Current Digest of the Russian Press, Vol. 77, No. 51-52 – Table of Contents

NGE: AHEAD OF SHOW, RUSSIANS SAY THEY PLAN TO QUESTION PUTIN ABOUT WAR’S END AND ECONOMIC CONCERNS; WESTERN JOURNALISTS GRILL PUTIN ON PEACE AGREEMENT, REPRESSIVE LAWS AT PRESSER

([No author indicated.] Novaya gazeta Europe, Dec. 19, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/12/19/ask-your-dictator-anything-en-news. Complete text:) Editors’ Note. – [Russian President] Vladimir Putin held his annual Direct Line call-in show in Moscow – an hours-long ordeal in which Russia’s de facto leader responds to carefully vetted questions from members of the public…

NG: OPPOSITION PARTIES ARE USING DIRECT LINE AS A FRAMEWORK FOR MAPPING OUT THEIR POLICIES IN RUN-UP TO 2026 STATE DUMA ELECTIONS; RFCP AIMS TO SET ITSELF AS MAIN COUNTER TO UNITED RUSSIA

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Dec. 22, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) The latest polls on the electoral positions of opposition parties in the [State] Duma aren’t showing any significant changes. The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) is in the lead, followed by the Russian Federation Communist Party (RFCP), A Just Russia and Noviye Lyudi [New People], although pollsters are continuing to debate their prospects. However, the Russian president’s Dec. 19 press conference “Results of the Year With Vladimir Putin” has made it possible to put together a different ranking. If we arrange these political parties by degree and scope of their critical view of the government’s actions, excluding foreign policy, the RFCP will be in first place, A Just Russia in second, Noviye Lyudi in third, and the LDPR in fourth. This provides a basic idea of these parties’ positioning during the upcoming State Duma election campaign…

KATASONOV: PUTIN USED THE ROSIEST ECONOMIC FORECASTS FOR DIRECT LINE, BUT A COMPARISON TO WORLD’S GROWING ECONOMIES PROVES THAT RUSSIA IS WORSE OFF THAN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY

(By Valentin Katasonov. Sovetskaya Rossia, Dec. 25, 2025, p. 7. Condensed text:) By the time Vladimir Putin started his annual Direct Line show on Dec. 19, Russian people had reportedly submitted 2.5 million questions. Over the next four and a half hours, the president answered about 80 of them…

RDIF HEAD DMITRIYEV ARRIVES IN MIAMI FOR NEXT ROUND OF WITKOFF, KUSHNER TALKS; DIPLOMATS: EVEN WITHOUT PROGRESS TOWARD UKRAINE PEACE, NEGOTIATORS FINDING ‘SOLUTIONS’ TO ‘IRRITANTS’

(By Irina Gorbunova and Kirill Fenin. Izvestia, Dec. 22, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) . . . The next round of discussions on a future Ukraine peace agreement has moved to Miami. Kirill Dmitriyev, the Russian president’s special envoy for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, has already said that the last couple days of talks with US representatives on this issue have been constructive. The American side was, as usual, represented by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy (for the Middle East) Steve Witkoff. Their Russian counterparties arrived in the US on the evening of Dec. 20, Moscow time…

TRUMP HAILS ‘VERY PRODUCTIVE’ PUTIN CALL AHEAD OF HOSTING ZELENSKY AT MAR-A-LAGO; UKRAINIANS’ 20-POINT PLAN WELL RECEIVED EXCEPT FOR ISSUES OF TERRITORY, CONTROL OVER NUCLEAR POWER PLANT; SECURITY GUARANTEES, INCLUDING CONGRESS VOTE ON U.S. ROLE, ANOTHER STICKING POINT FOR UKRAINE

(By Nikolai Pershin. Novaya gazeta Europe, Dec. 29, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/12/29/bez-novogodnikh-chudes. Condensed text:). . . . The end of 2025 witnessed a new attempt by US President Donald Trump to achieve – according to his own count – his ninth peacemaking success. On Dec. 28, he called Vladimir Putin and then held a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in his Florida residence…

PETROV: ALL SIDES SEEK OPTIMISTIC INTERPRETATION OF TRUMP’S ACTIONS; KREMLIN BUOYED BY WORKING GROUP FOR TALKS ON NON-UKRAINE ISSUES; PRO-KIEV VOICES IN U.S., EU POINT TO CONTINED ENGAGEMENT

(By Gennady Petrov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Dec. 30, 2025, p. 1. Condensed text:) A meeting between Vladimir Zelensky and Donald Trump in Florida has struck the final chord (at least for 2025) of the peace process initiated by the American president. The result so far is disappointing: Peace has not been achieved. . . …

(By Darya Garmonenko. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Dec. 29, 2025, p. 3. Condensed text:) According to information obtained by NG, Russian Federation Communist Party (RFCP) leader Gennady Zyuganov was the one who was able to get [Altai Territory Legislative Assembly member] Lyudmila Klyushnikova and her aide Svetlana Kerber released from pretrial detention. At the same time, the pretrial restriction against them was reduced to the minimum – a written pledge not to leave the area. . . .

The Altai Communists can continue their activities without leaving Novoaltaisk, their place of residence and Klyushnikova”s electoral district. NG learned from State Duma Deputy Maria Prusakova, who is also first secretary of the RFCP’s Altai Territory Committee, that a special petition to allow Klyushnikova to participate in legislative assembly meetings in Barnaul will be submitted to investigative bodies…

(Nezavisimaya gazeta, Dec. 25, 2025, p. 2. Complete text:) Digital Development Deputy Minister Bella Cherkesova announced at a meeting of the Digital Development Ministry’s public council that the ministry wants to introduce a single online identification number for all digital platforms. It can’t be said that this news shocked the online world, which is already accustomed to officials or deputies coming up with some new form of control every month. Headlines like “The End of Anonymity?” also aren’t surprising. This is exactly how ministerial initiatives are interpreted, and this is precisely the horizon and nature of expectations.

The deputy minister cited the interests of streaming services, which need help assessing the popularity of their content. They are now receiving corrupted data. If a person is watching the same movie on the same platform, first on TV, then on their phone on their way to work, statistics count this as two unique users. There are platforms that do not require authorization, which makes it harder for the services themselves and for advertisers that want to target specific audiences or at least obtain accurate viewing data…

(By Yefim Bryantsev. Kommersant, Dec. 26, 2025, p. 4. Condensed text:) . . . [Left Front coordinator] Sergei Udaltsov’s trial at the Second Western Military District Court ended on Dec. 25. He was charged with justifying terrorism using the mass media (Art. 205.2, Part 2 of the Russian Criminal Code).

The criminal prosecution was launched following 2023 posts on the Left Front coordinator’s Telegram channel, the Left Front’s Web site and in the Svobodnaya pressa [Free Press] publication supporting participants of a Marxist circle from Ufa who at that time were being charged with forming and participating in a terrorist community, as well as preparing to seize power by force (they were given long prison sentences on Dec. 16)…

(By Mikhail Yudayev in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky . Krasnaya zvezda, Dec. 23, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) Veterans of the special military operation [in Ukraine] (SMO) in Kamchatka are being given the opportunity to apply their leadership skills and managerial experience in civilian life: The first group of participants in the regional Heroes of Kamchatka program has entered the active phase of training.

Heroes of Kamchatka is a regional counterpart to the federal Time of Heroes program, implemented at the direction of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Applications for the inaugural cohort opened in February 2025 [sic; 2024 – Trans.]. By early September, 14 candidates had been selected from a pool of 150 applicants after successfully passing through all stages of the competitive selection process. They began training on Sept. 1, and in early December, each participant was assigned a personal mentor drawn from current leaders in regional government…

(By Pavel Kuznetsov. Novaya gazeta Europe, Dec. 28, 2025, https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2025/12/28/ushel-pasha-tekhnik-prishla-larisa-dolina. Condensed text:) Editors’ Note. – . . . Every three months, PR specialists from the Public Relations Development Company (CROS) conduct a unique study and create a National Anxiety Index, identifying what worries Russians most. Some fears are quite real, such as the death of a beloved performer or the threat of drone attacks. Others are imposed by the media or promoted by conspiracy theorists.

CROS researchers claim that their methods let them study the “gray zone” of people’s fears. This is exactly what often remains inaccessible to the media and pollsters: personal and widespread concerns that people actively and (to the extent possible) openly discuss on social networks and bring to traditional media. To determine this, the researchers use a special unit, the mediajung, which they typically employ to evaluate ad campaign effectiveness…

(By Igor Seleznyov. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Dec. 29, 2025, p. 8. Condensed text:) Armenia awaits US Vice-President J.D. Vance at the beginning of 2026. Washington is also expected to send a new ambassador to Yerevan, who will become actively involved in implementing the Trump Route project. . . .

Suren Sarkisyan, head of the Armenian Institute of American Studies, said that the US vice-president or another high-ranking representative from Washington might visit Yerevan in February. A high-ranking US official is expected to give fresh impetus to the development of the Trump Route project and might even take part in the official launch ceremony for the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) [a transit route also known as the Zangezur corridor; see Vol. 77, No. 33, pp. 10-12 – Trans.]. (This 42-kilometer road in southern Armenia will link Azerbaijan with [its] Nakhichevan [Autonomous Republic] – Ed.) Arman Babadzhanyan, chairman of the pro-Western For the Republic party, believes that Vance will be the one to visit. “This is not just an ordinary high-level visit. Washington is quickly going ahead with implementing the Aug. 8 agreements. Such visits have a concrete value. Armenia should present a clear-cut, quantifiable package of measures,” the politician said with confidence…

(By Dmitry Taratorin. Nezavisimaya gazeta, Dec. 19, 2025, p. 5. Condensed text:) The Seventh All-Belarussian People’s Assembly convened for its second session in Minsk Dec. 18-19. On the first day, Aleksandr Lukashenko delivered his Address to the People and the Parliament. The president was critical, citing numerous issues – from high livestock mortality, a subject invariably near and dear to his heart, to inefficient government agencies, which only provide cushy jobs for bureaucrats. In the meantime, commentators point out that the president is perhaps no longer convinced that Belarus really needs the assembly in its current form.

As soon as the meeting started, an announcement was made that there would only be one item on the agenda on the first day – namely, the president’s Address to the People and the Parliament. Aleksandr Lukashenko started by noting that his speech would focus on some “boring economic issues,” so he would try to keep it short. In the end, though, his speech was anything but short, but it wasn’t boring either, as inspirational passages were interspersed with scathing tirades…

(By Dmitry Novikov, associate professor at the Higher School of Economics. Izvestia, Dec. 23, 2025, p. 3. Complete text:) Many of the upheavals of the past year have occurred under [US President Donald] Trump’s banner. The policies of the US president and his team, it turns out, are aimed at grinding down old institutions – economic and political, domestic and international.

Perhaps the most fundamental change in world affairs is the transformation (or destruction) of the rules of the game in international trade associated with the unprecedented growth of protectionism – in effect, an economic war unleashed by Washington in all directions…

(By Yekaterina Khamova. Izvestia, Dec. 25, 2025, p. 4. Condensed text:) . . . The latest escalation in the conflict between the US and Venezuela was Washington’s decision to impose a blockade on sanctioned oil tankers from the Bolivarian Republic. The US has already captured two of them and is now pursuing the third in international waters. Commenting on the operations of his country’s Navy and Coast Guard, Donald Trump openly stated that the US will keep all the seized oil and decide for itself how to use it.

In this situation, in addition to the obvious damage to Venezuela, the consequences also threaten Caracas’s close ideological and political partner, Cuba…