MOSCOW, May 14, /TASS/. Russia has been preparing for talks with Ukraine, as MEPs urge a halt to military aid supplies to Kiev. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump sets off on a Middle East tour. These stories topped Wednesday's newspaper headlines in Russia.
Vedomosti: Preparations for Russia-Ukraine talks ongoing
Russia has been preparing for talks on resolving the Ukraine conflict scheduled to take place in Istanbul on May 15, said Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He refused to comment on the names and titles of officials who may represent Moscow at the upcoming negotiations. "We will make an announcement as soon as the president thinks fit," he explained. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told TASS that Moscow expects to engage directly with Ukraine in Istanbul: "Our representatives are getting prepared for this contact."
To Nikolay Silayev, senior researcher with the Center of Caucasian Studies at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, a potential Russian-Ukrainian meeting in Istanbul would indicate Kiev’s willingness to revisit the 2022 agenda. That, he recounted, included reducing Kiev’s military capabilities, its neutrality and refusal to limit the rights of Russian-speaking citizens, or the objectives of Russia’s special military operation. Territorial issues, too, will be discussed this time around, now that four new regions have joined Russia.
While the United States has so far unofficially confirmed that it will send its representatives to Istanbul, without disclosing their names, sources told Reuters that US President Donald Trump’s special envoys, Steve Witkoff and Keith Kellog, will travel to Turkey on Thursday. In an interview with Breitbart News, released on May 13, Witkoff said: "There is no deal without President Putin’s approval." He expressed his hope that the Russian leader will soon meet with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky.
The fact that the US may dispatch two special envoys exposes Trump’s intentions to show balance, so that neither of the two sides can take offence, Pavel Koshkin, senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute for US and Canadian Studies, maintains. Given Trump’s shifting rhetoric, it’s too difficult to say exactly what are the US president’s preferences, as he has proved to put pressure on both Russia and Ukraine.
Amid a new situation, Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada could authorize talks with Moscow quite soon, said Ivan Skorikov, head of the Ukraine sector at the Institute of CIS Countries. Istanbul may host initial discussions on ways to resolve the conflict, taking into account the situation on the ground, namely, the accession of four regions to Russia. "While Kiev will not recognize it formally, as that would mean political death of any political force in Ukraine, a scenario similar to that around Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia is possible," the expert concluded.
Izvestia: MEPs urge halting military aid to Ukraine
The European Union must stop supplying weapons to Ukraine in order to resolve the conflict, some members of the European Parliament (MEPs) told Izvestia. Unlike their leaders, they favor a diplomatic settlement.
Meanwhile, the EU, which has formally indicated its commitment to peace, has been balancing between support to Kiev and internal differences. There has been tension between EU member countries in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal to hold talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 15. While one camp insists on "a Ukrainian victory at any cost," others have been increasingly floating the idea of finding a negotiated solution. In the current circumstances, this represents a complex and extremely sensitive issue, Slovakian MEP Milan Ugric believes. "And there are strong arguments in favor of starting negotiations," he noted.
Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, and his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban, among other European leaders, agree, as they see negotiations as the only way out of the conflict. However, putting a stop to military assistance to Kiev would be a key condition here, Ugric argues: "The suspension of financial or military aid, a scenario rejected, unfortunately, by most leaders, can be the only leverage."
A number of Western countries would hate to lose face and stop weapons supplies to Ukraine, even as there should be progress toward finding a lasting solution to the conflict, which means a stop to sending weapons, Czech MEP Ivan David told Izvestia. "Everybody understands that Russia has the upper hand militarily and that Western [weapons] supplies cannot be a decisive factor on the battlefield. And yet some countries are still trying to weaken Russia in this way," he explained.
Citizens in a number of EU member countries, especially Romanians, are fed up with the war and the EU’s hazardous foreign politics, Romanian MEP Diana Sosoaca told Izvestia.
Izvestia: Trump seeks megadeals during his Middle East tour
Donald Trump has embarked on a tour of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE. In Riyadh, the US leader will take part in a Gulf Cooperation Council summit, and the United States and Saudi Arabia will discuss a potential nuclear deal, as well as efforts toward a normalization between the kingdom and Israel. The visit will result in the signing of large-scale economic agreements, and the leaders may discuss the Ukraine crisis, too. The US president has said that he is considering visiting Istanbul, where a Russia-Ukraine meeting may take place on May 15.
The US-Saudi summit will be a milestone toward outlining the Middle Eastern political and economic course, Saudi political analyst Mubarak Al-Aati told Izvestia. "[Trump’s] visit will culminate in a dozen bilateral agreements. And the leaders will discuss efforts to stabilize prices and energy markets, too," he added.
Dr. Ebtesam Al-Ketbi at the Emirates Policy Center think tank explained to Izvestia that boosting trade and investment is seen as a way to reinforce strategic partnership with Washington. According to her, the US remains a major guarantor of security in the Persian Gulf, and also, it offers opportunities that meet long-term development goals of regional players.
Trump’s visit to Qatar, a destination last visited by a US president in 2003, will come amid a strengthening defense partnership: in March, the US Department of State approved a $1.96 billion deal to sell eight MQ-9B Reaper combat drones to Doha. In addition, Axios reported, Qatar is expected to finalize a deal with Boeing.
The Ukraine conflict remains a key sticking point in the international agenda, and the US and Saudi Arabia attach much attention to this issue, Mubarak Al-Aati continued. According to him, with the crisis being actively discussed on the Russian-US and the US-Ukrainian tracks, a major development may likely take place during this historic visit, he surmised.
Nezavisimaya Gazeta: EU threatens with 18th package of anti-Russian sanctions
European leaders are willing to wait for a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky before pressuring the United States to join their latest anti-Russian sanctions. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced on Tuesday that the EU is ready to impose its 17th package of sanctions on Russia. Unless there is progress toward solving the conflict later this week, the bloc will intensify its sanctions, especially in energy and finance, he warned.
The Council configuration on Economic and Financial Affairs (ECOFIN) convened in Brussels on Tuesday to discuss to what extent new restrictions should be tightened. Meanwhile, sources told The Financial Times that Brussels is set to agree on the 17th package of anti-Russian sanctions later on Wednesday, so that EU foreign ministers can sign off on it on May 20.
Soon after approving the 17th sanctions package, the European Commission will start preparing its 18th package, Valdis Dombrovskis, European Commissioner for Trade, said on Tuesday. Commenting on spheres where the sanctions pressure on Russia can be intensified, he noted that Russia makes most of its revenue from fossil fuel exports.
No matter how many packages of anti-Russian sanctions can be adopted by the EU further down the road, its hopes that those will force Russia to end its special military operation in Ukraine are totally unrealistic, Nadezhda Arbatova, head of the Department of European Political Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Nezavisimaya Gazeta. "The special military operation remains a priority for the Russian leadership, so no matter how much Russian energy or trade revenues shrink, funding for the special military operation will not run out. Russia could mobilize domestic resources or revise its budget to find it," she explained.
Vedomosti: Russian fertilizer exports rise in Q1
In the first three months of 2025, Russia exported 11.9 million metric tons of fertilizers, a 27% increase year-on-year, according to a report from Metals & Mining Intelligence (MMI), obtained by Vedomosti.
Russia is the world’s largest exporter of nitrogen fertilizers and a key supplier of potash and phosphorus fertilizers, data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows.
Seaborne exports remain a primary route for Russian fertilizer supplies, MMI Fertilizer Market Manager Maxim Bratchikov says. Logistics costs differ depending on the distance from ports, he explains. Earlier this month, they accounted for 20% to 25% of export prices, on average. According to Bratchikov, key risks for the business are associated with ruble strengthening, rising tax burden, and export quotas in these circumstances.
In 2025, an array of factors, including global demand and fertilizer prices, and the climate, will affect Russian fertilizer exports, Dmitry Baranov, a leading expert at Finam Management, said. Domestic costs for producers, including the cost of raw materials and logistics, as well as regulatory conditions in Russia and importing countries, too, will play a major role, he added. Also, sanctions, attacks on cargo vessels, and seizures of ships affect export profitability, Maxim Shaposhnikov, an independent industry expert, argues.
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