Top stories in the Russian press on Thursday, October 24, prepared by TASS

Media: Kremlin sets sights on Africa

The first ever Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum kicked off in the resort city of Sochi. Russian President Vladimir Putin said, addressing the Forum’s plenary session, that Moscow planned to boost its presence on the continent and to double its overall trade with African countries in the next four to five years, Kommersant writes.

"Significantly expanding trade is a rather surmountable challenge," head of the Center for Global and Strategic Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for African Studies Kirill Aleshin told the newspaper. "It’s possible to increase the number of export destinations and expand the list of export goods," he pointed out. According to Aleshin, in order to stimulate trade, Moscow should set up new trade missions in African countries and establish more intergovernmental commissions, as well as improve the image of African countries in Russia.

TeleTrade Chief Analyst Pyotr Pushkarev told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Africa was not only a continent rich in natural resources but also a huge potential market. "To get an appropriate share of this market, it is not enough to export finished goods, one should establish local manufacturing facilities like others do. Given the low cost of local labor and most production processes, African countries may become a source of goods for us. Since manufacturing expenditures are low, a wide range of new and cheap goods of sufficient quality will be created," the expert noted.

According to Senior Investment Adviser at BCS Broker Maxim Kovyazin, when making plans to expand its influence on the African continent, Russia seeks political benefits rather than economic ones. By writing off debts, a country can make political gains and get profitable contracts for agricultural supplies and the exploitation of mineral resources. "African countries have already become an export market for Russia, and in light of the political instability in the African region and the constant regime-change, there are huge prospects for arms supplies," the expert emphasized.

Media: Russian military police play key role in Putin-Erdogan deal

The Russian military has begun to implement the deal on Syria that Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey reached in Sochi on October 22. On Wednesday, a Russian military police convoy started heading towards the Syrian-Turkish border in order to assist in ensuring the safety of civilians and maintaining law and order, as well as patrol the designated areas and facilitate the withdrawal of Kurdish militia units 30 kilometers from the border, Vedomosti wrote.

A diplomatic source told the paper that Russia’s military police had a crucial role in the Putin-Erdogan deal because it was meant to act as a buffer between Syrian and Turkish troops. Military police units deployed to Syria will be enough to patrol the designated areas, the source said, noting that the improving situation in other Syrian regions made it possible to redeploy them to the border, but if necessary, another military police battalion could be sent to Syria.

Editor-in-Chief of Natsionalnaya Oborona (or National Defense) magazine Igor Korotchenko believes that the success of Russian troops in Syria and their victory over the terrorists there paved the way for the deal with Turkey. "If it wasn’t for this victory, Ankara could have behaved in a completely different manner," he said. According to the military guru, the Syrians will guard the border where it is possible, while Russian and Turkish troops will patrol areas currently occupied by Turkey.

Military expert Viktor Murakhovsky, in turn, pointed out that "Russian-Turkish patrols will hold genuine control over the border, but it is a big success that the Syrians will establish their posts in the area for the first time in a while. When speaking about the future of the Kurds, he noted that "they will have to make an agreement with the Syrian government, otherwise the Turks will simply destroy them." "Ensuring Syria’s territorial integrity is the only condition to the agreement. It is no longer about creating any Kurdish enclaves in the country," the expert pointed out.

Izvestia: ‘Ukrainegate’ not affecting Trump’s rating

The impeachment crusade against US President Donald Trump, launched a month ago, has had no impact on his pre-election rating, which is hovering between 40% and 49%. However, ‘Ukrainegate’ has turned out to be a huge headache for Trump’s key Democratic rival, ex-Vice President Joe Biden, whose rating has been plummeting. According to experts interviewed by Izvestia, the incumbent US president’s position in the pre-election race seems to be stronger.

On September 24, US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry into the US president but the Democrats haven’t made much progress since then. At the moment, it is only about a difference in the interpretation of the same incident: Trump’s opponents claim that he abused power in a conversation with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, his supporters say that nothing like this happened.

The impeachment campaign has had no impact on Trump’s popularity because he continues to fulfill his election promises, President of the American University in Moscow Edward Lozansky said. "The economy is on the rise, while unemployment rates are at historic lows. Unlike the establishment, Trump’s electorate doesn’t need more wars. Although in the past, it was the Democrats that had strong anti-war views, but their hatred of Trump outweighs even their self-preservation instinct," the expert noted.

According to President of the Center on Global Interests in Washington Nikolai Zlobin, apart from economic and social achievements, the Republican Party’s concerted efforts have played into Trump’s hands. He noted that a month ago, pro-Republican media outlets had started publishing polls that showed huge support for impeachment. "Trump’s electorate was outraged and inspired by it," the seasoned political commentator explained. By the same token, in Zlobin’s words, although the conversation with Zelensky "doesn’t look very good in some parts, it hardly constitutes a crime." As for President Trump himself, he has adopted the right strategy, talking about his fight against corruption. Though it is clear to everyone, it was just not an ordinary American citizen that he wanted to expose, but rather his potential main rival in the upcoming election.

Kommersant: Withdrawal of extradition bill won’t halt Hong Kong protests

Hong Kong officials have withdrawn an extradition bill from parliament, which sparked the fierce, ongoing protests. The government’s move to fulfill the demonstrators’ top demand marks a serious victory for the Hong Kong opposition. However, experts interviewed by Kommersant believe that the bill’s withdrawal will only produce a brief respite in the standoff.

The authorities decided to remove society’s key nuisance following another wave of protests that had engulfed Hong Kong on Sunday. Meanwhile, despite making a concession on one issue, the government seems unlikely to accept other demands that protesters have put forward, which include universal suffrage and the resignation of Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

The Hong Kong protests cover many problem points so one shouldn’t expect that the government’s move will help it take control of the situation that is already past the point of no return, so the protests will only grow bigger, Brianstorm Content Solutions founder Brian Yeung said. According to him, the extradition bill issue was just the tip of the iceberg, pointing to escalating tensions in Hong Kong, caused by fundamental differences between Beijing and the movement for preserving local identity, as well as by Hong Kong’s mounting social and economic problems.

"The extradition bill came into being out of the need to improve criminal legislation. However, the story soon gained a political aspect," Head of the Center for Comprehensive Chinese Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations Alexei Voskresensky pointed out. In his view, the anti-China sentiment is fueled by changes in relations with mainland China, which aren’t in Hong Kong’s favor. Beijing has shown it is capable of creating an economic model that can successfully compete with that of Hong Kong, so the latter doesn’t look like the leader that it used to be. "Hong Kong is starting to lose the race and the deteriorating situation requires an external enemy. China has become the enemy in many eyes. As a result, the "One Country, Two Systems" formula underpinning relations between Hong Kong and China is about to stop working, which is fraught with more turbulence," the expert emphasized.

Izvestia: European businesses face huge financial losses due to anti-Russia sanctions

German companies have lost over $100 bln since the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia, member of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee Waldemar Herdt who represents the Alternative for Germany party, told Izvesita. He pointed out that his faction would request parliament develop a mechanism to offset German businesses’ losses and review the policy of sanctions against Moscow.

According to Russia’s Federal Customs Service, trade with Germany nearly halved following the introduction of sanctions. Bilateral trade dropped to $45 bln at the end of 2015 compared to $70 bln in 2014. However, an upward trend emerged in 2017, making it possible for Russian-German trade to reach $59 bln in 2018.

German-Russian Forum Research Director Alexander Rahr specified that the European Union and Russia had lost a total of $400 bln by the end of 2019. In the beginning, restrictions inflicted more damage on Russia but now, European countries are facing more losses, the expert noted. "There are two reasons behind it: first, Russia has localized production and started to manufacture some goods itself, and second, other countries, including China, Turkey and India, have entered the Russian market, occupying the niches where German businesses previously used to prosper," Rahr said.

Experts point out that the EU economy has also been affected by the food embargo that Moscow introduced in response to the sanctions in 2014.

The idea to remove restrictions regularly comes up within the European Parliament but its members haven’t progressed beyond discussions in the past six years. French member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs Thierry Mariani told Izvestia that the issue would not be put on the agenda in the near future. According to him, the European Parliament currently has other priorities, related to developments in Syria and the European Union’s lack of involvement in them. Mariani emphasized that Moscow had become one of the key players in the Middle East and Africa, which pointed to the need to change approaches to relations with Russia.