US President Donald Trump spoke about his first conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since his re-election; the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) plans to hold a total of eight military drills in 2025; and Moscow plans to continue collaboration within the BRICS and EAEU formats. These stories topped Monday’s newspaper headlines across Russia, according to TASS news agency.
Vedomosti: Trump remains open to settling Ukraine conflict amid reports of talks with Putin
US President Donald Trump spoke about his first discussion with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin since his re-election aboard Air Force One on February 7 in an interview with the New York Post (NYP). This time, when asked by the NYP how many times he had communicated with Putin, Trump replied: "I'd rather not say." Earlier, on February 5, Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there are contacts between Moscow and Washington along the lines of individual departments and, moreover, they have recently "grown stronger," Vedomosti writes. Meanwhile, Trump told NYP he has a specific plan to end the Ukrainian conflict and called on his national security adviser Mike Waltz to arrange the meetings.
Earlier, the US president had already announced a meeting with Vladimir Zelensky in Washington in the week beginning February 10. It is known that they will discuss the issue of possible access for the United States to Ukrainian natural resources in exchange for security guarantees.
At the same time, rumors about the location of a potential Putin-Trump summit were circulating in the Western press. On February 3, Reuters reported that Russia was exploring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as possible venues for a Putin-Trump meeting. According to these sources, senior Russian officials had traveled to both countries several weeks earlier. Putin himself last visited these two countries on the same day - December 6, 2023.
Usually, both sides simultaneously announce such talks, and revealing them prematurely is a violation of diplomatic protocol, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics Dmitry Suslov told Vedomosti. It is difficult to say whether Trump did it deliberately, but if it was intentional, then, according to Suslov, it should be seen as Trump's attempt to initiate a dialogue as soon as possible, which, in his opinion, should lead to the cessation of hostilities in Ukraine.
In this manner, Trump is trying to push forward his agenda, the expert believes. A similar pattern of behavior was observed when he persuaded everyone during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia allegedly does not support the creation of a Palestinian state. As for the potential agenda of the Putin-Trump talks, Russia would like to primarily achieve a major overhaul of the US policy towards it.
Izvestia: CSTO advances Eurasian security with eight planned drills
This year the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) will conduct eight military drills. Specifically, the main phase of Combat Brotherhood-2025 will occur in Belarus from September 1 to 6, Rubezh-2025 will take place in Kyrgyzstan, the CSTO special forces training Cobalt-2025 will be organized in Kazakhstan, and the Barrier-2025 operations will be conducted in Tajikistan, the organization informed Izvestia.
Experts emphasized the role of the organization in maintaining regional stability. It has notably served as a stabilizing factor in Kazakhstan during 2022.
"The CSTO remains an entity that enables member states to synchronize their actions to address regional threats effectively," senior lecturer at the Department of International Politics and Foreign Regional Studies at the Institute of Social Sciences of the Presidential Academy Sergey Margulis told Izvestia. "While some CSTO nations have distinct foreign policy agendas that don’t always align, the organization continues to be proficient in tackling common issues like (religious extremism, terrorism). Despite criticism, the January 2022 events demonstrated that CSTO member nations could collaborate successfully on certain matters," he added.
Simultaneously, there is a shift in the foreign policy focus of some bloc members, particularly Armenia, which suspended its participation in the CSTO in 2024.
"Nevertheless, it’s crucial to highlight that Yerevan is not rushing to permanently exit the organization, having evaluated all potential risks. Furthermore, this ‘half-step’ keeps a pathway open for Armenia to rejoin the CSTO if circumstances necessitate," Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies, told Izvestia.
For Russia, the CSTO is vital for projecting itself on the global stage as a major power and a key player, whose stance the EU and the United States should consider in shaping or overhauling the international security framework, the analyst noted. Simultaneously, the organization aims to demonstrate to smaller and medium-sized CIS nations that there is an alternative to NATO structures, which are fundamentally antagonistic towards Russia, the expert concluded.
Izvestia: Doors to BRICS and EAEU remain open - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
Trade with the economies of Southeast Asia and Latin America already accounts for more than 70% of Russia’s trade activities, and the share of settlements in national currencies under foreign contracts with them is about 90%, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said in an interview with Izvestia.
Moscow will continue to deepen cooperation with the countries of these regions at the international level and the doors to BRICS and the EAEU remain open, the diplomat emphasized.
"We cannot ignore the growing interest of the majority of world states in building cooperation with BRICS. This confirms the attractiveness of our strategic partnership and the principles on which cooperation in the bloc is based. This is mutual respect, balance of interests, and consensus. The doors to BRICS and the EAEU remain open, and the priority remains increasing efficiency and consolidating the expanded strategic partnership," the diplomat said answering a question about the expanding list of BRICS partners.
"Over the 10 years since the formation of the EAEU as an integration union, impressive work has been done, including on the international track. Currently, the alliance has four observer states — Uzbekistan, Cuba, and, more recently, Iran. This status gives an additional boost to cooperation with Tehran — this is in addition to the free trade agreement already signed and having practical benefits for our economies. Moldova is also among the observers, which, although it has such a status, due to its domestic and foreign policy course, currently refrains from participating in the Eurasian economic integration. Speaking about Cuba, I would like to note Havana's active interest in the work of the Eurasian Economic Commission, the desire of the Cubans to build up and strengthen dialogue across a wide range of economic sectors. The EAEU began cooperation with Nicaragua just over a year ago, when a memorandum of cooperation between the EEC and the government of Nicaragua was signed in January 2024," he added.
The free trade agreement (FTA) between the EAEU and Indonesia is in the final stages before being concluded, Pankin said. "Most of the documents have already been agreed upon. At this stage, the text is being finalized, and we can safely say that the finish line is near," he noted.
The Deputy Foreign Minister also noted that the future agreement with India is still "being discussed at the expert level." "Official negotiations are not underway yet, but I believe they will definitely begin sooner or later," he added.
As for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the diplomat noted that "APEC is the foremost leading platform for pan-regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region."
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russian forces thwart one of the strongest recent offensives in Kursk region
On February 6, exactly six months after the initiation of the incursion into the Kursk region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a fresh attempt to assault the area. Russian troops successfully repelled multiple attacks executed with extensive use of Western armaments and armored vehicles.
Meanwhile, US officials will not unveil the Moscow-Kiev peace initiative at the Munich Conference on February 14-16, contrary to previous media reports. European nations appear to anticipate an intensification of hostilities and are resolved to extend further military support to Ukraine, Nezavisimaya Gazeta reports.
There is no confirmation yet that the administration of US President Donald Trump has finalized new military deliveries to the Ukrainian armed forces. Between January 21 and February 1 this year, at least 24 flights from the US landed in Poland as part of efforts to provide military assistance to the Ukrainian forces. In response, Vladimir Zelensky informed the media that Ukraine is receiving comprehensive military backing from the United States.
However, Ukraine is currently ceding previously held territories. According to former Verkhovna Rada deputy and political analyst Oleg Tsarev, in January Russian troops advanced an average of 13.3 sq km per day in the special military operation zone, a pace faster than in 2024. Nevertheless, he noted that units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are offering resistance in several sectors, forming and deploying fresh reserves.
This is particularly evident in the Kursk region. The Russian Defense Ministry, war correspondents, and the media reported new attempts by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to breach defenses, deploying up to two mechanized battalions on armored vehicles.
"Ukrainian Minister of Digital Development Mikhail Fedorov recently asserted that his country had procured several thousand unmanned ground platforms from foreign vendors," military expert retired Colonel Nikolay Shulgin told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. According to analysts, these acquisitions were most likely sourced from UK companies. The expert pointed out that Ukraine has established joint production and repair of armored vehicles with German and Swedish companies.
Vedomosti: Russia significantly raises titanium supplies to China
Sales of Russian titanium to China in 2024 surged by 45% year-on-year to 3,750 tons, according to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, Vedomosti writes. Most of the shipments were finished products. In monetary terms, exports amounted to around $88 mln (-1.4%). China remains the largest producer of titanium sponge (primary metallurgical raw material), which accounts for about one third of the world market. However, according to a study by the Zhejiang Gongshang University, the country is unable to meet its domestic demand for finished products due to rising demand from the aerospace, chemical, and machinery industries.
Independent industrial expert Leonid Khazanov attributes the increase in supplies of titanium products from Russia to China with the development of a number of Chinese industrial sectors - namely, aviation, chemicals, and energy. They have a heightened demand for Russian-made titanium products, he told Vedomosti. Exports of this metal from Russia to China may grow by 20% to 3,600 tons in 2025, but its dynamics usually fluctuate from month to month depending on the situation with orders from individual industries and the workload of local metallurgical plants, Khazanov clarified.
Meanwhile, titanium consumption in Russia in 2024 increased by 18% to about 15,500, the expert added. The growth in demand was influenced by the expansion of the production of domestic products and equipment, in which this metal is used in the form of various parts and components, against the backdrop of the withdrawal of foreign suppliers and the strengthening of the state course on import substitution, he noted.
China has attracted advanced Russian titanium processing technologies, Dmitry Baranov, leading expert at Finam Management, said. In 2025, exports will continue to grow, but with the development of Chinese titanium processing, there is a risk of a decline in demand for finished products from Russia, he noted.
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