Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, June 29th, prepared by TASS

Izvestia: Expert highlights importance of Russian-Chinese cooperation

Russian-Chinese cooperation plays a stabilizing role on the international stage, especially in conditions of geopolitical turbulence and rising tensions in different parts of the world. This concerns regulation on the Korean Peninsula, as well as in Syria and Afghanistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 28 after holding talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping via a video link. After the event, the parties approved a joint statement confirming Russia and China’s commitment to prolonging the bilateral Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation signed 20 years ago, Izvestia informs. An expert interviewed by Izvestia reaffirmed the effectiveness of the treaty.

The document enshrines such principal agreements as mutual support when it comes to protecting national unity and territorial integrity, refusing to use nuclear weapons first and refusing to target strategic missiles in each other’s direction, the Russian leader informed.

Russia and China, along with the US, are the three powers considered to be at the center of world politics, representing the nucleus of the entire system of international relations, Vladimir Portyakov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Far Eastern Studies with the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia. Considering this fact, it is only natural that long-term agreements between two out of three main players have an important role.

"Besides, Russia essentially does not have these kinds of agreements and these kinds of relations with any other major countries," the expert noted. "The treaty has been in force for 20 years. It was signed in a situation when there was no total confidence in the favorable development of bilateral relations, and the level of political trust left a lot to be desired. However, this period has shown that not only is the treaty an effective tool of steady and constant improvement of bilateral relations, but it is an important tool for ensuring international stability on the whole," he concluded.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Pentagon aims to clip the wings of drone bases in Syria and Iraq

The US struck the positions of pro-Iranian forces in Syria and Iraq on Monday, with the Pentagon claiming that the operation was solely a defensive measure. It came as a response to the ongoing attacks on American personnel in the Middle East, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported. The Biden administration notes that the US wants to send a clear signal to Tehran on its red lines in the region. However, Washington still does not plan to increase the risks of escalation with Shiite irregular formations, who are considered to be directly accountable to the Iranian leadership.

Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs John Kirby earlier said that the US Air Force carried out airstrikes on Tehran-backed groups in the border area of Iraq and Syria. According to Kirby, "the targets were selected because these facilities are utilized by Iran-backed militias that are engaged in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) attacks against U.S. personnel and facilities in Iraq." The strikes targeted warehouse and operative facilities in two locations in Syria and one location in Iraq.

The Iraqi Armed Forces strongly condemned the strike. Yehia Rasool, Spokesperson for the Iraqi Commander-in-Chief, stated that the US airstrike on the Syrian-Iraqi border is a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and national security. For their part, the Shia formations vowed revenge for the attacks. Iran’s Pars news agency quoted a statement by the Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada group, which said that it would be targeting US planes from now on.

Military expert Yuri Lyamin provided a comment to Nezavisimaya Gazeta saying that the situation in Syria and Iraq has not changed much recently from the viewpoint of US actions. "From time to time, the Americans selectively target pro-Iranian forces on the border between Syria and Iraq, and the pro-Iranian forces selectively target US positions in Iraq," the analyst pointed out. "However, both sides are trying to calibrate the strikes in such a way as to make it unpleasant for their opponent and avoid a new wave of sharp escalation at the same time."

The military commentator told the paper that the situation does not pose a major problem to Russian forces in Syria. "The border area near Iraq under the control of the Syrian government is in the so-called zone of responsibility of pro-Iranian forces, and Russia’s presence is minimal there," he concluded.

Izvestia: Prague willing to improve dialogue with Russia

Moscow and Prague need to pull themselves out of the current deadlock. Czech senate speaker Milos Vystrcil told Izvestia that bilateral relations between both countries have reached their lowest point in the past 30 years. However, the Czech Republic will wait for Russia to take the first step. However, Moscow does not agree with this approach. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told the paper that Prague should be the one to change its behavior. In any case, a thaw in relations is unlikely until the Czech Republic holds its parliamentary election and appoints a new government.

Tensions heated up between Moscow and Prague in April 2021, when the Czech Republic accused Russia of having been involved in explosions at military depots in the village of Vrbetice that occurred in 2014. This led to a major diplomatic uproar.

According to experts, the recent change in the Czech government’s rhetoric can be attributed to both internal and external factors. The Putin-Biden summit in Geneva held on June 16 played a key role here.

"The fact that the escalation in Czech-Russian relations was in many ways a consequence of the Czech Republic showing solidarity with the US has put Prague in an awkward position. The proposals voiced by [Czech PM Andrej] Babis can be explained by the desire not to become the only country on the "unfriendly states" list," Mikhail Vedernikov, senior research fellow at Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia. The internal factors boil down to pressure from business circles, which foresee major economic losses as a result of the Czech-Russian strife.

According to politicians interviewed by Izvestia, real dialogue can only be established after the Czech Republic holds its parliamentary election, set for October 2021.

Radek Vondracek, President of the Chamber of Deputies (lower house) of the Parliament of the Czech Republic, told the paper that although the bilateral relations significantly worsened after the Vrbetice incident, the countries still must communicate, however, right now, this process cannot be sped up realistically, since the Czech parliamentary election race is on the horizon. The speaker noted that the improvement of relations with Russia may become an unnecessary and cheap populist issue during the election. However, the lawmaker was confident that after the election, the new parliament may support the path of dialogue.

Vedomosti: Belarus hits back at Brussels by launching pullout from agreements with EU

In response to the EU’s sanctions, Belarus has embarked on withdrawing from Belarusian-EU agreements in various spheres, the country’s foreign ministry informed on Monday. In the past two weeks, the EU introduced sanctions against Belarus in response to the emergency landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk and the arrest of opposition member Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend Sofia Sapega.

Belarus is recalling its representative to the EU, while proposing that the EU envoy leave Minsk. In addition, Lukashenko is suspending Belarusian participation in the Eastern Partnership, a long-term cooperation program to foster humanitarian, political and economic ties with Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and the South Caucasus states, Vedomosti informs.

Political analyst Andrei Suzdaltsev told Vedomosti that the measures announced by Belarus represent a personal and emotional reaction by President Lukashenko to the new EU sanctions. The expert thinks that despite the mass propaganda campaign on the negative effect of the sanctions on the Belarusian economy, their real effect will not be very significant. According to Suzdaltsev, the EU deliberately left some "blank spots" in the sanctions. Russia may be another recipient of Lukashenko’s message, the political analyst pointed out, adding that the tough anti-EU rhetoric may help Lukashenko to get new loans from the Kremlin.

According to Program Director of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the Valdai Discussion Club Ivan Timofeev, Belarus’ pullout from the Eastern Partnership is to be expected. "The EU chose serious escalation, introducing sectoral sanctions and restrictions against a number of Belarusian companies. Minsk does not have many opportunities for an economic response, but it can answer politically," Timofeev explained. According to the expert, Belarus’ withdrawal from the program and other agreements with the EU may partly damage the EU itself. The Eastern Partnership is a soft force mechanism for Brussels, which is actively being promoted by the EU. Belarus’ pullout shows that the program is not universal anymore. And this is "a symbolically bad signal" to Europe, the commentator stressed.

Kommersant: Planned maintenance works may cause Gazprom to raise gas prices in Europe

The planned maintenance of Russian export gas pipelines in July may push gas prices in Europe to a new high, Kommersant reports. Moreover, if Gazprom does not book an additional capacity for transit through Ukraine on June 29, the lack of gas may slow down the filling of European storage facilities and even lead to net gas withdrawals in mid-summer for the first time in history. However, experts quizzed by Kommersant do not consider the latter option very probable, noting that many factors need to coincide for that to happen.

Due to the gas deficit in Europe, on June 29, market players will closely follow the results of the auction on additional capacities of the Ukrainian gas transport system in July. If Gazprom refuses to book the proposed 64 mln cubic meters a day, as in the previous months, the situation with filling Europe’s underground gas storage facilities will become even more difficult.

According to Gas Infrastructure Europe, gas pumping is 40% lower than the five-year average right now, and the current level of stored gas in Europe comes to just 46.2%.

The deficit of gas supply to Europe may be exacerbated by planned maintenance works on the main Russian export pipelines Yamal-Europe (from July 6 to July 10) and Nord Stream (from July 13 to July 23).

Experts interviewed by Kommersant do not consider the situation critical, noting that maintenance works are always approved with consumers beforehand. Andrei Gromadin, an expert with SberCIB Investment Research, told the paper that Gazprom will be able to adhere to its obligations under long-term contracts in any case.

According to Sergei Kapitonov, a gas industry analyst at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO Energy Center, the market was notified of the maintenance works beforehand, and suppliers are working on possible ways to optimize deliveries. So, it is difficult to imagine that Gazprom would fail to meet its obligations due to the pipeline maintenance works, he noted. But on the other hand, the lack of interest in booking the Ukrainian corridor will inevitably be reflected in rising prices, which in turn may stimulate gas supply from Gazprom’s competitors, namely Norway and LNG suppliers.