Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 78, No. 4 – Table of Contents

BOVT: FORUM’S MAIN THEMES PIT COOPERATION AND INNOVATION AGAINST HARM TO ECONOMIC GROWTH, CLIMATE, PRIVACY RIGHTS, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

(By Georgy Bovt. Rossiiskaya gazeta, Jan. 19, 2026, p. 1. Complete text:)The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum will be held from Jan. 19-23, 2026, and could be one of the largest ever. The event is taking place under the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue” and is intended to “strengthen cooperation amid geopolitical and economic instability.” This sounds like a joke on Russia, whose representatives were not invited and whose press wasn’t even accredited…

TRUMP ANNOUNCES ‘BOARD OF PEACE’ TO SETTLE CONFLICT IN GAZA; 35 COUNTRIES AGREE TO JOIN AS RUSSIA MULLS INVITATION; EXPERT: BOARD IS A‘TEST PLATFORM’ TO REPLACE UN WITH THE U.S.

(By Ilya Arzumanov. Ekspert, Jan. 22, 2026, https://expert.ru/v-mire/miru-predyavili-sovetskoe-budushchee/. Condensed text:). . . On Jan. 22, a ceremony was held in Davos to establish the Board of Peace, an initiative of US President Donald Trump. Along with Trump, the new international organization’s charter was signed by leaders of 19 countries present at the World Economic Forum: Azerbaijan, Argentina, Armenia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Morocco, Mongolia, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo…

SHEVCHUK: PUTIN’S DEMAND FOR NEW SECURITY ARCHITECTURE WAS ‘TO HIS OWN DETRIMENT,’ AS OTHERS ARE TAKING OVER ROLE OF ARCHITECTS, BUILDING A ‘LASTING PEACE’ FOR THEMSELVES

(By Mikhail Shevchuk. Republic.ru, Jan. 21, 2026, https://republicmag.io/posts/116981. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – The mirage of peace in Ukraine appeared almost simultaneously in Moscow and Berlin, but quickly faded away. While Putin and [German Chancellor Friedrich] Merz [separately] spoke cautiously about “restoring balance,” Donald Trump was recasting global security as he saw fit, demonstrating that any peace agreements could be a byproduct of a “big deal.” Mikhail Shevchuk looks at why peace in and of itself no longer guarantees anything today and at who is actually designing the new architecture of power…

REMCHUKOV: POST-WWII ORDER IS CRUMBLING AS U.S. PURSUES ‘AMERICA FIRST’ AGENDA; CANADIAN PM CALLS SITUATION IN WEST ‘RUPTURE’; AUDIENCE JEERS LUTNICK’S SPEECH DAMNING GLOBALIZATION

(By Konstantin Remchukov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 26, 2026, p. 1. Complete text:) Davos 2026, which ended [on Jan. 23], has brought to the forefront a number of elements of the new political and economic reality predicated on the implementation of Trump’s “America First” slogan and principle…

KORTUNOV: WHILE SURELY HAPPY ABOUT GROWING ECONOMY, SHRINKING BUREAUCRACY, DECREASED CRIME RATES, AMERICANS PAN TRUMP’S FIRST YEAR DUE TO DOUBTS ABOUT FUTURE, ‘DIVISIONS WITHIN SOCIETY,’ SPELLING TROUBLE FOR 2026 MIDTERMS

(By political analyst Andrei Kortunov. Izvestia,Jan. 20, 2026,p. 2. Complete text:)As foreign observers look back on the first year of [US President] Trump’s second term, they tend to focus on the new administration’s hyperactive and unpredictable foreign policy. Much attention is being drawn to the implementation of the peace plan in Palestine and attempts to achieve a Russian-Ukrainian settlement; missile strikes on Iran [see Vol. 77, No. 26, pp. 3-7]and the kidnapping of [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro [see Vol. 78, No.1-3, pp. 3-7]; the desire to acquire Greenland by any means necessary [see Vol. 78, No. 1-3, pp. 8-10] and threats to annex Canada…

U.S. EXPERT: IGNORING POLLS, TRUMP SHIFTS POLICY NOT BY PURSUING ISOLATIONISM OR LIMITING USE OF FORCE, BUT BY ADVANCING U.S. POWER AND INTEREST WITHOUT REGARD TO AGREEMENTS OR LEGAL LIMITS

(By Yelena Chernenko. Kommersant,Jan. 20, 2026,p. 4. Complete text:)Editors’ Note. – Jan. 20 marks one year since the inauguration of the 47th US President Donald Trump. In terms of foreign policy, these 12 months have been anything but boring. Kommersant correspondent Yelena Chernenko asked Thomas Graham, former aide for Russia and Eurasia to [43rd] US president George W. Bush and fellow at the US Council on Foreign Relations, about the results of Donald Trump’s first year in office…

(By Russian Federation Communist Party Chairman Gennady Zyuganov. Sovetskaya Rossia,Jan. 22, 2026,p. 2. Complete text:) Dear deputies, comrades and friends!The Year of the Fire Horse is picking up speed. Over the past few days, we have held consultations with the country’s leadership, with the mayors of Moscow and St. Petersburg, and with our allies. We heard reports from the governors and the heads of local executive authorities whom we nominated. We organized meetings at the headquarters of our patriotic forces. Yesterday, the Presidium of the Central Committee approved the program and priorities with which our party and the popular-patriotic forces will go into the elections. Ensuring victory is a primary task for everyone. And for us it will be the main one.

We believe that we need to closely monitor what is happening at the Davos Economic Forum, where [US President Donald] Trump has arrived with his large team [see the first feature in this issue]. Not everyone takes this event seriously. But Davos always reveals the temperature of the planet’s development. At the last forum [see Vol. 77, No. 4, p. 17], its experts identified three main threats: war, environmental disasters and unregulated artificial intelligence. What is happening in the world proves that they were right in their assessments. These threats are becoming increasingly apparent. And the most terrible of them is the war that is flaring up before our eyes on a planetary scale…

(By Darya Garmonenko and Ivan Rodin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 21, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) The amount of media coverage of the [upcoming] State Duma elections since mid-January has reached a level characteristic of April or May. . . . Central Electoral Commission (CEC) head EllaPamfilovaisonceagaintalkingabout the difficulties of 2026 and is echoed by the Russian Federation Communist Party (RFCP) leader and experts. The media hullabaloo seems to have been orchestratedon orders from above, but its purpose is not yet entirely clear.

In an interview with RIA Novosti, Pamfilova effectively repeated what she has said many times before: The State Duma elections will be accompanied by a large number of regional and local campaigns, so this will be a difficult period. “Very difficult, wide-ranging work lies ahead this year: more than 2,000 election campaigns at various levels, each with its own specifics, distinct peculiarities [and] level of competition,” the CEC chairwoman stressed. According to her, preparations for “very important elections for deputies to the State Duma’s ninth convocation” are in full swing. Pamfilova made no secret of the fact that [the preparations] “have been going on for a long time,” adding that this is the CEC’s established practice…

(By Vladimir Kuzar. Krasnaya zvezda, Jan. 23, 2026, p. 6. Complete text:) On Jan. 21, 2026, Russian President Vladimir Putin held an operational meeting via video link with the permanent members of Russia’s Security Council. The main item on the agenda was the prospects for implementing the North-South International Transport Corridor. Before addressing the primary topic, the Russian head of state responded to two questions posed by Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matviyenko: Russia’s position on the US president’s initiative to establish a Board of Peace [see the first feature in this issue] and its stance on the situation surrounding Greenland.

Regarding the Board of Peace proposal, Vladimir Putin said: “We have indeed received a personal communication from US President Donald Trump inviting us to join a new international body he is initiating – the Board of Peace. In this regard, I would first of all like to thank the US president for this proposal…

([No author indicated.] Meduza, Jan. 20, 2026, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/01/21/stockholm-syndrome-or-strategy-maria-kalesnikava-s-pivot-shocks-belarusian-exiles. Complete text:) Maria Kolesnikova, a prominent Belarussian opposition figure and a central figure in the 2020 protests [see Vol. 72, No. 33, pp. 3-7] who spent more than five years in prison, has called on Europe to follow the US’s lead and resume dialogue with [Belarussian President] Aleksandr Lukashenko. In a new interview with the Financial Times, she argued that such engagement would help secure the release of more Belarussian political prisoners and strengthen European security. Officials in Brussels have yet to comment, but many members of the Belarussian political exile community – now concentrated in Vilnius and Warsaw – view Kolesnikova’s plea as naïve.

“The greater Belarus’s isolation from Europe, the more it is forced closer to Russia,” Maria Kolesnikova told FT. “This makes Belarus less safe and less predictable for Europe.” Since she was released from prison in December 2025 in a surprise deal brokered by the US, Kolesnikova has raised eyebrows for her reticence to discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and for publicly expressing gratitude to Lukashenko. Initial public celebrations, including flashmobs honoring her iconic red lipstick, have given way to sharp criticism. While some observers urge patience and say Kolesnikova still needs time to emerge from five years in captivity, others have attributed her new advocacy to “Stockholm syndrome.”…

(By Viktoria Panfilova. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Jan. 22, 2026, p. 5. Condensed text:) . . . [Kazakh] President Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev officially confirmed that the country is on the verge of adopting a new Constitution. The decision is up to the people, who will vote in a nationwide referendum. The draft will be prepared by a representative committee of 100 experts, led by Elvira Azimova, who heads the Constitutional Court.

The government is intentionally relying on an expression of the people’s will, turning this reform into an act of the highest legitimacy. In a controlled political environment, taking such a step significantly raises the level of the president’s personal responsibility. Despite how predictable the plebiscite is, the very fact that fundamental changes are being put to a vote means one thing: Tokayev is personally overseeing these reforms. Success in the referendum will give him a direct mandate to build a new power architecture, while any failure will call the stability of the entire system into question. The time for change has come, and this transformation, according to the leader, rests on a powerful historic foundation…

(By Alyona Nefyodova. Izvestia, Jan. 23, 2026, p. 2. Condensed text:) . . . In the midst of debates around the Gaza situation, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Moscow. His plane landed at a Moscow airport the day before his visit culminated in talks with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin on Jan. 22. The focus of attention was the state of affairs in the Middle East, especially in the context of the Board of Peace, the creation of which US President Donald Trump announced on Jan. 16 [see the first feature in this issue].

While it is now intended to tackle major conflicts around the world, this body was originally created to regulate the situation in Gaza specifically. Earlier, the American president sent world leaders membership invitations, and on Jan. 22, the leaders of 19 countries and the self-proclaimed state of Kosovo signed the Board of Peace charter. . . . It is notable that most European Union countries declined the invitation to join this organization: Many fear that it may usurp the role of the UN and violate international law…

(Story by Sam Breazeale. Meduza, Jan. 20, 2026, https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/01/20/trump-s-greenland-gambit-gives-russia-a-historic-opportunity-but-could-be-a-mixed-blessing-for-putin-experts-tell-meduza. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. –US President Donald Trump’s preoccupation with Greenland has rapidly grown from anodd fixation intoanunprecedented crisis for NATO[see Vol. 78, No. 1-3, pp. 8-10]. Inearly January, Trump told reporters that the US “[needs] Greenland from the standpoint ofnational security.” The following day, his aide [Deputy Chief of Staff] Stephen Miller refused torule out the use offorce totake the Danish territory, telling CNN: “Nobody’s going tofight the US militarily over the future ofGreenland.” DanishPrime Minister [Mette Frederiksen]warned that aUS takeover ofthe island would effectively end the North Atlantic alliance. Since then, the crisis has only escalated, with Trump threatening new tariffs onEuropean NATO members ifthey refuse toallow aUS takeover. OnJan. 19, Norway’s government released atext exchange inwhich Trump linked his Greenland threats tonot receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, writing: “Inolonger feel anobligation tothink purely ofPeace.” Meanwhile, the Kremlin has given little public comment onthe rift, aside from noting that Trump would “certainly godown inhistory” ifheannexed the island, and comparing itto the Crimea. Tounderstand how Moscow islikely viewing the standoff, Meduza spoke to [British] expert on the Russian military Keir Giles and aRussian political scientist who requested anonymity for security reasons.

According toKeir Giles, an expert on the Russian military atthe London-based think tank Chatham House, the Kremlin islikely “jubilant” over Trump’s ongoing attempt topressure Europe into giving the US control ofGreenland. “This disruption toNATO isthe greatest gift that Trump has offered [Russian President Vladimir] Putin sofar,” Giles told Meduza. “It’s aconfirmation that the preservation ofNATO, oreven the Euro-Atlantic consensus, isavery low priority for Trump and those around him.”…