this task is being fulfilled via national projects, where [we] are lagging behind, and where we are already ahead of the whole world.

Question. – The Digital Economy national program ended in 2024. How do you assess its results and the effects of its implementation? Has the level of digital maturity that you planned been achieved?…

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Aug. 11, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov has discussed with Rosatom [Federal Atomic Energy Agency] chief Aleksei Likhachov [prospects for] setting up a consortium to build the republic’s first nuclear power plant (NPP). . . .

The Kazakh authorities are looking for a suitable name for the country’s first NPP, a groundbreaking ceremony for which took place on Aug. 8 in the town of Ulken near Almaty. The day before, Olzhas Bektenov said that this project was under the president’s watchful eye and that the government would provide all the necessary support for it. The consortium is led by Rosatom…

(By Svetlana Gamova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Aug. 11, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) On Aug. 31, Ukraine will for the first time ever observe Romanian Language Day, the [Ukrainian] authorities announced during Romanian Foreign Minister Oana Toiu’s visit to Kiev. . . .

According to the 2001 census, 151,100 people identified themselves as [ethnic] Romanians, and their numbers were up 12% compared to the previous census. Ninety-two percent of Romanians said their native language was Romanian; 6% said it was Ukrainian, [and] 1.5% said it was Russian. The largest groups of [ethnic] Romanians live in Chernovtsy and Transcarpathia Provinces…

(By Albert Kalashyan. Izvestia, Aug. 15, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) . . . Russia and Syria will update all existing agreements after Damascus appoints its cochair of the intergovernmental commission, the press service of the Russian Construction Ministry told Izvestia. According to the agency, the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the Russian-Syrian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, and scientific and technical cooperation will be based on the approaches of the Syrian Arab Republic’s new leadership toward interaction with Moscow.

“At present, the cochair of the Russian-Syrian intergovernmental commission on the Russian side is Russian Construction, Housing and Public Utilities Minister Irek Faizullin,” the press service noted. “After the Syrian side completes the procedure for appointing its cochairman, a joint inventory and update of all current agreements and contracts with Syria will be required.”…