NB: This week’s Russia in Review is appearing on Wednesday, July 3, instead of Friday, July 5, because of the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

This Week’s Highlights:

• Fourteen Russian Navy servicemen were killed in a fire on board a Russian nuclear-powered research vessel off Russia's Arctic coast, The Moscow Times reports. An unnamed source in the security forces told the RBC news website the incident took place on the AS-31 Losharik, a secretive deep-sea nuclear submarine powered by a five-megawatt nuclear reactor. The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority said that the accident was triggered by a gas explosion on board and that they had not detected any abnormal radiation.
• Countering Russia features prominently in the Senate’s newly approved $750 billion version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The legislation allocates funds for the deployment of a low-yield ballistic missile warhead to increase deterrence against Russia, requires the Defense Department to submit a report describing Russia’s deployed non-strategic weapons and also calls for greater focus on the Arctic to counter Russia’s presence there. The legislation would also establish a center for coordinating and tracking foreign social media influence operations, earmarks $300 million in military aid to Ukraine and describes Poland as “strategic in the fight against Russia.”  
• European leaders nominated German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen as EU Commission president and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as high representative for foreign affairs. Von der Leyen has previously expressed support for the idea of a European army and criticized a lack of strategy in Trump’s approach to Russia. She has also claimed that “just as Russian missiles pose a threat to Europe, Chinese missiles pose a threat to Russia” and compared Chinese influence to Russia’s threat to Europe. As for Borell, he told a Spanish newspaper in May 2019: "Our old enemy, Russia, is once again saying, 'here I am,' and has returned as a threat.”  
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to visit Russian in 2020 to attend celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II and Macron accepted the invitation. Putin has also invited Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Angela Merkel to the celebration. The invitations to Western leaders indicate the Kremlin may be aiming at normalizing relations with the West by May 2020, hoping the celebration of victory in WWII in Moscow on May 9, 2020 will symbolize that normalization.
• Russia is “catastrophically” losing its population, according to Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. The Moscow Times reports that Russia’s population numbers fell for the first time in a decade to 146.8 million in 2018, while official data for 2019 places Russia’s population at 146.7 million, declining by 149,000 people in the first four months of the year.

I. U.S. and Russian priorities for the bilateral agenda

Nuclear security and safety:

• Fourteen Russian navy servicemen were killed in a fire on board a Russian Defense Ministry nuclear-powered research vessel off Russia's Arctic coast. Of the 14 casualties, seven held the rank of captain 1st rank and two had held the Hero of Russia award. An unnamed source in the security forces told the RBC news website the incident took place on the AS-31 Losharik, a secretive deep-sea nuclear submarine. The submarine is powered by a single five-megawatt nuclear reactor. Norwegian authorities said on July 2 that they had not detected any abnormal radiation. According to the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, the accident was triggered by a gas explosion on board the vessel. Representatives of Russian authorities on July 2 informed the Norwegian side about the incident, Morten Strand from the Radiation Protection Authority told Norwegian broadcaster NRK. The Russian Defense Ministry, however, rebuffs that any such information was ever shared with the Norwegians. The fire was extinguished and submarine was towed to the Russian North Fleet headquarters in Severomorsk. (The Moscow Times, 07.03.19, Reuters, 07.03.19, Popular Mechanics, 07.03.19, Barents Observer, 07.03.19, Business Insider, 07.03.19, USNI, 07.02.19)
• Russia's Rosenergoatom has received an operating license for its floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, from the country's regulator Rostechnadzor. The facility is 144 meters in length, 30 meters wide and has a displacement of 21,000 tons. It has two 35 MWe KLT-40S reactors. (World Nuclear News, 06.27.19)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• No significant developments.

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• Iran will boost its uranium enrichment after July 7 to whatever levels it needs beyond the concentration limit set under the 2015 nuclear deal, Iranian President Hassan Rohani has said, defying calls by world powers to adhere to the agreement. Rohani said on July 3 that Tehran was prepared to begin enriching uranium at a level beyond the 3.67 percent concentration allowed in the accord. (RFE/RL, 07.03.19)
  • China and Russia say the U.S. is responsible for Iran's low-enriched uranium stockpile reaching levels beyond those set by a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned last year by U.S. President Donald Trump, but praised the U.S. leader for his efforts to forge peace with North Korea. (Newsweek, 07.02.19)
  • Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said July 2 that Iran is not the cause of instability in the Persian Gulf and that sanctions against the country are “unlawful.” (CNBC, 07.02.19)
  • In a joint statement on July 2, the foreign ministers of Germany, Britain and France and the EU foreign-policy chief urged Iran to "reverse this step and to refrain from further measures that undermine the nuclear deal." (RFE/RL, 07.02.19)

New Cold War/ saber rattling:

• No significant developments.

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• The U.S. Senate has approved a $750 billion version of the fiscal 2020 National Defense Authorization Act. The Senate’s version earmarks $300 million in military aid to Ukraine, $50 million more than the amount allocated for 2019, and describes Poland as “strategic in the fight against Russia.” The bill also requires detailed reporting from the Defense Department to prevent transfers of sensitive technology to China or Russia, as well as reports on access to the Arctic and directs the Pentagon "to identify and designate a new strategic port in the Arctic, a move meant to counter Russia's presence at the top of the world.” The bill allocates funds for the deployment of a low-yield ballistic missile warhead to increase deterrence against Russia. It also requires the Defense Department to submit a report describing threats beyond the scope of today’s arms control regime, including Russia’s deployed non-strategic weapons and China’s nuclear modernization program. The legislation would also establish a Social Media Data Analysis Center to coordinate and track foreign social media influence operations and free up some $600 million for AI and cyber research.  (Defense One, 07.01.19, VOA, 06.28.19, Nextgov, 06.28.19, Morning Consult, 07.28.19, Poland In, 06.29.19, Intellasia, 07.29.19, Sen. Deb Fischer’s official website, 06.27.19)
• Two of Russia’s Baltic Fleet corvettes trained in anti-submarine warfare as a major NATO flotilla was preparing for its annual exercise in the area. The Boiky and Stoiky, two of Russia’s newest naval vessels, jointly engaged in training exercises for the search, detection and destruction of conditional enemy submarines in the Norwegian Sea, the Russian navy said. (The Barents Observer, 07.02.19)
• U.S. President Donald Trump has met with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to urge him not to proceed with the purchase of Russia's S-400 ground-to-air defense system. When the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Trump told Erdogan that the proposed purchase was "a problem." “But what happened with Turkey … He [Erdogan] wanted to buy the Patriot missile. President Obama’s group said no,” Trump said on June 29. (RFE/RL, 06.29.19, The White House, 06.29.19)

Missile defense:

• The Russian air and space defense forces conducted a successful test of the new interceptor of the Moscow missile defense system at the Sary-Shagan test site. The test appears to have taken place on July 2 and appears to be the seventh test of the new interceptor, usually referred to as 53T6M. The previous test was conducted in early June. (Pavel Podvig’s blog, 07.02.19)
• “I am convinced that the world would be a different place today, had our U.S. partners accepted this proposal [for missile defense cooperation by Russia],” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Financial Times, 06.27.19)

Nuclear arms control:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has this week signed legislation suspending the INF Treaty, according to the law published on July 3 on an official government website. (Reuters, 07.03.19)
• At their June 28 meeting at the G20, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, have ordered their foreign ministers to begin consultations on nuclear arms control. Speaking after the summit, Putin stressed that "we cannot yet say whether this will lead to an extension of [the] New START treaty.” According to a White House statement, Trump and Putin did discuss the question of the treaty. “The Presidents agreed the two countries will continue discussion on a 21st century model of arms control, which President Trump stated as needing to include China," the statement said. (RFE/RL, 06.29.19)
• Moscow is prepared to cooperate on strengthening strategic stability with Washington to the extent that the U.S. is ready to do so, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters on June 28 following talks between both leaders on the sidelines of the G20 summit. Trump and Putin also discussed Ukraine. (TASS, 06.28.19)
• Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper blamed Russia for the threatened collapse of the INF Treaty, calling it ''a dangerous and entirely avoidable reality.'' (New York Times, 06.28.19)
• A 180-degree turn by Russia has led to a landmark agreement at the U.N. Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space to endorse how countries and companies should conduct space activities. It should be approved by the U.N. General Assembly later this year. (Breaking Defense, 06.25.19)

Counter-terrorism:

• “We maintain constant dialogue with our U.S. partners; we have established good contacts on the ground, as they say, to coordinate our actions and efforts to fight terrorism,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a G20 press conference after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. “[A]ll the G20 summit participants concluded that we must do everything to prevent negative information that is related to terrorism from spreading online” Putin said. (Kremlin, 06.29.19)
• The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the second armed attack on law enforcement in a week in Russia’s republic of Chechnya, the SITE Intelligence Group monitoring website reported July 1. (The Moscow Times, 07.02.19)

Conflict in Syria:

• “We’re working on Idlib province together because he doesn’t want to see 3 million people killed, and neither do I—in Syria. But—and I mentioned that. That was another thing I mentioned, folks, to President Putin. I said, ‘Please, take it easy with Idlib.’ Because, you know, they’ve been encircling that,” U.S. President Donald Trump said at the G20. (The White House, 06.29.19)
• When asked how big the risk of intervening in Syria was, Russian President Vladimir Putin told FT: “It was sufficiently high. … In the long run, I decided that the positive effect from our active involvement in Syrian affairs for Russia and the interests of the Russian Federation would far outweigh non-interference and passive observation of how an international terrorist organization grows ever stronger near our borders.” (Financial Times, 06.27.19)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan discussed a future Russia-Turkey-Iran summit on Syria during their meeting in Osaka, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. (Interfax, 07.01.19)
• Russian Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Gen. Valery Gerasimov has discussed the situation in Syria with his Turkish counterpart Yasar Guler over the phone, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on July 1. (TASS, 07.01.19)
• Israeli warplanes struck several military sites in Syria overnight and killed several fighters and civilians, Syrian state media reported on July 1, in what appeared to be a stepping up of Israel's long-running, partly covert campaign to thwart Iranian military entrenchment in Syria and stop weapon transfers to Lebanon. (New York Times, 07.02.19)
• An errant missile of possible Russian origin struck Cyprus early on July 1 in what authorities described as a spillover from strikes between Israel and Syria. (The Moscow Times, 07.01.19)

Cyber security:

• The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation designed to enhance election security following outrage over Russian cyber interference in the 2016 presidential election. (RFE/RL, 06.28.19)

Elections interference:

• The U.S. is ill-equipped to counter the increasingly brazen political warfare Russia is waging to undermine democracies, the Pentagon and independent strategists warn in a detailed assessment that echoes much bipartisan criticism of U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to Moscow. The more than 150-page white paper, prepared for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, says the U.S. is still underestimating the scope of Russia's aggression. (Politico, 06.30.19)
• The U.S. federal government anticipates that Russia will again meddle in the U.S. election in 2020 through “Russian-controlled or influenced English-language media, false-flag operations or sympathetic spokespersons,” a senior U.S. intelligence official said. (The National Interest, 06.28.19)

Energy exports:

• OPEC members have reached an agreement with other major oil producing nations, including Russia, to extend production cuts into next year amid concerns over weaker global growth. “We have come to the opinion that we need to continue our joint cooperation for another nine months until March 2020. We also agreed to closely monitor the situation on a monthly basis,” Russian Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said in a tweet on July 2. (RFE/RL, 07.02.19)
• Russia has resumed conditional crude flows via the Druzhba pipeline in full as of July 1 after more than a two-month disruption over crude contamination. (Financial Times, 07.01.19)
• Nord Stream-2 will be built around the territorial waters of Denmark, allowing for the Russia-Germany pipeline to be completed by the end of this year, the operating company reports. Brushing off the threat of American sanctions, Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller told shareholders in St. Petersburg that the project is "past the point of no return." (Ukraine Business News, 07.01.19)
• Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller predicts “difficult talks” with Ukraine and the EU this fall over renewing the 10-year gas transit contract with Ukraine’s Naftogaz. “By the end of the year, by the end of the current transit contract, Ukraine will not be able to sign a new EU-contracted transit contract,” Miller predicted June 28. “This train has already left the station.” (Ukraine Business News, 07.01.19)
• Russia’s state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom has signed a five-year contract to import gas from the energy-rich Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan. Gazprom said July 3 the contract envisages importing 5.5 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas a year. (AP, 07.03.19)
• Two Japanese energy companies have acquired a 10 percent share in Novatek’s Arctic LNG 2 liquefied natural gas project. The agreement was signed in the presence of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week during the G20 summit. Total project development costs are estimated at $21-23 billion. (The Barents Observer, 07.02.19)

Bilateral economic ties:

• “I think they’d like to do trade with the United States. And they have great product.  They have great land. They have very rich land. And a lot of oil, a lot of minerals, and the kind of things that we like. And I can see trade going out with Russia. We could do fantastically well. We do very little trade with Russia, which is ridiculous, frankly.  So I could see some very positive things happening,” U.S. President Donald Trump said at the G20. (The White House, 06.29.19)

Other bilateral issues:

• During their meeting June 28 at the G20, Russian leader Vladimir Putin invited U.S. President Donald Trump to attend the 75th anniversary ceremonies marking the defeat of Nazi Germany, as the two leaders met for the first time in months in an attempt to improve deteriorating relations. “They’re having a 75th, you could really say, celebration of the defeat of the Nazis. And he invited me, and I said I would give it very serious consideration. That was a—Russia went through a lot. They lost, I guess, far more than anybody, fighting the Nazis, in terms of people. And he did invite me, and I said we would get back. But we will give that very serious consideration,” U.S. President Donald Trump said at the G20. According to the White House, the meeting lasted for 80 minutes and “both leaders agreed that improved relations between the United States and Russia was in each countries' mutual interest and the interest of the world.” (RFE/RL, 06.28.19, The White House, 06.29.19, RFE/RL, 06.28.19)

• "There will be pure chaos. How could they [the U.S.] act like this?" Russian President Vladimir Putin told the FT regarding possible regime change in Venezuela. (RFE/RL, 06.28.19)
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia had rotated a group of weapons specialists in Venezuela and emphasized that it didn't intend to increase its military presence in the Latin American country. (Wall Street Journal, 06.27.19)
• Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called on the U.S. on July 1 to free Russian pilot Konstantin Yaroshenko and proposed a prisoner swap with Washington to win the release of any American national held in Russia. (Reuters, 07.01.19)
• Russia's Justice Ministry said it was classifying the Free Russia Foundation as an "undesirable” organization—a move that could lead to the Washington-based organization being shut down within Russia. (RFE/RL, 06.28.19)
• Andrew Intrater, U.S. cousin of Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg, is suing the U.S. Treasury Department for seizing his assets worth millions of dollars. (RFE/RL, 07.02.19)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• “We’re catastrophically losing the population,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said. Russia has struggled with a demographic crisis in recent years, with population numbers falling for the first time in a decade to 146.8 million last year. Official data for 2019 places Russia’s population at 146.7 million, declining by 149,000 people in the first four months of the year. (The Moscow Times, 07.03.19)

• Under a fiscal rule, the Russian government diverts revenues from oil exports if Brent crude is trading above $40 a barrel and can use the stockpile if the oil price drops below that level. The ruble has weakened about 5% since the policy was introduced, even as the price of Brent crude increased 17%. Bloomberg economist Scott Johnson estimates it may have averted almost 10% of appreciation, leaving households poorer in the near term. (Bloomberg, 07.01.19)
• Gazprom’s shareholders will be paid a record of 383.2 billion rubles ($6 billion), or 27 percent of net profits, in dividends, Gazprom said after its annual shareholders meeting June 28. (The Moscow Times, 07.01.19)
• Russia has the world’s fourth-cheapest mobile data costs and the cheapest unlimited data packages, according to new research. (The Moscow Times, 07.01.19)
• Moscow placed 27th and St. Petersburg 75th out of 209 cities worldwide for the most expensive locations to work abroad in Mercer’s 2019 ranking, dropping by 10 and 26 spots from last year respectively. (The Moscow Times, 06.27.19)
• The former owners of Otkritie, once Russia’s largest privately-owned bank by assets, have been hit with a $1.3 billion lawsuit to cover losses incurred by the country’s central bank in rescuing it from collapse. (Financial Times, 07.03.19)
• When asked whom he admires most of world leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “Peter the Great.” “If you mean any present-day leaders from different countries and states, of the persons that I could communicate with, I was most seriously impressed by former president of France [Jacques] Chirac,” he added. (Financial Times, 06.27.19)
• Russian authorities say that at least 20 people have died and eight are missing in massive floods in southeastern Siberia. (AP, 07.03.19)
• Fines for violating Russia’s protest laws have increased fivefold in the past six years, an analysis of judicial data said. (The Moscow Times, 07.02.19)
• Sergei Petrov, the former State Duma member and prominent businessman under Russian criminal investigation, denied he illegally moved money offshore, saying in an interview that he believed he and his business were being targeted for political reasons. (RFE/RL, 06.28.19)

Defense and aerospace:

• Russia appears to be testing its Nudol ASAT system from Plesetsk. It issued a NOTAM (notice to airmen) warning that closed several areas on June 14. The closed areas look very much like those that were closed in April 2018 and in December 2018. (Pavel Podvig’s blog, 06.30.19)
• Russia plans to build four submarines armed with nuclear drone-torpedoes. (The National Interest, 06.29.19)
• Russia will produce only a few units of the Avangard hypersonic weapon that Russian President Vladimir Putin had bragged was already in serial production, according to people with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report. The Kremlin is having a hard time finding a source for the critical carbon fiber components needed to produce the weapon. (CNBC, 07.01.19)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• A court in Moscow has sent a man to pretrial detention on the charge of high treason. A spokeswoman for the Lefortovo district court said on July 1 that Sergei Petushkov was ordered detained for two months on June 25. (RFE/RL, 07.02.19)
• Several top officials of Russia's National Guard, including deputy directors, are expected to resign in the coming days, reports say. Russian media reports said on July 1 that the force's first deputy director, Col. Gen. Sergei Melikov, had already filed his resignation request.  (RFE/RL, 07.01.19)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

Russia’s general foreign policy and relations with “far abroad” countries:

• The European Council has nominated German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen as Commission president; Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel has been named president of the Council; IMF chief Christine Lagarde has been put forward to head the European Central Bank; and Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell has been nominated as high representative for foreign affairs. Also, Italian MEP and former journalist David-Maria Sassoli was elected president of the European Parliament on July 3.
  • Von der Leyen has previously expressed support for the idea of a European army and criticized a lack of strategy in Trump’s approach to Russia. She has also claimed that “just as Russian missiles pose a threat to Europe, Chinese missiles pose a threat to Russia.” Von der Leyen has also compared Chinese influence to Russia’s threat to Europe. “The guideline we have for Russia must also apply to China,” she said. "For Russia, this [von der Leyen] is one of the worst candidates,” deputy head of Russia’s Europe Institute Vladislav Belov told Kommersant.
  • In 2018 Michel became the first Belgian prime minister to visit Moscow since 2011. “Russia will always be a big neighbor to the European Union,” Michel told the European Parliament that year.
  • In April 2019 Lagarde noted that “fiscal, monetary and, generally, the macro situation of Russia is pretty healthy.” She then attended the annual economic forum in St. Petersburg to praise Russian government for putting “in place an admirable macroeconomic framework—saving for a rainy day, letting the exchange rate float, introducing inflation targeting and shoring up the banking system.”
  • In May 2019 Borell told a Spanish newspaper: "Our old enemy, Russia, is once again saying, 'here I am,' and has returned as a threat.” The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Spain's ambassador to Moscow over these comments and drew criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin. (Politico, 07.03.19, TASS, 07.03.19, New York Times, 07.03.19, Kommersant, 07.03.19, South China Morning Post, 07.03.19)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to visit Russia in 2020 to attend celebrations of the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II. Macron accepted the invitation. Putin also thanked Macron for the invitation to the Paris Peace Forum in November and said he would try to come. In addition to Macron, Putin has also invited Donald Trump, Xi Jinping and Angela Merkel to the celebration. The invitations to Western leaders indicate the Kremlin may be aiming at normalizing relations with the West by May 2020, hoping the celebration of victory in WWII in Moscow on May 9, 2020 will symbolize that normalization. (Russia Matters, 07.03.19, TASS, 06.28.19, Republic.ru, 07.01.19)
• Russia is to host the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in October and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are expected to attend, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on July 3. October will also see the Russia-Africa summit in Sochi and the Russian Energy Week forum in Moscow. “We can’t allow the revival of neocolonialism, a predatory attitude toward African resources,” Vyacheslav Volodin, the chairman of Russia’s State Duma, said at a parliamentary forum ahead of the Russia-Africa summit. (Russia Matters, 07.03.19,  The Moscow Times, 07.03.19)
• “Over the past 25 years . . . the share of G7 countries in the global GDP has declined from 58 percent to 40 percent. This should also be reflected in international institutions in some way,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Financial Times, 06.27.19)  
• All the G20 countries, except the U.S., reaffirmed at the past summit their commitment to the Paris agreement on combating climate change, with the final statement noting the deal's "irreversibility." (RFE/RL, 06.29.19)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to expand bilateral economic ties but failed to make progress toward a peace agreement to formally end World War II. The two leaders met in Osaka, Japan, on June 29, after the conclusion of the G20. (RFE/RL, 06.29.19)
• U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and Russian President Vladimir Putin had a frosty meeting in Japan on June 28, when May asked for the Russian men that Britain blames for a high-profile poisoning to be brought to justice. Responding to a question about Russian involvement in the March 2018 poisoning in Britain of Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, Putin repeated his argument—in the face of substantial evidence from Scotland Yard—that Moscow’s complicity "must be proved." However, Putin did not deny that his government was involved in poisoning the Skripals. (CNN, 06.28.19, RFE/RL, 06.28.19)
• The Bellingcat investigative organization says it has obtained evidence suggesting that Denis Sergeyev, an active officer in Russia’s GRU military intelligence, worked from a hotel in central London to coordinate the March 2018 nerve agent attack against Skripal. (RFE/RL, 07.01.19)
• Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said he addressed the downing of Flight MH17 with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit last week. Rutte did not disclose the details of talks with Putin “because of the extremely high sensitivity of the subject.” (The Moscow Times, 07.03.19)
• Sweden's military said on July 1 it would deploy an updated ground-to-air missile defense system on the Baltic Sea island of Gotland in another sign of tension in the region with Russia. (Reuters, 07.01.19)
• TVEL and the Czech research center Řež have signed a cooperation agreement in materials science studies and research. TVEL, the nuclear fuel manufacturer subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom, announced that Czech scientists will conduct experiments on the irradiation of nuclear construction materials in the CVŘ research reactor and also carry out pre-irradiation and post-irradiation studies. (World Nuclear News, 07.02.19)

China:

• When asked by Financial Times to comment on the danger of tensions or a military conflict risk between a dominant power and a rising power, per the Thucydides Trap, as coined by Harvard Professor Graham Allison, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “You know, the entire history of mankind has always been full of military conflicts, but since the appearance of nuclear weapons the risk of global conflicts has decreased due to the potential global tragic consequences for the entire population of the planet in case such a conflict happens between two nuclear states. I hope it will not come to this.” (Financial Times, 06.27.19)
• When asked if he is putting “too many eggs in the China basket,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “First of all, we have enough eggs, but there are not that many baskets where these eggs can be placed.” (Financial Times, 06.27.19)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit. “Russia, India and China are jointly working for stronger global stability, combatting the terrorist threat, extremism, drug trafficking and cybercrime, and thus are laying the foundation for equal and indivisible security architecture in Eurasia,” Putin said at the meeting. (Kremlin, 06.28.19)
• TASS cited the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation as saying July 3 that it was "expecting a response from China on our offer to purchase modern weapons and military equipment manufactured in Russia, including additional batches of Su-35 fighter jets." (Newsweek, 07.01.19)

Ukraine:

• The U.S. charge d’affaires in Kiev has condemned Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine after reports of deadly attacks on medical personnel and called on Moscow and the “forces it backs” to end the fighting “immediately.” Ukraine’s Defense Ministry on July 1 said one of its soldiers was killed after Russia-backed separatists opened fire at a medical vehicle in the eastern region of Donetsk. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry then said on July 2 two of its soldiers have been killed and two others wounded in a battle with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine (RFE/RL, 07.02.19, RFE/RL, 07.01.19, RFE/RL, 07.02.19)
• About 3,000 troops from 19 countries are taking part in military drills in the Black Sea, an exercise that has raised concerns in Russia. The 12-day Sea Breeze 2019 exercise, involving Ukraine, the U.S., a dozen other NATO allies and a few other nations, began July 1 in the northwestern part of the Black Sea. It will involve 32 warships and 24 aircraft. (AP, 07.02.19)
• Reintegration of the breakaway Donbass territories under the Minsk agreement will be possible if the U.N. introduces peacekeepers and militias there disarm, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Danylyuk said. "Essentially, we want to implement the Minsk [agreements] in full. This is in our own interests. We want to reintegrate the territories and I think we are ready for that. In 2014, doing so would be deathlike: as a country we would simply not have managed, would have been unable to," Danylyuk said. (Interfax, 07.01.19)
• A court in Italy has handed prison terms to three men found guilty of fighting alongside Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, local media report. (RFE/RL, 07.03.19)
• Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to support Ukraine in the wake of Russian "aggression," after meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in Toronto. (Al Jazeera, 07.03.19)
• Ukraine’s food exports increased by 21.4 percent during the first five months of this year, hitting $9 billion, Olga Trofimtseva, acting agriculture minister, writes on Facebook. Food is Ukraine’s top export, accounting for 43 percent of sales, she writes. Ukraine has risen to become the third largest supplier of food to the EU, after the U.S. and Brazil, the European Commission reports. (Ukraine Business News, 07.02.19)
• Ukrainians top the list of “the world’s sexiest people,” according to 8,500 respondents to a survey by Big 7 Travel. The beauty of Ukrainian women is often given credit for raising the tolerance of Western businessmen for the challenges of investing in Ukraine. (Ukraine Business News, 07.01.19)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• As mass demonstrations in Georgia near the two-week mark, organizers calling for the resignation of the country's interior minister over police violence during the initial rally against Russian influence are changing their tactics to ensure that their protests do not fade away without results. One of the organizers, Giga Makarishvili, said to RFE/RL on July 3 that from now on rallies will be held using what he called "guerrilla tactics." (RFE/RL, 07.03.19)
• TVEL and Armenia’s Haykakan Atomayin Electrakayan have signed contractual documents for supplies of Russian nuclear fuel in 2019-2020. (World Nuclear News, 06.26.19)
• Following talks with Kazakhstan's foreign minister, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the U.S. seeks to "strengthen" its ties with the energy-rich Central Asian state. Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov held talks with Pompeo and the U.S. national security adviser during his visit to Washington on July 1-2. (RFE/RL, 07.03.19)
• Turkmenistan has opened a major new gasoline refinery as the natural-gas-rich country struggles with major deficits of gasoline that have angered drivers for months. (RFE/RL, 06.30.19)

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments.