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Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, November 9th, prepared by TASS

Izvestia: US policy unlikely to change after midterm elections

The United States held its midterm elections on November 8, electing all members of the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate. Forecasts say that the Republican Party may take full control of the US Congress, which will erode the positions of the Democratic administration and change the country’s domestic policy, Izvestia writes.

Such forecasts are the result of the liberal inability to promptly resolve economic issues and put the brakes on accelerating inflation. This is the aspect that most of the country’s people viewed as crucial for the midterms. However, things will become clear only after the vote count is over, which can take several days due to issues at some polling stations.

Meanwhile, the US should not be expected to radically change its foreign policy, said experts interviewed by the newspaper.

"The thing to understand is that the congressional elections are first and foremost part of the domestic agenda and America’s internal issues. It’s about all things that concern the economy, taxes, inflation and social issues," Malek Dudakov, a political scientist who focuses on the US, pointed out. The expert also noted that no dramatic shifts should be expected to take place as far as foreign policy goes, which could seriously change only after the 2024 presidential election.

Chairman of the Board of the Valdai Discussion Club’s Development and Support Foundation Andrey Bystritsky is of the same opinion. "I don’t think that America’s policy towards Russia will change quickly. Changes, if any, will stem from some objective reasons, trends in thought processes and developments in Ukraine and the world in general," he said. "I don’t think that the election will have a dramatic impact on the situation since the standoff with Russia is one of the things that the American elite is united on," Bystritsky emphasized.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: West wants G20 summit to condemn Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin may either take part in the upcoming G20 summit in Bali online or actually attend the event, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said. He pointed out that the invitation for Moscow remained open even though the West wanted it withdrawn. According to Widodo, the G20 should discuss the economy rather than politics. Experts point out that most of the developing countries share this approach since they aren’t interested in Ukraine but in other issues, namely climate change and hunger, thus invalidating the US diktat, Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes.

"The G20 is a consultative platform for discussing global issues. The West will try to condemn Russia but other nations - the countries known as the Global South - will be unwilling to take part in that. For them, the situation in Ukraine is a far away issue and they are interested in other things. This is why I don’t expect any constructive agreements to be made. Still, there may be discussions in a more appropriate manner on problems about which the parties can at least talk to each other, including climate and hunger issues," Scientific Director of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Contemporary Asia Alexander Lukin emphasized.

According to him, a possible meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping is of great interest. In fact, the US and China are showing signs of their willingness to make agreements, but it is unclear what the parties can agree on because the Americans continue to criticize China in every possible way while trying to reach some accords, Lukin noted. However, China is a proud nation and if someone denigrates it and then seeks an agreement, it will be a hard thing to do. Nevertheless, the results of the recent Congress of the Chinese Communist Party make it clear that Beijing is not intent on confrontation at this point, the analyst stressed.

As for a possible agreement that will affect Russia’s interests, the expert quoted a Chinese reporter who had said: "They suggest we help them do away with Russia so that it will be easier for them to do away with China afterwards." The Chinese are familiar with strategic US documents that describe China as a bigger threat to the US than Russia. It’s just that Russia is currently a bigger danger but strategically, China poses a major challenge to the US as a powerful country that can actually claim global leadership. In fact, Congress’ documents clearly say that China seeks to become the world’s leader in terms of overall power and the economy by the mid-century, the expert said.

"Some agreements may be reached on issues that are important for both countries, including trade. However, a strategic rapprochement is impossible," Lukin concluded.

Vedomosti: India unwilling to submit to Western pressure on relations with Russia

The foreign ministers of Russia and India, Sergey Lavrov and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, met in Moscow for the first time since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine. The top diplomat of such a big and influential country paid an official visit to Russia for the first time during this period. Jaishankar hailed Russia as a time-tested partner and pointed out that India was interested in stable relations with Moscow with regards to oil supplies, Vedomosti writes.

According to the Vortexa oil and gas operations data provider, Russia emerged as a top oil exporter to India in October, accounting for 22% of the country’s total oil imports.

The future of Russia-India relations in the oil sector will depend on Moscow’s willingness to maintain a low price and offer the Indians a big discount, Head of the South Asia group at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations Alexey Kupriyanov said. The Indians have a purely pragmatic approach to the issue and are ready to buy oil from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries if Russian oil prices are unfavorable. India has been able to resist the West’s pressure in terms of relations with Russia because the country is the United States’ crucial partner in the region and has the world’s fifth largest economy, the expert explained.

Western countries have long resigned themselves to the fact that India has its own position on foreign policy issues, which the country defended even in a much weaker situation in the 1990s and the 2000s, Kupriyanov added. However, in theory, the Americans maintain some tools, namely sanctions, that could correct India’s position. But such a scenario would mean a total collapse of Washington’s policy in South Asia so it is unlikely to be implemented, the expert noted.

Izvestia: How Netanyahu’s election success will affect Israel’s neighbors and allies

A new Israeli cabinet led by Benjamin Netanyahu may be formally created as early as November 9. Experts interviewed by Izvestia believe that Netanyahu will continue the current foreign policy course but will try to improve relations with the US. At the same time, he will hardly become a mediator for Russia and Ukraine.

Netanyahu opposes the creation of a Palestinian state so Palestine "is bracing for a worsening of relations with Israel" after a right-wing cabinet comes to power, member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s secretariat and Palestinian Social Development Minister Ahmed Majdalani told the newspaper. According to him, Palestine believes that Netanyahu will continue the current policy aimed at confiscating Palestinian lands and expanding Jewish settlements.

President and Founder of the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies (Mitvim) Nimrod Goren explained that Netanyahu "deeply believes in an alliance with the US and is determined to maintain special relations." "However, his policy and [radical] partners in the coalition will probably cause disagreements with the Democratic Party and liberal Jewish communities," the expert elaborated. He also said that he did not expect Netanyahu to make "active mediation efforts on the international stage" so Israel was unlikely to act as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine.

Sergey Melkonyan from the Department of Israeli Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies believes that Netanyahu will generally continue the current foreign policy and "Russia-Israel relations will be more predictable." "The reason is that Netanyahu and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin have experience of holding a direct and frank dialogue, which repeatedly helped prevent crisis situations," the expert noted.

Kommersant: New prospects open up to Asian pharmaceutical companies in Russia

Indian pharmaceutical companies’ policies and the low price of their generic drugs have made it possible for them to benefit the most from the downsized activities of Western drug producers in Russia, said analysts from Business Solutions and Technologies (formerly known as Deloitte). According to them, a number of Indian companies are interested in expanding their business on the Russian market. Other experts expect the share of Chinese suppliers to grow, Kommersant writes.

Global pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Pfizer and Sanofi, suspended the enrollment of participants for their ongoing clinical trials and the launch of new ones due to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. According to Director of the Association of Independent Pharmacies Victoriya Presnyakova, 15 companies have so far refused to conduct marketing campaigns and the launch of new trials, while three manufacturers are withdrawing certain medicines from the market.

Partner at Business Solutions and Technologies Oleg Berezin points out that India has an advanced industry to produce not only ready-made drugs but also medical substances. In addition, Western companies provide licenses to Indian generic drug manufacturers on better terms than to Russian ones, which makes it possible to sell medications at lower prices.

RNC Pharma Development Director Nikolay Bespalov emphasized that Indian pharmaceutical companies used to have a large share of the Russian market in the 1990s and the 2000s but over time, they had given way to European and domestic manufacturers. Bespalov expects that the share of Asian medicine supplies will grow but first and foremost due to the activities of Chinese and South Korean companies.