Moscow and Beijing focus on increasing economic cooperation as Putin meets with China’s premier; the US secretly updates its nuclear strategy; and the EU is whipping up another sanctions package against Russia. These stories topped Thursday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

Media: Evolving Moscow-Beijing ties take center stage as Putin meets with Chinese premier

Beijing is ready to take cooperation with Moscow to a higher level, Premier of the State Council of China Li Qiang said at a meeting with his Russian counterpart Mikhail Mishustin in Moscow. The parties signed a dozen agreements, including an investment cooperation plan. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the outcome of the meeting, noting that trade relations between the two countries were progressing well, Izvestia writes.

The Chinese premier’s visit to Russia will undoubtedly facilitate the further deepening of comprehensive strategic partnership, while the thorough exchange of views at the meeting should give bilateral cooperation an added shot in the arm, Cui Heng, lecturer with Center for International Legal Training at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said.

Meanwhile, Chinese businesses continue to be affected by sanctions, which are hurting several major banks and other financial institutions. Cui argues that both countries need to establish new financial bodies that would specialize in bilateral investment. It’s quite possible to create specific mechanisms as part of the new investment cooperation plan signed by the parties, Kirill Kotkov, head of the St. Petersburg-based Center for Far Eastern Studies, pointed out.

"It will take time to work out the kinks though, and this will affect Russian-Chinese trade. However, Beijing’s ambition has the Russian business community excited," Alexander Lomanov, head of the Center for Asia-Pacific Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Vedomosti.

During the talks, the parties considered measures aimed at promoting trade settlements in national currencies, though resolving the issue will be time-consuming, Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, stressed. According to the expert, in particular, government commissions are discussing barter trade mechanisms and the opening of Russian bank branches in China.

Vedomosti: US secretly updates nuclear strategy

US President Joe Biden secretly updated the country’s nuclear strategy in March, Vedomosti writes, citing the New York Times. According to the paper, the updated Nuclear Employment Guidance plan emphasizes the need for the US to prepare for "coordinated nuclear challenges" from China, Russia and North Korea.

This document is a clear sign that Washington doubts that its existing capabilities are sufficient to carry out "integrated" deterrence against the three countries at once, with two of them viewed essentially as equal adversaries, Dmitry Stefanovich, a researcher with the Center for International Security at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, explained.

Washington is already actively modernizing its nuclear arsenal, which includes the qualitative improvement of both delivery systems and warheads, Tatyana Anichkina, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, said.

The US invited China to engage in arms control talks several times under presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The latter insisted on a trilateral agreement between the US, Russia and China. In November 2023, Washington and Beijing announced their intention to resume consultations on nuclear arms control. However, in July, China decided to suspend them due to the Americans ignoring Beijing’s statements that arms sales to Taiwan were unacceptable.

Apart from the disparity in nuclear weapon possession, Washington’s approach is also a major obstacle hindering negotiations with Beijing. The US is ready to accept nuclear parity and engage in talks on risk reduction, but believes it must preserve and boost dominance in other areas. China does not agree with that, especially because it is the US that is creating a threat for China in close proximity to its borders, and not the other way around, Stefanovich noted.

Izvestia: EU working on new sanctions against Russia

The European Union is preparing a fresh package of sanctions against Russia, a European Commission official told Izvestia, declining, however, to provide details. New restrictions may specifically be aimed at the metals sector, with the EU abolishing quotas allowing European companies to purchase vital raw materials from Russia.

Even after the Ukrainian army’s attack on Russia’s Kursk Region, the European Commission still believes that it’s Moscow that should be punished for any escalation of the conflict. As a result, Brussels is gearing up for another round of sanctions.

European Parliament member Tomas Zdechovsky told the newspaper that the new package of sanctions might once again target Russia’s metals industry. The sector first came under sanctions in March 2022. Interestingly, a month prior to the restrictions, nine big European metal companies had sent a letter to the European Commission asking not to ban the import of semi-finished steel products. Their main argument was that 80% of imported goods came from Russia and Ukraine. Moreover, with Ukrainian plants shut down, there were no alternatives to Russian supplies. Still, it’s possible that the EU will find a replacement for Russian raw materials, reducing or even abolishing the quotas in its new package of sanctions, Russian International Affairs Council Director General Ivan Timofeev said.

As for other possible restrictions against the Russian metals industry, the expert believes that certain companies, their owners and beneficiaries may be blacklisted.

Sanctions are always a double-edged sword, Timofeev went on to say. Moscow has repeatedly pointed out that restrictions on Russia always wind up hurting Western economies. Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament) Committee on International Affairs, told the paper that not a single European country was benefiting economically from the sanctions war.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: West backs leadership in Moldova, sees country as vital supply link for Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Chisinau on Wednesday. He and Moldovan President Maia Sandu discussed economic and security issues, the upcoming presidential election in the former Soviet country and its European Union membership referendum set for October 20. The West wants Sandu to remain Moldovan president, seeing her as a reliable ally that can help their interests in Ukraine. After the German chancellor, the leaders of the Baltic nations will visit Chisinau for the same purpose, Nezavisimaya Gazeta notes.

Meanwhile, Moldovan media outlets point out that Sandu made a trip to Germany in May. The details of these talks weren’t made public but the apparent consequence was that military supplies from Germany to Moldova were stepped up. For Ukraine, where port infrastructure has been destroyed, the Romanian-Moldovan border becomes a potential pipeline for arms deliveries. Media reports speculate that plans may exist to send military supplies to Ukraine via Moldova.

Notably, the presidents of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia - Alar Karis, Gitanas Nauseda and Edgars Rinkevics - will visit Chisinau after Scholz. They have been invited to attend Independence Day celebrations in Moldova on August 27.

Anatol Taranu, former Moldovan Ambassador to Russia and head of the Politicon Center for Strategic Studies and Political Consulting, believes that with his trip to Chisinau, Scholz was de facto endorsing Maia Sandu in the upcoming presidential election. "The West very much wants Sandu to remain in office so she can serve as a trusty rearguard for Ukraine. Besides, the Chisinau meeting between Sandu and Scholz was also a signal to Moscow, which is backing politicians that oppose the incumbent president," the expert explained.

Commenting on talk about weapons potentially flowing to Ukraine via Moldova, Taranu stated simply: "the Ukrainians have another supply route, which goes through Romania and Poland."

Izvestia: Hezbollah drawing increased ire from Lebanon's political establishment

Political forces in Lebanon warn the Hezbollah movement against dragging the country into war with Israel, a member of the Kataeb Party told Izvestia. Increasing tensions between the Shiite movement and the Jewish state threaten to escalate into a large-scale war, while the failure of Gaza ceasefire talks may ignite the situation on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The Kataeb Party argues that the war in Gaza has nothing to do with Lebanon, and accuses Hezbollah and Iran of dragging the country into an open confrontation only for the sake of supporting Gaza. The only thing this will lead to is destroying southern Lebanon and the Lebanese economy, but this goal will fall flat, Marwan Abdallah, head of the party’s foreign affairs department, told the newspaper.

The Lebanese Forces, the largest Chiristian party in Lebanon’s parliament, has also lambasted Hezbollah. The party’s leader Samir Geagea believes that the movement must withdraw its forces from the border with Israel, making way for Lebanese units to be stationed there.

Some political parties oppose Hezbollah despite the movement’s achievements in liberating the country’s south from Israeli occupation, retired Lebanese army general Elias Farhat said, speaking about the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon following a conflict with Hezbollah in 2006.

Meanwhile, Middle East expert Leonid Tsukanov believes that if talks on a Gaza ceasefire fail, things will likely escalate on the Lebanon-Israel border. The expert points out that in this case, Hezbollah will significantly step up strikes on border areas, while Israel may boost operations to kill key Hezbollah members in order to gain a tactical advantage in eliminating the border threat.

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