Izvestia: Russia won't respond to US ultimatum on INF, but ready for dialogue

Russia will not respond to the US ultimatum on the implementation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), which expires in early February, several sources in Russian diplomatic circles told Izvestia. According to the sources, Moscow has already suggested Washington sit down at the negotiating table and discuss the problematic points of the treaty and that talking to Russia through ultimatums is pointless. The expert communities of both countries are confident that Moscow and Washington are fully capable of finding a compromise on the INF. This agreement has the ability to become a base for creating a new global security system. Otherwise, the collapse of the INF can also affect the extension of the New START, which ends in 2021, TASS reported.

"We offered the Americans to discuss the problems at the negotiating table. However, giving us ultimatums does not make sense. Judging by their statements, they are doing everything to destroy the system existing within the INF Treaty," a source in Russian diplomatic circles told Izvestia.

Another source explained that the issue of preserving the treaty could have been raised at the meeting between the US and Russian presidents in Buenos Aires in late November. However, Donald Trump turned it down. "The problem cannot be solved without any discussion if Washington has any desire to resolve this issue at all," the source said. The source added that Moscow is not going to fulfill Washington’s demand to sway China to join in eliminating medium-range and short-range missiles.

The majority of experts interviewed by Izvestia are confident that Moscow and Washington can still reach positive decisions, and that the termination of the INF Treaty will not instantly destroy the security system. At the same time, the current atmosphere has launched a certain negative trend. The New START deal might be next and its termination could be more dangerous. However, Russia and the United States still have time to find a compromise before 2021.

Kommersant: Belarus flirts with West

Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei on Monday made two pro-Western statements - to both Washington and Brussels. First, he said that there are "conditions for revising" the decision to reduce mutual diplomatic presence between Belarus and the United States, and that negotiations on the return of ambassadors to the capitals are already underway. Then, he expressed hope that the European Union "sooner or later" would give up the "remnant of the past" - sanctions against Minsk. Just two hours after that, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev touched upon the Belarusian issue, who called on Minsk to appreciate Russian assistance. According to the experts interviewed by Kommersant, the Belarusian authorities hope to strengthen their legitimacy in the West and thereby reduce their dependence on Moscow.

According to Kirill Koktysh, associate professor at the Department of Political Theory at MGIMO, the moment is indeed suitable for building relations between Washington and Minsk. "On the one hand, no one can be against it, because it is only the restoration of normal relations, but at the same time it is a quite understandable symbolic gesture. The fact that the rapprochement is in conjunction with the issue of unresolved compensation for the tax maneuver is obvious," Koktysh told the newspaper.

The expert called Lukashenko’s calculations correct. According to him, "the fact that the American embassy recognizes the legitimacy of the next elections in Belarus is beyond any doubt", which would give Minsk greater freedom from Moscow.

Head of the Scientific Research Mises Center Yaroslav Romanchuk has a similar point of view. "We have no political prisoners today. The opposition is not imprisoned, but simply fined for taking part in certain stunts," he said. The expert noted that any opposition from Moscow on the issue would just serve as a "consolidating effect" on Belarusian society.

Kommersant: NASA chief receives official invitation to visit Russia

Head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin and NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine held a telephone conversation, two sources in the rocket and space industry told Kommersant. During the conversation, Bridenstine was invited to officially visit Russia. The personal meeting between the chiefs of the space agencies was expected to take place in February in the United States, but failed to materialize due to position of US senators. Despite the incident, Roscosmos is counting on further cooperation.

"The General Director of Roscosmos extended an invitation to his American colleague to visit Russia to discuss all issues of mutual interest," one of the sources in the industry told the newspaper. At present, neither Roscosmos nor NASA officially have publicized yesterday’s talks. According to Kommersant, this was due to agreeing and simultaneously releasing a joint press release.

According to Kommersant, this was the first conversation between Rogozin and Bridenstine after NASA canceled Rogozin’s invitation to the US. Russian officials regarded the cancellation of the invitation as a victory for the American political establishment, who opposed Rogozin’s visit, the newspaper wrote.

However, Kommersant wrote, the incident between the state corporation and the agency will not interrupt cooperation. For example, Roscosmos representatives expect to continue working on issues related to the ISS project. Other issues, such as continuing deliveries of the RD-180 or RD-181 engines to the United States, Russia's participation in the creation of the Gateway international near-Moon station, or extending the contract to deliver astronauts to orbit with the help of the Soyuz spacecraft, will be discussed personally. If for some reason the NASA chief cannot visit Russia, the meeting may take place on neutral ground. For example, at one of the manned launches from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kommersant wrote.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Zimbabwe’s president comes to Russia seeking investment

President of Zimbabwe Emmerson Mnangagwa arrived in Russia on a three-day official tour. Before the visit, the Embassy of Zimbabwe in Moscow said that the country was open to investment in energy and transport, including the construction of railways and highways, Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote. Experts interviewed by the newspaper believe that Zimbabwe’s market presents considerable interest for Russian companies.

Russia was the first stop in President Mnangagwa’s Euro-Asian tour. According to his press service, the idea of the visit is to put Zimbabwe on the map, to attract and secure investment and cooperation to transform the country’s economy.

Deputy Director of the Institute for African Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Leonid Fituni told the newspaper that Russia had developed a somewhat smug attitude towards the need to develop economic, political and other ties with African countries, and misses opportunities because of this.

"Back in the day, in order to solve political problems, a certain myth was created that we feed Africa, Uzbekistan, the Caucasus, Ukraine, and so on. That was the answer to the problem for those who sought take power. But in the end, we missed great economic and political opportunities. The fact that today our industry and the agricultural sector sometimes face difficulties in terms of foreign markets is largely related to this. No one ever gave anything for nothing," the expert said.

According to him, Zimbabwe is a country of great opportunities, and its market offers great potential for Russian companies. At the end of 2017, the trade turnover between Russia and Zimbabwe reached $53.1 mln. The country is one of the key producers of rare and non-ferrous metals, and one of the world's largest producers of chromium.

Moreover, as for the political aspect of Russian-Zimbabwean relations, Fituni noted that Zimbabwe is one of the few countries that consistently supports Russia in the UN and at other international platforms.

Izvestia: Online fraud more than doubles since New Year kicked off

Internet criminals have seriously stepped up their activities in January 2019. As the year began, the number of identified and blocked websites increased 2.5-fold, Cyber Security Incident Response Center of Group-IB told Izvestia. Experts link the rise of fraudulent transactions to the development of technology and expect that in 2019 the amount of online fraud will only increase.

Group-IB told Izvestia that over the period of January 1-9, 130 fraudulent websites of intruders were uncovered and blocked. The websites were disguised as real pages of banks, payment systems, telecom operators, online stores and well-known brands. According to the source close to the cybercrime investigation, every Russian duped by fraudsters in December and the first ten days of January could have lost as much as 100,000-500,000 rubles ($1,493-7,468) on average.

Banking institutions surveyed by Izvestia agreed that the scammers had become more active and that the issue is related to the development of new digital channels, products and services, as fraudsters constantly develop new schemes. Director of Information Security at Rosbank Mikhail Ivanov told the newspaper that criminals often obtain data for fraudulent operations directly from people themselves using various tricks.

Group-IB expects that in 2019, the number of such attacks will increase. Bursts of activity are most likely to happen before events associated with high consumer demand, such as Cyber Monday, February 23 and March 8, and the like. Diversions from hacked sites, spam, false search results will be the main ways of attracting users to fraudulent pages.