Russian President Vladimir Putin floats idea of BRICS parliament, Hungarian premier under fire for talking to Moscow, and NATO aims to bolster its presence in Asia. These stories topped Friday's newspaper headlines across Russia, according to TASS News Agency.

Izvestia: Putin thinks BRICS parliament possible

In the future, BRICS countries may form their own parliamentary structure, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on July 11. The initiative has already been supported by other countries, for instance, Brazil has said that such a legislative body aligns with the goals of the group. However, for now, the global elite is pushing back against what BRICS is doing, with the West doing all it can to hold on to global power, including using force, unilateral sanctions and blackmail, the Russian leader stressed.

The 10th BRICS parliamentary forum kicked off in St. Petersburg on July 11 with the keystone being a speech from Putin, who personally arrived to greet the group’s legislators. According to him, such meetings as the current parliamentary summit boost the organization’s authority and influence worldwide. The Russian president also noted the principles of interaction within the group, such as openness, justice and equality.

The Russian leader did not rule out the creation of a separate BRICS parliament in the future. According to member of the Federal Senate of Brazil Veneziano Vital do Rego, the idea is only in its infancy but this type of instrument may be quite useful on the global stage in discussing joint initiatives. The group’s parliamentary ties and sharing of expertise are among BRICS’ strong suits, he told Izvestia.

Putin had a separate conversation about what BRICS stands for with member of the National Assembly of Tanzania, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Tulia Ackson. He noted that the Inter-Parliamentary Union is a globally respected organization, adding that Moscow is happy with the fact that it is led by a representative from Africa.

Ackson noted that friendly ties have been established between the National Assembly of Tanzania and the Russian State Duma. She vowed to be more active in adopting practices from Moscow as well as energizing the existing trade relations and investment opportunities in agriculture and energy.

Vedomosti: Hungarian PM's diplomatic outreach met with EU scorn

Following the NATO summit in Washington D.C., Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with ex-US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, Time magazine reported on July 11, citing sources. According to the news outlet, Orban is trying to bridge the gap between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to launch the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

Earlier, on July 10, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told reporters that the European Union was mulling stopping Hungary’s chairmanship in the EU Council cold. One of the reasons for this was Orban’s visit to Russia on July 5.

However, there is simply no precedent for cutting the chairmanship of a country short. No norms or procedures currently exist to do this nor are they in the pipeline, Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky, associate professor at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO RAS), explained. According to Dmitry Bunevich, assistant to the head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, this attempt to compromise Hungary's EU chairmanship is an unprecedented step.

The expert says Warsaw’s actions are due to Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s aspiration to show his loyalty to Brussels. Tusk is a leader not only on the domestic, but also on the European scale, therefore he is trying to distance himself from the legacy of the previous national-conservative government which kept Poland somewhat aside. "This demonstrative gesture reflects Warsaw’s anti-Hungarian plans which includes a bold move to create a leading EU trio comprising Germany, France and Poland," the expert concluded.

Yet if Poland’s plan works and Hungary’s chairmanship languishes, this will demonstrate to the alliance’s younger members the iniquity of a group of countries in connivance with the European bureaucracy, Ofitserov-Belsky stressed. If the Polish initiative falls through, other countries will see the impotence of European structures in dealing with Hungary. The uncertain situation is placing the EU as an organization in a tough spot, the expert concluded.

 Media: NATO expands its network in Asia

NATO is expanding its presence in Asia via a network of third partnerships. At the recent Washington D.C. summit, the alliance gave special attention to what is known as the IP4 group which includes Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The participants intend to launch four new joint projects, one of them concerning Ukraine. Separately, Tokyo is planning to bolster ties with the alliance: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is going to Germany right after the summit to meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The summit will not trigger any reconsideration of Russian-Chinese ties, Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics (HSE University), told Vedomosti. The worsening of relations between China and NATO countries began long before Russia’s special operation in Ukraine and is very deep-rooted, he noted.

Ken Jimbo, former special advisor to the Japanese minister of defense and president of the Asia Pacific Initiative analytical center, told Izvestia that NATO indeed aspires for a more active role in the Asia-Pacific region. However, according to him, this interaction does not aim to expand NATO’s military operation in the region. The expert thinks that the essence of the NATO-IP4 partnership is in the common security interests of participating countries. Jimbo thinks that it is most likely to focus on non-military spheres, such as maritime and cyber security as well as on response to natural disasters.

"Right now, we see that the Western strategy involves linking even closer the security of the European region with the Eastern Asian one, building a network of partnerships of sorts. The goal is to retain US domination and suppress all forces and countries that challenge it in any way. Functionally, all these tasks can be fulfilled precisely within the framework of this network structure," Vladimir Nelidov, senior lecturer at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University) and senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Oriental Studies, told Izvestia.

Izvestia: Caracas open to restoring diplomatic ties with US

Venezuela is ready to restore diplomatic relations with the US if its policy, ideology and economic concept are respected, the country’s Ambassador to Russia Jesus Rafael Salazar Velasquez told Izvestia. On July 3, Caracas returned to the negotiating table with Washington and the first round of talks resulted in the lifting of a ban on the export and re-export of liquefied natural gas to Venezuela. The next meeting is likely to take place before the presidential election in the Latin American country slated for July 28.

Daniel Varnagy, a professor at the Simon Bolivar University in Caracas, told Izvestia that Venezuela’s oil market had changed and the money the country could have received from reselling oil to other markets is not enough to finance state expenses. The US is usually prompt on its payments and despite ideological differences, Venezuela receives huge money from selling oil to the US, he explained.

However, according to Jeremy Kuzmarov, editor-in-chief of Covert Action magazine, the US will continue its attempts to undermine Nicolas Maduro in the event of his re-election which in the end will not let the two countries restore diplomatic ties.

In his opinion, Washington wants to control Venezuela’s economy and ensure the domination of US corporations as it was in the 20th century.

Kommersant: Russia's LNG fleet looks eastward for business amid sanctions

The latest round of EU sanctions against Sovcomflot, Russia's largest shipping company and a global leader in the maritime transportation of hydrocarbons, may cause problems with loading LNG-tankers servicing Russian gas producer Novatek’s projects. The tankers under Sovcomflot’s Dubai structure will not be able to enter EU ports and are likely to be redirected to markets in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) and Turkey.

According to lawyers polled by Kommersant, Sovcomflot should not encounter any difficulties with redirecting these tankers to APAC markets.

Dmitry Pozin of Stonebridge Legal notes that EU sanctions are not legally binding for non-European countries, therefore, access to Chinese or other Asian ports for Sovcomflot tankers is technically not forbidden. However, if the port is operated or serviced by a European company, it has to observe the sanctions with regard to the Russian shipping company, he noted

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