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Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, July 11th, prepared by TASS

Erdogan agrees to green-light Sweden’s NATO membership bid only if Turkey accepted to EU; Gulf Arab monarchies want to see Russia-Ukraine peace talks as soon as possible; and cracks appear in "special relationship" between London and Washington ahead of NATO summit. These stories topped Tuesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

Vedomosti: Erdogan to green-light Sweden’s NATO membership only if Turkey accepted into EU

Last evening, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced, following closed-door talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Vilnius, that Ankara had agreed to ratify the protocol on Stockholm’s accession to NATO. The trilateral meeting came a day ahead of the North Atlantic Alliance’s summit in the Lithuanian capital.

Although the NATO chief said he was unaware of exactly when Turkey’s parliament would put the issue to a vote, he said that Erdogan had pledged to expedite the process. Erdogan, however, told the press at the airport on Monday before departing for Vilnius that the European Union would have to clear the path for Turkey’s membership in the EU before Ankara can give the go-ahead to Sweden’s accession to NATO.

On Monday evening, Turkey’s TRT Haber television reported that Sweden had confirmed it would no longer support the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) or Kurdish militant groups in Syria. As well, Stockholm promised to actively support Turkey’s bid to join the EU, including efforts aimed at overhauling the Customs Union and instituting visa-free travel, the Turkish TV channel added.

Acceding to the EU and obtaining NATO membership are two separate procedures that are in no way connected to each other, explained Alina Vernigora, junior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations. In her view, Ankara has consistently deviated from EU standards in such areas as human rights, the economy, governmental functions and the legal framework.

Arif Asalyoglu, general director of the International Institute for the Development of Scientific Cooperation, argues that Erdogan’s demand that Turkey be granted entry into the EU in exchange for Sweden’s membership in NATO should not necessarily be seen as an overly impertinent ultimatum, nor would it be technically infeasible. Rather, the expert sees Erdogan’s stance as a veiled request for financial and other economic assistance from the EU, in which Germany is the primary importer of Turkish goods.

Media: Gulf Arab monarchies nudging Russia, Ukraine to negotiating table

At the sixth round of the strategic dialogue between Russia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Moscow, the Arab monarchies expressed their support for peace talks between Russia and Ukraine within the earliest possible timeframe. They also highlighted the importance of preserving the Black Sea Initiative grain deal for the Middle East, although Moscow insists that the deal cannot be extended further given that the Russian component of the deal has not been implemented from the start.

Addressing the meeting, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi outlined the position shared by the Gulf Arab monarchies on the Ukraine conflict, saying that the confrontation was a threat to international peace and security. "We believe that progress should be made toward a peaceful crisis resolution," he insisted.

In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Kirill Semyonov, an expert at the Russian International Affairs Council, said that although the Persian Gulf countries have been seeking to mediate a peace settlement, the effectiveness of their efforts has been open to question. "For, ultimately, any decision to end hostilities will be made in Kiev, Washington and Brussels, rather than in Riyadh or Abu Dhabi," he said.

The meeting also touched upon regional issues, with the conflict between Palestine and Israel, as well as the situations in Sudan, Yemen and Syria of greatest concern to Russia’s Arab guests. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov briefed his colleagues on expert consultations held in Moscow in mid-June to discuss efforts toward strengthening security, trust and stability in the region. "Russia insists that regional security should be ensured through the efforts of all the players involved, although it is primarily up to the regional powers to decide," Vasily Kuznetsov, deputy director for research at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Asian Studies, said.

According to the expert, promoting Russia’s conception of regional security for the Middle East is important to Moscow in terms of its own security, which, among other things, depends on stability in the Middle East. "In addition, this is meant to show that, despite its preoccupation with the conflict in Ukraine, Russia still stands ready to contribute to resolving problems faced by other world regions, and thus remains a major international player," Kuznetsov emphasized.

Izvestia: Notes of discord on Ukraine in US-UK 'special relationship' ahead of NATO summit

Monday’s meeting between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius was meant to show the two allies’ commitment to trans-Atlantic unity and that their storied "special relationship" was alive and well. However, London’s opposition to sending cluster munitions to Kiev and differences between the two capitals on how to support Ukraine further down the road demonstrated that the two long-time allies are not as united as they may wish to appear.

British political analyst Quentin Peel told Izvestia that Ukraine has been virtually the thorniest issue in British-American relations. "While America and Germany have quite seriously doubted whether Ukraine should be admitted to NATO, Britain, unlike them, is more inclined to go ahead. However, the British and the Americans have always demonstrated very close approaches to NATO-related issues. Now, it would be interesting to see whether that will still be the case," Peel said.

Kira Godovanyuk, senior researcher of the Center for British Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Europe, said that the "special relationship" between London and Washington is undergoing a crisis. "Britain has been more vulnerable since Brexit. Now, it relies primarily on the United States, and it has almost no alternative. Therefore, it must increasingly play by the US rules, which is something the British establishment is well aware of," the expert said.

Peel agrees. Although the British like to describe their relationship with the United States as "special," the Americans have been quite reluctant to establish "special" ties, he said. And, for his part, Sunak appears to be more pro-Republican than pro-Democratic to Peel. According to him, although the Conservative British prime minister has been seeking to maintain very good relations with the United States, he is not entirely comfortable with Biden, given that the Democrats hew to views that are more in sync with the opposition Labour Party. And Biden is anticipating that Labour will win the next election, Peel concluded.

Kommersant: Russian diamond exports shrank by nearly one-quarter in 2022

The Kimberley Process (KP) published data on Russia’s production and exports of uncut diamonds in 2022. While the country saw a 4% increase in production, its exports fell by 24%. The Alrosa diamond company attributed the lower export figures to the strong results in 2021, when producers sold the reserves they had accumulated in the crisis era. Other major exporters, including Botswana and Canada, also cut their exports.

Despite the significant drop in the physical volume of Russian diamond exports, to 36.7 million carats, their value amounted to $3.8 billion last year, or a mere 4% drop against the previous year. In 2022, diamond prices rose amid concerns about the availability of Russian gems.

Alrosa told Kommersant that the 2022 decline in exports was expected due to the high base figure in 2021, when demand for diamonds was very high. Back then, consumption was primarily driven by the rapid recovery in jewelry sales in key markets after a tough 2020, when all producers had to reduce exports amid COVID-related restrictions.

Boris Krasnozhenov at Alfa-Bank estimates that the global production of gem-quality diamonds fell in 2021 to 120 million carats from the pre-pandemic volume of 150 million carats, while the demand for jewelry increased to more than $80 billion from $70 billion in the mid-2010s.

With such a deficit, the rise in diamond prices, which grew by at least 25%, was partially offset by the availability of reserves that cutters accumulated in the crisis era of 2019-2020. "However, according to our estimate, the reserve factor in diamond cutting will disappear by next year, and then the high demand for jewelry, mostly from China and India, will be offset by rising prices for gem-quality diamonds," the analyst said.

Izvestia: Xi holds closed-door meeting with visiting delegation of Russian lawmakers

Russia can count on reliable, friendly support from China, as Chinese President Xi Jinping has reaffirmed his intention to continue working together with Moscow in a consistent, steadfast manner, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said during her trip to China on July 10. Xi and Matviyenko met in Beijing to discuss bilateral trade and economic cooperation. The two also discussed China’s peace initiative for Ukraine, which is finding increasingly more support from the international community, attendees at the high-level meeting told Izvestia.

During the approximately hour-long talks, the two sides raised numerous aspects of interaction between Russia and China, the head of the Russian legislative delegation said. In particular, they discussed economic cooperation. In 2023, bilateral trade between China and Russia may exceed $200 billion, despite the difficulties, illegitimate sanctions and attempts to hem in the two countries’ progress. At the same time, the two economies process more than 70% of mutual settlements in their respective national currencies. Other Russian lawmakers in the delegation who also communicated with senior Chinese leaders added that Moscow and Beijing have the same vision of the problems facing the world and ways of addressing them.

"Our Chinese friends are sincerely striving to contribute to settling the Ukraine crisis by peaceful means, and that is a known fact. As for the Chinese initiative - and it was important to hear that - our partners have not abandoned it, but, on the contrary, they have intensified their efforts toward promoting it," Federation Council Deputy Chairman Konstantin Kosachev told Izvestia.

Interregional relations were an important topic, too. The two countries are currently enjoying a strong partnership, with agreements being signed between 59 Russian constituent regions and Chinese regions. "A lot of regions border on China, for example in [Russia’s] Far Eastern Federal District. And an agreement is being signed between a [given] Chinese province and the [neighboring] Russian region," Senator [Federation Council member] Andrey Shevchenko said, referring to a student exchange program and a project to establish joint ventures.