Palestine Conference Exposes Western Rift as US-China Extend Tariff Truce

Top stories from the Russian press on Wednesday, July 30th

© AP Photo/Adam Gray

MOSCOW, July 30. /TASS/. Western intelligence agencies allegedly support Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK Valery Zaluzhny as a replacement for Vladimir Zelensky; a UN-led conference on Palestinian statehood revealed growing divisions within the West over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and the US and China have extended their 90-day tariff ceasefire without setting a new deadline. These stories topped Wednesday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

Izvestia: Western intelligence allegedly backs Zaluzhny to replace Zelensky

The potential appointment of former Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny as President of Ukraine would not necessarily lead to a resolution of the conflict, experts told Izvestia. According to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the United States and the United Kingdom recently held a closed-door meeting in the Alps with Ukrainian officials, including Presidential Office Head Andrey Yermak, to discuss Zaluzhny’s possible candidacy. The SVR noted that Zaluzhny, currently serving as Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, is being considered for the country’s top office. The agency added that this may also shed light on the recent restrictions imposed on Ukraine’s anti-corruption bodies.

"According to information received by the SVR, representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom recently held a secret meeting in one of the Alpine resort towns, attended by the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrey Yermak, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense Kirill Budanov, and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, now Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valery Zaluzhny. The participants discussed the prospect of replacing Vladimir Zelensky as head of the Kiev regime. All parties to the meeting agreed that the issue was long overdue," the SVR said in a statement.

According to the intelligence service, the US and UK representatives agreed to support Zaluzhny as their candidate for the Presidency of Ukraine. The agency further reported that Yermak and Budanov secured "promises from the Anglo-Saxons" that they would retain their current positions, and that their interests would be taken into account in future personnel decisions. The replacement of Zelensky has effectively become the central condition for a "reset" in Kiev’s relations with its Western partners, primarily Washington, and for the continuation of Western assistance to Ukraine in its confrontation with Russia.

Looking at approval ratings, Zaluzhny’s chances are indeed substantial. His popularity within Ukrainian society is significantly higher than that of Zelensky, former Verkhovna Rada deputy Vladimir Voloshyn told Izvestia.

"Ukraine’s Western handlers clearly understand that any figure must possess a certain degree of legitimacy within the country. And in virtually all criteria over the past year and a half to two years, Zaluzhny has consistently outperformed Zelensky," he said.

Should Zaluzhny ultimately replace Zelensky and become a negotiating partner with Russia, his legitimacy would first have to be fully recognized. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stressed that any agreement can only be concluded with the lawful representatives of Ukraine, political analyst and member of the Presidential Council for Interethnic Relations Bogdan Bezpalko told Izvestia.

Izvestia: UN conference on Palestinian statehood exposes deepening Western divide

The conference on the creation of a Palestinian state, which opened at United Nations headquarters with the participation of Saudi Arabia and France, has become the most notable international initiative aimed at Middle East peace in recent years. Despite a boycott by the United States and Israel, representatives from dozens of countries arrived in New York to express their support for the establishment of two states. The forum has underscored the growing rift within the West itself regarding the Palestinian issue, Izvestia writes. Paris has announced its readiness to recognize Palestine as early as September, while pressure is mounting on the British government to follow suit. Washington has dismissed the conference as both pointless and premature, but leaders in Europe and the Arab world argue that the Palestinian question can no longer be postponed.

Palestinian security expert Mohammed al-Masri emphasized the significance of France’s recognition of Palestine but pointed to its limitations without specific actions. "France’s recognition is an important step, but turning it into reality requires international partnerships and concrete pressure on Israel," he told Izvestia. According to him, Paris holds substantial global weight as a member of the UN Security Council and a major player in Europe and the West. However, without practical steps on the ground toward establishing a Palestinian state, the move would remain largely symbolic, he added.

The United Kingdom could also move to recognize Palestine in September should Israel fail to take concrete steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. According to Politico, one-third of British lawmakers have signed a letter urging the government to grant official recognition.

Amid the renewed push for Palestinian recognition, internal divisions within the Western bloc are widening rapidly. According to Jamal Wakim, professor at the Lebanese University, for the first time in decades, the Palestinian issue has become a dividing line not only between the West and the Global South, but "within the West itself."

"Some countries, particularly in Southern Europe and Scandinavia, are seeking to revise past policies and adopt a more humane stance, while others, including Germany and the United States, remain firmly committed to their strategic obligations to Israel," the expert told Izvestia.

In 2024, Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Slovenia all announced their recognition of the Palestinian state. Prior to that, Sweden and Iceland had taken similar steps. To date, more than 140 countries around the world officially recognize Palestine, including Russia, China, and India.

Vedomosti: US, China extend their 90-day tariff truce

High-ranking representatives of the United States and China held a third round of trade negotiations in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 28-29. The talks resulted in an extension of the current 90-day cease-fire in the tariff dispute triggered in spring 2025 by US President Donald Trump. For now, neither side has specified how long the truce, originally due to expire on August 12, will be prolonged. Experts interviewed by Vedomosti say that, with no comprehensive trade pact and heavily intertwined supply chains, the already punitive US tariff, China’s need for market access, and mutual reluctance to upend long-standing economic linkages mean the truce merely sets the stage for yet more rounds of negotiations.

Washington will keep in place a 30% customs duty on goods from China, while Beijing will continue to levy a 10% duty on American products. The gap persists because Beijing did not respond in kind to the United States’ 20% tariffs, which the White House justifies by what it sees as China’s insufficient efforts to stem fentanyl.

US-China trade relations are likely to remain entangled in ongoing negotiations, Vladimir Vasilyev, chief research fellow at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vedomosti. He attributed this to the lack of a comprehensive trade agreement, even though the two countries accounted for one of the world’s largest trade volumes, approximately $690 billion in 2024.

Vasilyev added that the tariff rate maintained in Stockholm is already prohibitive, so there was no practical reason to raise it further. China, for its part, remains ready to keep negotiating, unwilling to forfeit access to the American market.

Both countries understand that overall bilateral relations are deteriorating, yet neither Beijing nor Washington wishes to dismantle production chains, strategic projects, and avenues of cooperation built over many years, according to Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics Vasily Kashin. Despite the general atmosphere of tension, the parties will strive to continue cooperating, he noted.

Vedomosti: EU threatens to suspend funding to Ukraine over rollback of anti-corruption bodies’ independence

The Anti-Corruption Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has endorsed a presidential bill, which seeks to restore the institutional independence of the country’s anti-corruption bodies - the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Shortly before this, both European and Ukrainian media outlets reported that the European Union had threatened to suspend financial assistance to Ukraine in response to the erosion of the agencies’ autonomy. Experts interviewed by Vedomosti agree that the EU’s financial ultimatum reflects deep concerns over Kiev’s attempt to consolidate power by weakening Western-backed anti-corruption institutions.

At stake is the EU’s share of 17.2 billion euro under the ERA Loans program, a G7-led credit initiative from which Ukraine had hoped to receive funds before the end of 2025. Due to the controversy surrounding the two agencies, Ukraine now risks losing access to those funds, as well as to 12.5 billion euro earmarked under the broader Ukraine Facility program.

According to experts, for Europe, the controversy surrounding the organizations’ independence centers on financial accountability and maintaining checks on Ukrainian elites, with the goal of preventing the emergence of a dominant power center, Vedomosti writes. These institutions, created beginning in 2014 by Western partners, were designed to operate independently of Ukraine’s presidency and executive branch. Now, under pressure, Vladimir Zelensky is making concessions, having not foreseen such forceful pushback, head of the Ukraine division at the Institute of CIS Countries Ivan Skorikov told Vedomosti.

Kiev had anticipated that Brussels would turn a blind eye to the situation, given the EU’s ongoing rivalry with the administration of US President Donald Trump. Political analyst Boris Borodenko told Vedomosti that Zelensky and his inner circle were equally unprepared for criticism from Washington. "The threat of cutting European financial assistance to Ukraine is a serious instrument of pressure, as the country remains critically dependent on external funding," Skorikov concluded.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia urged to diversify oil exports as sanctions complicate sales to China and India

Further expansion of oil production, both within the OPEC+ framework and beyond, will constrain the potential for oil price growth, according to experts from the Gaidar Institute. According to their estimates, oil prices will stabilize in 2026 at an average of $64 per barrel. Additional drivers of price volatility will include US trade policy, geopolitical conflicts, and declining oil consumption in developed nations. The tightening of sanctions against Russia’s fuel and energy complex will create further barriers for production and exports. Experts told Nezavisimaya Gazeta that Russia must urgently diversify its energy exports by expanding beyond reliance on China and India, and investing in value-added processing to counteract the long-term impact of sanctions and global market shifts.

On Tuesday, oil prices retreated following a sharp rise on Monday. By midday, September Brent futures had dropped to $70 per barrel, while WTI fell to $66.7. On Monday, Brent had risen by 2.3% and WTI by 2.4%, driven by news of a US-European Union trade agreement. Prices were also bolstered by statements from US President Donald Trump, who announced his decision to shorten the 50-day deadline he had previously set for a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine to just 10-12 days. The American leader also promised to impose 100% duties on buyers of Russian oil and other sanctions if Moscow does not conclude a peace agreement with Kiev by the deadline.

Experts agree that Russia must accelerate diversification of its commodity exports. "Just because since 2022 Russia has no longer been dependent on oil and gas deliveries to a single ‘monoconsumer’, the European Union, does not mean it should seek a new monoconsumer in the form of China, India, or any other country. Although Russia has redirected oil and gas exports to several nations, this does not imply that the geographic scope of exports should remain so limited," lead analyst at Freedom Finance Global Natalia Milchakova told Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

The expert believes that Russia can easily scale up volumes to Central Asian countries, particularly Uzbekistan, where domestic oil reserves have been nearly exhausted and natural gas supplies remain very limited. Another option is to expand oil and gas processing, shifting from raw exports to refined, high value-added products.

Pavel Sevostyanov, Associate Professor at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, also sees potential in strengthening the Asian export direction. "In addition, cooperation with Turkey and Southeast Asian nations via Black Sea terminals and Greek hubs would allow for diversification of supply routes," he told the newspaper.

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