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MOSCOW, October 29. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Alliance is set to involve Kiev in producing advanced weapons, while the United States and Japan sign a critical minerals deal. Meanwhile, top Russian and Hungarian diplomats, among other officials, addressed a security conference in Minsk. These stories topped Wednesday's newspaper headlines in Russia. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: NATO involving Kiev in production of advanced weapons Kiev’s combat potential is waning, as demonstrated by the situation in the Pokrovsk sector and several other areas. Apparently, that is why Paris, on the orders of French President Emmanuel Macron, launched the training of about 2,000 French legionnaires in Poland for deployment to Ukraine. This information from Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) underscores the danger of a real internationalization of the conflict. In addition, the West is preparing a range of steps to involve Ukraine in the joint production of weapons. Experts believe that a remark about the expansion of the geography of long-range strikes on Russia from Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky came amid the West’s military and industrial support. NATO member countries have pledged not only to send new missiles and other precision weapons to the Kiev regime but also to establish joint projects to manufacture those. France’s move to authorize the deployment of its soldiers and officers to Ukraine sets a precedent for the internationalization of the conflict, and legionnaires from other NATO allies, too, may follow suit unless this measure is nipped in the bud, retired military expert and retired Lieutenant General Yury Netkachev emphasized in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta. The expert told the newspaper that officials from Britain and some other countries from the "coalition of the willing," too, had voiced plans to send their troops to Ukraine. "If there is undeniable evidence of the involvement of active NATO troops in the hostilities, the conflict will escalate to a war. A war against NATO, not Ukraine, at that," the expert argued. Meanwhile, the West has serious intentions to support Ukraine in terms of defense production, and several projects as part of Build with Ukraine, a London-led initiative that was supported by NATO, pursue exactly this goal. They include roughly 10 Ukrainian initiatives to build defense plants abroad jointly with Kiev. And the fact that the Americans, too, have joined the initiative is intriguing: Bullet-type drones meant to destroy UAVs, loitering munitions, and helicopters are planned to be assembled both in the United States and in Ukraine. Vedomosti: US, Japan sign rare earths deal US President Donald Trump signed papers to bolster economic and strategic ties with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi during a visit to Tokyo. These include a framework agreement on critical minerals and rare earths as well as a memorandum of cooperation regarding the Technological Prosperity deal between the two countries, according to an October 28 press release on the White House’s website. In addition, Trump announced major projects to advance Japan’s $550 billion investment commitment agreed in September in exchange for lower US tariffs. The investments include, among other projects, the construction of small modular reactors. Takaichi vowed to make Japan the "rising sun" nation once again, a motto echoing Trump’s Make America Great Again, Mikhail Motyavin, a junior research fellow at ISKRAN, told Vedomosti. According to him, the Japanese PM set herself the goal of reviewing three key documents in the sphere of national security, signed in December 2022, which would increase the country’s defense spending to more than 2% of GDP. The Takaichi government is looking to overhaul intelligence operations as it would like to get closer to the standards of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which may strengthen defense cooperation with the United States, the expert stressed. He noted that the security and rare earths deal is mostly aimed at reducing the heavy reliance on China for imports. The two sides achieved what they sought from their meeting: Japan successfully presented the new prime minister to Trump, and the latter can now announce having made a triumphant visit during which he met with the emperor and secured hundreds of billions of dollars in agreements with Japan, Viktor Kuzminkov, leading researcher with the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, stated. The expert views removing the defense spending issue from the agenda as especially important for Japan. According to him, Tokyo focused on economic and specifically investment issues deliberately as it understands how important they are for Trump and his global agenda, which implies involving allies in the sharing of duties and accountability. Vedomosti: Minsk hosts international security conference Even as the extension of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which expires in February, has long been off the agenda, Russia expects a positive response from the United States regarding President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to extend the numerical limits under the treaty for another year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a news conference on Tuesday following his participation in the 3rd International Conference on Eurasian Security in Minsk. Russia’s top diplomat held several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the forum, which was established in 2023 as a Eurasian analogue of the Munich conference, access to which has been denied for Russia since 2022. In particular, Lavrov held a one-on-one with his Hungarian counterpart Peter Szijjarto. He said Lavrov had assured him that Russia is willing to continue dialogue with the United States and that "if a peace summit is held, it will occur in Budapest." And on Tuesday morning, Politico reported, citing Balazs Orban, an advisor to the Hungarian head of government, that Budapest intends to form a new anti-Ukraine bloc with Slovakia and the Czech Republic. As Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban sees it, the three countries will team up to block the EU’s fresh initiatives to support Ukraine financially or militarily. And Szijjarto actually confirmed the plan on the sidelines of the forum. The Ukraine issue has been a bargaining chip in European domestic policies, including in Hungary, which will hold a parliamentary election next year, Vadim Trukhachev, an expert on Central Europe, told Vedomosti. He doubts Balazs Orban’s remarks would lead to any action from Hungary, which has not ceased to export electricity to Ukraine. Besides, the Ukrainian military receive medical care in Hungary, Trukhachev added. Hungary’s only relatively anti-Ukrainian actions include protection of the rights of ethnic Hungarians, and had Kiev attempted to establish a territorial autonomy, the policy course of Orban, a nationalist in the good sense of the word, would have been different, Trukhachev believes. Izvestia: Houthis put forward new conditions toward peace in Yemen The rebel Houthi movement has demanded that Saudi Arabia unblock the assets of companies that support it to restart the peace process in Yemen, Hezam al-Sad, a senior member of the Yemeni rebels’ Supreme Political Council, told Izvestia. The Gaza ceasefire has paved the way for the implementation of a roadmap on Yemen under the aegis of the United States, he emphasized. According to al-Asad, the conflicting sides have an opportunity to reopen ports and airports, begin releasing prisoners, and rebuild the country. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered strikes on Gaza after Hamas violated the ceasefire by attacking the Israeli military near Rafah. The latest escalation may influence the settlement process in Yemen, too. The time is actually ripe for Yemen to revive the peace process, Sergey Serebrov, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, told Izvestia. According to him, the de-escalation regime imposed in April 2022 actually came to a halt after the October 7, 2023 events in Gaza. "Despite efforts to draft a roadmap, the process was never completed amid operations by the coalition and interference from the United States and Great Britain," he explained. Serebrov sees escalation as highly likely if the settlement process is halted again. New strikes may be launched on facilities, including oil infrastructure, in Saudi Arabia, he warned, for attacks remain a key instrument of the Houthis in applying pressure on Riyadh and the coalition of Arab countries to keep their peace hopes alive. "There are numerous interested actors in the region who may try and undermine the peace deal. Israel views the Houthis as a strategic adversary, and the United States and Britain have been attempting to curb their influence in the Red Sea. If Saudi Arabia opts to support the [peace] process, it would be a major gamechanger in the region," the expert maintained. Russia, too, has supported efforts toward resolving the conflict at international meetings. On October 21, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with the chairperson of the Southern Transitional Council, Aidarus al-Zoubaidi. Also, Al-Akhbar reported, Russian Ambassador to Yemen Yevgeny Kudrov is discussing how the Gaza ceasefire may impact the domestic and external situation in Yemen with Yemeni officials. Izvestia: Lukoil may sell its overseas assets in wake of US sanctions After the United States imposed sanctions on Lukoil, the Russian oil giant decided to sell its assets abroad, located almost on every continent. The company owns three oil refineries in Europe, a network of gasoline stations in 20 countries, and an oil products business in Austria and Finland. Also, it takes part in the development of oil fields in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan, participates in projects in Egypt, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and other countries, and has a presence in oil fields in Mexico and is a key shareholder in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). Lukoil has always positioned itself as a national business actively promoting Russia’s interest in new foreign markets, Yury Stankevich, a member of the State Duma’s Energy Committee, told Izvestia. "I assume that the announced decision to look for buyers was dictated by the intentions to hedge risks for the Russian oil sector, and restructure business processes amid the continued geopolitical storm," he said. According to Tamara Safonova, CEO of NAANS-Media, an independent think tank that specializes in the oil and gas sphere, Lukoil is the most internationally integrated Russian oil and gas company, actively developing both the production and refining business and fuel and oil products sales overseas. Experts agree that Lukoil’s foreign subsidiaries are worth around $10 billion. Dmitry Kasatkin, a managing partner at Kasatkin Consulting, said the company could sell them for only a third of that. He noted that once the OFAC-issued license expires, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control will enter the deal as a third party and significantly influence the process, including the selection of the buyer. Kasatkin views funds from the Middle East entering the deal as the most favorable scenario, even though it could likely operate outside the perimeter of the EU and the United States. TASS is not responsible for the material quoted in these press reviews
