VIF News Digest: International Developments (US, Europe and Russia), 1-15 September 2020
Dr Himani Pant

I. United States

Politics and Society

US sanctions International Criminal Court officials, 2 September 2020.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announced sanctions against two International Criminal Court officials -the Trump administration's most aggressive move yet to try to deter an ICC investigation into possible war crimes by US military and intelligence officials. Pompeo said he was designating ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, and the ICC's Head of Jurisdiction, Complementary, and Cooperation Division Phakiso Mochochoko "for having materially assisted Prosecutor Bensouda. Additionally, the State Department has restricted the issuance of visas for certain individuals involved in the ICC's efforts to investigate US personnel." Click here to read...

Washington imposes new restrictions on Chinese diplomats in US, 3 September 2020

The US has put new restrictions on Chinese diplomats in America, barring senior envoys from visiting universities or meeting local government officials without approval, in the latest escalation in tensions between the two countries. Announcing the latest measures, the state department said it was responding to “significant barriers” on its own diplomats based in China. Click here to read...

U.S. shale producers race for federal permits ahead of presidential election, 8 September 2020

Oil producers in the top U.S. shale fields are stockpiling drilling permits on federal land ahead of the November U.S. presidential election, concerned that a win by Democratic candidate Joe Biden could lead to a clamp-down on oilfield activity. Click here to read...

U.S. cancels over 1,000 visas for Chinese nationals deemed security risks, 9 September 2020

The US has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals under a May 29 presidential proclamation to suspend entry to Chinese students and researchers deemed security risks. Click here to read...

US announces troop drawdown in Iraq, 9 September 2020.

The US commander in the Middle East has announced a drawdown of US troops in Iraq from 5,200 to 3,000 in the month of September. "This reduced footprint allows us to continue advising and assisting our Iraqi partners in rooting out the final remnants of ISIS in Iraq and ensuring its enduring defeat," Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of US Central Command, saidClick here to read...

U.S. Imposes Sanctions on Ukrainian With Ties to Russia, Citing Election Interference, 10 September 2020

The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on a Ukrainian lawmaker for waging “a covert influence campaign” to undermine the presidential election after he disseminated information intended to hurt former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. The Treasury Department accused Andriy Derkach, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, of being “an active Russian agent for over a decade” and accused him of releasing “edited audiotapes” and “unsubstantiated allegations against U.S. and international political figures.” While the announcement of the sanctions does not name Mr. Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, it appears to describe recordings Mr. Derkach released of Mr. Biden talking to Petro O. Poroshenko, the former president of Ukraine, that Mr. Derkach claimed revealed corruption. Click here to read...

Economy
U.S. Trade Deficit Widest Since 2008 in July as Imports Outpaced Exports, 3 September 2020

The U.S. trade deficit widened in July as Americans’ appetite for foreign-made goods bounced back while exports rose more modestly. The foreign-trade gap in goods and services expanded 19% from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted $63.56 billion in July, the Commerce Department said. That was the largest monthly trade deficit since July 2008, during the 2007-2009 recession. Click here to read...

ByteDance is in talks with the U.S. government about ways to avoid a full sale of TikTok, 9 September 2020

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is discussing possible resolutions with the U.S. government that would allow the company to avoid a full sale of the social media app’s U.S. operations. The company has been widely expected to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations to an American company, the top two contenders being Microsoft, in partnership with Wal-Mart, or Oracle. Click here to read...

Health and Environment
Key coronavirus forecast predicts over 410,000 total U.S. deaths by Jan. 1: ‘The worst is yet to come’, 4 September 2020

The U.S. will top more than 410,000 Covid-19 deaths by the end of the year as the country heads into the fall and winter, according to a new forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.Covid-19 has already killed at least 186,800 people in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Click here to read...

Wildfires Bring New Devastation Across the West, 9 September 2020

The devastation in Washington State was repeated up and down the parched West Coast on Wednesday as a wildfire season of unrivalled destruction continued to spread, destroying not only much of Malden but several other communities in the Northwest, while belching enough smoke to blot out the sun in San Francisco. At least seven people were killed in the recent blazes.

In California, fires have now charred some 2.5 million acres — a modern record and nearly 20 times what had burned at this time last year. In Washington, a wildfire pushed into suburban communities near Tacoma. And in Oregon, more than a thousand homes are reported to have been destroyed. Click here to read...

US Election
Donald Trump and Joe Biden have contrasted visions in world affairs, 6 September 2020

The national conventions finished amidst historic domestic unrest, and Joe Biden presented their starkly contrasted plans to address the crises facing the United States. However, the differences on race relations and the protests are not the only differences between the candidates. Their foreign policy views could not be more dissimilarClick here to read...

Trump offers Republicans a far-right Supreme Court, 10 September 2020

US President Donald Trump recently presented a wish list of nominees for the Supreme Court. It was a clever move to get conservative voters to the polls but was a rather macabre manoeuvre considering that US Supreme Court justices serve lifetime appointments. That means that Trump cannot nominate a candidate until someone currently serving on the bench dies or can otherwise no longer carry on. There has been much speculation to that end regarding Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. At 87, she is the eldest of the high court's judges. Appointed by the Democrat Bill Clinton in 1993, the liberal feminist is a thorn in the side of Trump and his Republican supporters. This summer, Ginsburg once again underwent chemotherapy. She emphasized, however, that she had no intention of stepping down from the bench. Click here to read...

Perspective
'Scared Majority': Is There a Chance for Donald Trump to Win? 10 September 2020

Trump’s electoral stance is not as disastrous as the Democrats say, but overall, it is indeed weaker than it was four years ago. In addition, today his opponents treat him with great attention and seriousness, and direct more resources and energy to ensuring that he doesn’t get a second term in office. Click here to read...

II. Europe

Politics and Society
Lukashenko banned from Baltics after 'massive electoral fraud' and 'human rights breach', 1 September 2020

Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are the first countries to impose sanctions on Belarus following the crackdown on opposition forces that followed the presidential election of August 9. The three Baltic nations have banned 30 Belarusian officials from entering, including president Alexander Lukashenko. Click here to read...

Commission adopts proposal to make EU-U.S. agreement on tariffs effective, 8 September 2020

The European Commission has published a proposal for a Council and European Parliament regulation to scrap duties on certain imports to the EU. In return, the United States will reduce its duties on certain EU exports to the U.S. market. This will put into effect the agreement announced by the EU and the U.S. on 21 August 2020. These tariff reductions between the EU and the U.S. will increase access to both EU and U.S. markets by around €200 million per year. The list includes prepared meals, crystal glassware, surface preparations, propellant powders, lighters and lighter parts. On its side, the EU will eliminate tariffs on imports of U.S. live and frozen lobster products. U.S. exports of these products to the EU are worth some $111 million. Both sides will eliminate those tariffs on a most-favoured nation (MFN) basis, i.e. for any partner, in line with the existing multilateral commitments. Click here to read...

The Czech Republic Is Caught in a Nuclear Tug of War, 8 September 2020

Competition among China, Russia, and the West is taking the form of a battle to build reactors in Eastern Europe. Click here to read...

EU Makes Latvia’s Dombrovskis Trade Chief to Deal with U.S., 8 September 2020

Valdis Dombrovskis, one of the European Union’s top economic policy makers, will become EU trade chief in a leadership reshuffle prompted by the resignation last month of Phil Hogan. The appointment of Dombrovskis as European trade commissioner on Tuesday highlights the EU’s determination to scale back transatlantic tariff wars, curb market-distorting Chinese practices and uphold the global commercial order amid stronger protectionist trends. Click here to read...

France hosts Med leaders for summit on Turkey tensions, 10 September 2020

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (10 September) hosts leaders from Mediterranean states for a summit set to be dominated by growing tensions between Turkey and EU states in the east of the sea. The Euro Med 7 is an informal group of seven EU Mediterranean states, sometimes dubbed “Club Med”, that held its first summit in 2016 and notably does not include Turkey. But the meeting on the French island of Corsica will bring together leaders of France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain with eastern Mediterranean EU members Greece and Cyprus. France has strongly backed Greece and Cyprus in a growing standoff with Turkey over hydrocarbon resources and naval influence in the eastern Mediterranean that has sparked fears of conflict. Click here to read...

Brexit: EU ultimatum to UK over withdrawal deal changes, 10 September 2020

The EU is demanding the UK ditches plans to change Boris Johnson's Brexit deal "by the end of the month" or risk jeopardising trade talks. The UK has published a bill to rewrite parts of the withdrawal agreement it signed in January. The EU said this had "seriously damaged trust" and it would not be "shy" of taking legal action against the UK. But cabinet minister Michael Gove said the UK had made it "perfectly clear" it would not withdraw the bill. Click here to read...

Nord Stream 2: Poland urges Germany to drop Russia's gas pipeline project

Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told public radio on Wednesday that Germany must stop construction of the Nord Stream 2 project. "It strengthens Russia's power, helps President Putin to build a military power, helps to intimidate other nations," he said. Only a day earlier, Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski said it was good some German politicians seem to have had a "wake-up call," adding it was regrettable that "it required such a dreadful incident to take place," referring to the confirmed poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Click here to read...

Belarus: Declaration by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union on the escalation of violence and intimidation against members of the Coordination Council, 11 September 2020

“The European Union deplores the increasingly open disregard for the rule of law in Belarus, in particular the escalation of violence and forced exile of members of the Coordination Council, in violation of Belarus’ domestic laws and its international obligations…the EU reiterates its determination to impose sanctions on individuals responsible for violence, the repression of peaceful protests and the falsification of election results and is ready to take further restrictive measures as necessary.” Click here to read...

Health and Environment
Drug makers ask EU to loosen rules for COVID-19 vaccine, 3 September 2020

Some of Europe's biggest pharmaceutical companies are asking the EU for a "one-time pass" on rules requiring medications to be labelled in over 20 European languages. Drug makers say it will help them to produce an eventual COVID-19 vaccine faster, bypassing a lengthy process of translating packaging and instructions. Instead, one single language would be chosen for hundreds of millions of doses. Click here to read...

France unveils 'historic' €100 billion stimulus plan to kickstart sick economy, 5 September 2020

The French government has unveiled a €100 billion stimulus package to kickstart its economy hit hard by the global COVID-19 health crisis. The funds are to be divvied up along three major axes:€30 billion for the move to a greener economy; €35 billion to boost companies' competitiveness through a €20 billion reduction in taxes on production and funds to help companies in strategic sectors scale-up and/or relocate;€35 billion for social and territorial cohesion to boost youth employment and training. Click here to read...

Perspective

The Belarusian Protests and the Limits of the EU’s Normative Power, 1 September 2020

The countries of the European Union became among the first in the modern world to pursue a foreign policy based not only (and sometimes not so much) on national and union interests, but on values. At the same time, this reliance of the EU on values was manifested not only in political and doctrinal documents, but was also included in the fundamental legal acts of the EU. In particular, in the Lisbon Treaty, the legal basis of the EU which entered into force in 2009, it was explicitly stated that the EU is pursuing a “value-based policy”. Thus, this approach has become not just a political aspiration, but a legal obligation of the European Union and its institutions. However, with respect to Belarus it is seen that the EU has limited its regulatory power. Click here to read...

Could Navalny’s Poisoning Spell the End for Nord Stream 2? 4 September 2020

The German chancellor is under pressure to scrap a controversial Russian pipeline project after it was revealed that a foe of Russian leader Vladimir Putin was poisoned with Novichok. The Green Party, which is currently second in the polls to Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, called on the chancellor to halt construction of the pipeline, led by the Russian energy behemoth Gazprom, from Russia to Germany, which is almost 95 percent complete, as a way to penalize Moscow. Click here to read...

III. Russia

Politics and Society
India-Russia|Russia-India passing exercise (PASSEX) to take place in Bay of Bengal, 2 September 2020

Indian and Russian Navies will undertake PASSEX or passing exercises in Bay of Bengal from September 4 to 5. The exercises, Indra Navy 2020 were proposed by Russian Navy as “non-contact, at sea only” with the focus being to "maintain the continuity engagements between the two Navies", a source said. Indra Navy 2020 was planned in Russia's Vladivostok but was postponed due to COVID crisisClick here to read...

Putin ready to take joint efforts with China on ensuring global stability, 3 September 2020

The Russian president sent a congratulatory telegram to Chinese leader Xi Jinping on occasion of the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II and victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Putin expressed readiness to carry out joint efforts with China in order to ensure global stability. Click here to read...

Rajnath Singh’s Moscow visit: Russia pledges not to supply arms to Pakistan, 4 September 2020

India and Russia have agreed to increase engagement of their defence industries and to expedite establishment of an AK203 assault rifles factory at Amethi during defence minister Rajnath Singh’s Moscow visit. India’s time-tested partner has also assured it that it will follow a policy of ‘no arms supply to Pakistan’, following India’s request. Click here to read...

Lavrov announced Russia's open position on the Navalny case, 4 September 2020

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow has nothing to hide in the situation with blogger Alexei Navalny, who, according to the FRG, was “poisoned”. This statement was made by the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday, September 4. Click here to read...

India, Russia explore partnership in agri, health, IT, Arctic and connectivity projects, 6 September 2020

India and Russia apart from traditional pillars of partnership are exploring potential areas of cooperation in including agriculture, coking coal, pharma & health sector, digital & IT sectors besides connectivity projects including in the Far East, cooperation in the Arctic, logistics and connectivity. “Our joint efforts towards gradual reduction of trade barriers and forging free trade agreements would have a multiplier effect in this direction,” suggested MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan in his message for India-Russia Young Scholars International Conference 2020. Click here to read...

Russia summons German envoy over Navalny poisoning allegations, 8 September 2020

Germany asserts that the prominent critic of President Vladimir Putin was poisoned while the Russian Foreign Ministry has accused Berlin of "bluffing." G7 ministers have demanded Moscow "urgently" finds the perpetrators. Click here to read...

Meeting with SCO foreign ministers, 9 September 2020

Vladimir Putin held a meeting, via videoconference, with foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states. Transcript available at Click here to read...

India, Russia to ink defence logistics support pact, 9 September 2020

India and Russia are expected to ink a mutual defence logistics support agreement soon with each other during the annual bilateral summit between the two countries that will take place in October or November this year, Russian Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) Roman Babushkin said, adding that Russia has decided not to sell weapons and defence equipment to Pakistan because of Indian “sensitivities and requests”. Click here to read...

Foreign minister S Jaishankar meets Russian counterpart Lavrov on sidelines of SCO, 10 September 2020

Foreign minister S Jaishankar met Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and discussed strategic ties focusing on special and privileged strategic partnership between both the nations. Russian foreign minister Lavrov said that Russia highly appreciates the discussions and looks forward to further developing strategic bilateral ties across all areas including BRICS and UN. Click here to read...

Trans Container transported Rusal products by rail to China 3 times faster than the sea route, 10 September 2020

The Russian railway operator Trans Container, which operates the largest fleet of containers and fitting platforms in Russia, (part of the Delo group) transported Rusal products from Russia to China by train almost three times faster than sea shipment, the operator said. PJSC Trans Container, for the first time organized the dispatch of a train with aluminium alloys produced in Rusal, which passed through the Zabaikalsk overland border crossing to the Central part of China, which, in comparison with transportation by sea, made it possible to reduce the delivery time from 45 to 17 days. Click here to read...

Putin Faces Test of Voters with Poisoned Critic in Hospital, 11 September 2020

With his most prominent critic hit by a near-fatal poisoning that opponents and the West blame on the Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin faces a key test of support in regional elections ahead of a national vote next year. About a third of the electorate is eligible to vote in the ballot that’s being held over three days starting Friday to choose representatives at different levels of government in 83 regions including 18 governors. The contest takes place amid unprecedented anti-government protests in neighbouring Belarus and daily demonstrations since July in Russia’s Far East Khabarovsk region over the arrest of a popular governor from outside the ruling party. Click here to read...

Russia’s Regional Elections, Explained, 11 September 2020

In a year that has seen a global pandemic, weeks of anti-Kremlin protests in the Far East and historically low approval ratings for President Vladimir Putin, the vote is set to be a key test for the country’s pro-Putin ruling party, United Russia. Highlights of the election: regional elections for governors, as well as federal, regional and municipal legislators in 41 out of 85 regions; 22 regions will elect municipal deputies, 18 governors, 11 regional lawmakers and four State Duma deputies; the vote will stretch out across three days between Sept. 11-13 in an effort to prevent crowding and the spread of coronavirus, a system previously used in this summer’s constitutional vote. Election officials have also allowed remote voting for two State Duma seats in the Kursk and Yaroslavl regions. Click here to read...

Pro-Kremlin regional heads leading in Russian elections, Navalny allies & far-right win city council seats in Siberia & Tambov, 14 September 2020

Sitting governors backed by President Putin’s United Russia party have received the majority of votes in weekend elections across the country. There were gains for allies of Alexey Navalny on two Siberian city councils. United Russia, the nation’s biggest party secured a majority in 11 regional parliaments and in legislative assemblies in dozens of cities. However, it lost to the far-right Rodina (Motherland) party in the city council elections in the central Russian city of Tambov, and lost its majority in the legislative assemblies in the Siberian cities of Novosibirsk and Tomsk. Click here to read...

Putin pledges a $1.5 billion loan while meeting Lukashenko in Sochi, 14 September 2020

The Kremlin reaffirmed its backing of President Alexander Lukashenko as the leaders of Russia and Belarus met in Russian resort of Sochi on Monday. Putin said Moscow will grant a loan worth $1.5 billion (€1.26 billion) to the neighbouring state. He also backed Lukashenko's initiative to reform the Belarusian constitution, which Lukashenko has launched while facing a large-scale protest movement. Putin described Lukashenko's initiative as "logical, timely, appropriate." Click here to read...

Putin, Macron discuss Libyan issues, 14 September 2020

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone conversation discussed settlement in Libya. The necessity was emphasized of a further joint effort to implement the decisions of the Berlin Conference (January 2020) fixed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2510. Click here to read...

Health and Economy
Results of Sputnik V vaccine trials published in The Lancet, 5 September 2020

The Lancet has published the results of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials of the Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, developed by the Gamaleya Institute. “The research being published in The Lancet proves the high level of safety and efficacy of the Russian vaccine and provides detailed information on the results of the clinical studies," the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund said in a joint statement. Click here to read...

Russia’s Economy Doing Better in Pandemic Than Many Feared, 8 September 2020

Russia’s economy is coming through the pandemic better than most other big emerging markets. Analysts say the outlook could yet improve. The economy is expected to contract by less than 4% in 2020, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said, an improvement on previous assessments and a positive sign for an economy bruised by low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemicClick here to read...

Clinical tests of Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine kick off in Belarus, 15 September 2020

Clinical tests of the Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine have been launched in Belarus, the country’s acting Health Minister Dmitry Pinevich said. According to BelTA, the tests will be coordinated by the Belarusian Center for Tests in Public Health. Click here to read...

Perspective
The Crisis in Belarus and Its International Dimension, 7 September 2020

The historical advantage of the Belarusian authorities has been the desire to keep the political initiative. However, a major mistake was made during the election campaign the initiative was misused. The ideology of a besieged fortress was chosen again, this time besieged allegedly by Russia. Click here to read...

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