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

Nuclear security:

• No significant developments.

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• North Korea is planning to test a missile that its officials said could be capable of reaching the U.S. West Coast, according to two Russian legislators who returned from a visit to Pyongyang this week. (Bloomberg, 10.06.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said threats like U.S. President Donald Trump’s to “totally destroy” North Korea if it strikes at the U.S. are leading to a “very dangerous dead end.” “Those who try to speak to North Korea from a position of strength only shore up the North Korean regime,” Putin said, an argument he says he’d made in discussions with Trump. “It’s his first presidential term, he’s still building up experience on that. But I think he took the arguments on board, he heard them,” he said. Trump has told his secretary of state that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17, RFE/RL, 10.01.17)
• Russia is quietly boosting economic support for North Korea to try to stymie any U.S.-led push to oust Kim Jong Un. A Russian company began routing North Korean internet traffic this month; bilateral trade more than doubled to $31.4 million in the first quarter of 2017; and at least eight North Korean ships that left Russia with fuel cargoes this year returned home despite officially declaring other destinations. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 4 that around 40,000 North Korean citizens were currently working in Russia. (Reuters, 10.04.17, Reuters, 10.04.17)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Oct. 6 he hoped U.S. President Donald Trump would make a “balanced” decision regarding the Iran nuclear agreement. Trump is expected to announce that he will decertify JCPOA, which potentially could cause the accord to unravel.  At a photo opportunity with officials following a meeting on Iran and North Korea, Trump addressed the reporters present, saying, "You guys know what this represents? Maybe it's the calm before the storm." (Reuters, 10.06.17, RFE/RL, 10.06.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Iranian side is complying with the agreement curbing its nuclear activities and that Russia will continue to defend the pact as the U.S. threatens to walk away from it. “We are very much respectful of the national interests of Iran,” Putin said. (Financial Times, 10.04.17, Bloomberg, 10.04.17)
• U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said the United States should remain a party to the Iran nuclear deal unless it's proven that Tehran is not abiding by the deal or that it's not in the U.S. national interest to do so. (RFE/RL, 10.03.17)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• The Zapad-2017 military exercises revealed significant strides in Russia’s ability to conduct complex, large-scale operations using drones and other new technology that would be part of any all-out war with the United States in Europe. According to the Defense Intelligence Agency, ''Russia's forces are becoming more mobile, more balanced and capable of conducting the full range of modern warfare.'' Russia has denied allegations by Ukrainian military chief Viktor Muzhenko that it left troops behind in Belarus after staging the West military exercises there. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg also said the Western alliance is assessing whether Russia has pulled out all the troops it sent to Belarus. (New York Times, 10.01.17, RFE/RL, 10.01.17, RFE/RL, 10.05.17)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

• According to the latest New START published by the U.S. State Department, the United States is now technically in compliance with the treaty. In the last year, Russia has reduced its deployed strategic warheads by 235 and is now only 11 warheads above the treaty limit of 1,550 warheads to be achieved by February 2018. Russia is already below the treaty limit on deployed launchers as well as deployed and non-deployed launchers. (Federation of American Scientists, 10.02.17)

Counter-terrorism:

• Russian and U.S. security agencies and intelligence chiefs are still in contact with each other, primarily those involving the CIA, Russian Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov said. He said that representatives of the FBI and CIA “at the level of heads of directorates” were present at the Oct. 5 meeting of the chiefs of special services, security agencies, and law-enforcement authorities, including partners of the FSB, in Krasnodar. He also said he maintains contacts with CIA Director Mike Pompeo who reportedly visited Moscow and held talks with Russian intelligence officials in May. (Interfax, 10.06.17, Newsweek, 08.25.17, TASS, 10.05.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 4 that ties with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration were not without problems, but he hoped that the mutual interests of both countries in fighting terrorism would help improve the relationship. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) says it has detained members of an Islamic State sleeper cell outside Moscow and foiled a series of terrorist attacks. The men were from Russia’s majority-Muslim North Caucasus, and reported to IS members based abroad. (AP, 10.02.17)
• Four Russians currently abroad are responsible for a recent wave of false bomb threats, according to the FSB. (The Moscow Times, 10.06.17)

Conflict in Syria:

• Violence in eastern Syria has escalated significantly in recent weeks as Syrian troops with the help of Russian air cover are closing in on Mayadeen, a new Islamic State stronghold after IS came under attacks in the cities of Raqqa and Deir el-Zour. The Russian Defense Ministry says its submarines have fired 10 cruise missiles at Islamic State positions outside of Mayadeen. (AP, 10.06.17, AP, 10.05.17)
• Moscow blamed the al-Qaida-linked Levant Liberation Committee for attacking Russian military police last month. Seven of the group’s commanders and 49 militants were killed in airstrikes in the Idlib province on Oct. 4. The Russian military reported that its airstrikes critically wounded the group’s leader on Oct. 3. On October 3 Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russian airstrike killed 304 Islamic State militants on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River, including nearly 40 militants from the North Caucasus. Among the militants killed were seven IS commanders, including a Kazakh militant by the nom de guerre of Abu Islam al-Qazaqiit. (AP, 10.05.17, TASS, 10.03.17, RFE/RL, 10.03.17, TASS, 09.30.17)
• Military jets believed to be Russian killed at least 60 civilians trying to flee heavy fighting in Syria’s oil rich Deir el-Zour province as they sought to cross the Euphrates River, opposition activists, former residents and a war monitor said late on Oct. 4. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• A Russian Defense Ministry spokesman said on Oct. 4 that a series of attacks launched by Islamic State on Syrian government forces had come from an area near the border with Jordan where a U.S. military mission was located. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• Information about two Russian fighters captured in Syria suggests that the same proxy forces that fight the Kremlin's wars abroad may also harass members of the Russian political opposition at home. Roman Tsurkanu had gone to fight in Syria with the private military company Wagner. The other captured Russian, Roman Zabolotny, who has allegedly been killed by IS, belonged to a pro-Kremlin Cossack paramilitary group that has also fought in eastern Ukraine. Zabalotny was photographed during a "blockade" of supporters of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny in April. Rostov-on-Don municipal assembly deputy Anatoly Kotlyarov told Dozhd TV that he had learned of Zabolotny’s death from a source “directly connected” to him. (The Washington Post, 10.05.17, The Moscow Times, 10.05.17)
• Hundreds of Russian servicemen on Oct. 3 attended the funeral of Col. Valery Fedyanin, commander of the 61st marine brigade of the Russian Northern Fleet. He died following a fatal injury in Syria. (Reuters, 10.03.17)
• The Turkish army is amassing tanks and commandos ahead of a joint mission with Russia and Iran to monitor a ceasefire agreement and pacify a rebel stronghold in northwest Syria. The military buildup has gained impetus since the three countries agreed to establish a combat-free zone in the Syria’s Idlib. (Bloomberg, 10.06.17)
• Moscow expects the international community to help de-mine Syria and contribute humanitarian assistance to Syrian civilians under the aegis of the U.N., Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (Interfax, 10.03.17)
• A member of an international terrorist organization deployed to Kyrgyzstan from Syria for the purpose of subversive activity has been taken into custody. (Interfax, 10.03.17)
• Idlib-based jamaat Ajnad al-Kavkaz announced on Oct. 1 that they were suspending military operations “until other groups determine their strategy in the Syrian jihad.” (From Chechnya to Syria, 10.05.17)

Cyber security:

• Hackers working for the Kremlin stole details of how the U.S. penetrates foreign computer networks and defends against cyberattacks after a National Security Agency contractor put the highly classified information on his home computer. The hackers identified the files through the contractor’s use of Kaspersky Lab antivirus software. The contractor, a Vietnam-born U.S. citizen, worked in the NSA’s elite hacking division. Russian software developer Kaspersky Lab said Oct. 6 it had become a "pawn in a geopolitical conflict" between Russia and the U.S. (Wall Street Journal, 10.05.17, The Washington Post, 10.06.17, Wall Street Journal, 10.06.17)
• Russia has opened a new battlefront with NATO by exploiting allied soldiers’ smartphones. NATO troops, officers and government officials said Russia has carried out a campaign to compromise soldiers' smartphones in order to gain operational information, gauge troop strength and intimidate soldiers. Russia is also suspected of interrupting the mobile network along Latvia’s western coast for seven hours on Aug. 30, in an apparent test of its cyberattack tools, Western officials said. (Wall Street Journal, 10.04.17, Reuters, 10.05.17)
• Hewlett Packard Enterprise allowed a Russian defense agency to review the inner workings of cyber defense software used by the Pentagon to guard its computer networks. (Reuters, 10.02.17)
• U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden wants to know how well the country’s top six voting machine manufacturers protect themselves against cyberattacks, just weeks after federal authorities notified 21 states that they had been targeted by Russian government hackers during the 2016 presidential election. (AP, 10.03.17)
• Russia's Defense Ministry has drafted legislation to ban social media posts by professional military personnel on security grounds. (RFE/RL, 10.04.17)
• EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said ahead of the Oct. 2 inauguration of the new European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats in Helsinki that the EU “could not take the issue of hybrid threats more seriously.” (RFE/RL, 10.02.17)
• Spain’s National Court has decided to extradite suspected Russian hacker Pyotr Levashov to the United States. (AP, 10.03.17)
• A Greek court ruled Oct. 4 to extradite Russian cybercrime suspect Alexander Vinnik to the United States, where he is wanted in connection with a $4 billion bitcoin fraud case. (AP, 10.04.17)
• Verizon Communications, which acquired Yahoo this year, said on Oct. 3 that a previously disclosed attack that had occurred in 2013 affected all three billion of Yahoo's user accounts. (New York Times, 10.04.17)

Elections interference:

• Leaders of the Senate intelligence committee said Oct. 4 that roughly nine months into their investigation they have not determined if Russia coordinated with the Trump campaign to influence the 2016 presidential election. “The issue of collusion is still open,” said Republican committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr, who along with the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner, provided the first major update on the investigation. "We trust the conclusions" Burr said in reference to DNI’s Jan. 6 assessment, though he added that the committee had not yet closed its consideration of the matter. Warner said there’s a “large consensus” that Russians hacked into political files and released that information in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential election. Warner said that the Russian intelligence service activities did not end with the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8, 2016, and that similar acts continued ahead of political elections in Montenegro, Belgium, France and Germany. (RFE/RL, 10.04.17, AP, 10.04.17, AP, 10.05.17, Bloomberg, 10.04.17) 
• U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the Senate intelligence committee over its investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. Trump tweeted Oct. 5: “Why Isn’t the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!” (AP, 10.05.17)
• This week Facebook turned over to Congress 3,000 ads purchased by Russia-linked groups designed to disrupt the 2016 U.S. election. One of these Facebook groups was called United Muslims of America, another page said it spoke for a group called LGBT United, while still another called Secure Borders took aim at immigrants. At least one ad purported to speak for Black Lives Matter. The broad range of issues addressed in the ads is prompting some members of the House and Senate intelligence panels to conclude that Russia was aiming more to sow distrust among Americans than to help a particular candidate. Russia-financed Facebook ads show that Democratic strongholds like California, New York and Maryland were targeted along with the battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.  Sen. Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate intelligence committee, says that the panel won’t publicly release the contents of the ads. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17, Bloomberg, 10.05.17, AP, 10.04.17)
• Facebook said ads bought by Russian operatives reached 10 million users. For six of the Russian-bought accounts that have been made public—Blacktivists, United Muslims of America, Being Patriotic, Heart of Texas, Secured Borders and LGBT United—social media analyst Jonathan Albright found that the content had been “shared” 340 million times. (The Washington Post, 10.05.17)
• Facebook said it planned to hire 1,000 moderators to review ads on the social media platform following the congressional investigation into Russian election interference. (The Moscow Times, 10.03.17)
• Facebook cut references to Russia from a public report in April about manipulation of its platform around the presidential election because of concerns among the company's lawyers and members of its policy team. (Wall Street Journal, 10.05.17)
• Russian operatives set up an array of misleading web sites and social media pages to identify American voters susceptible to propaganda, then used a powerful Facebook tool to repeatedly send them messages designed to influence their political behavior. The conclusions of investigators fit those of several independent researchers, who say that the Russian disinformation campaign exploited the advertising and tracking technologies Silicon Valley has honed over a decade to serve corporate America—and that are widely available, with few if any restrictions, to political actors in the United States and abroad. (The Washington Post, 10.02.17)
• The House intelligence committee is asking officials from Facebook, Twitter and Google to testify publicly as part of its Russia probe on Nov. 1, the same day as a planned Senate intelligence hearing. Facebook has accepted both intelligence committees’ invitations to testify, but is unlikely to send its top two executives, Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg. Twitter has also agreed to appear before the Senate intelligence committee. (Bloomberg, 10.05.17, Bloomberg, 10.05.17, AP, 10.04.17)
• Google says it is digging into its vaults for evidence of Russian meddling in the 2016 election (AP, 09.30.17)
• U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, said he plans to introduce legislation that would make political advertising on social media more transparent. (Wall Street Journal, 10.04.17)
• U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff said on Oct. 2 he intended to make a “representative sampling” of Facebook political ads believed to have been purchased by Russia available to the public later this month and that he hoped to make them all public eventually. (Reuters, 10.02.17)
• Two former heads of the CIA, Michael Hayden and Michael Morell, said Russia probably didn’t have the ability to microtarget U.S. voters and districts in the 2016 presidential campaign on its own, meaning some sort of assistance would have been necessary. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17)
• Both special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and the Senate intelligence committee are seeking any evidence that former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort or others who had financial dealings with Russia might have helped Kremlin intelligence agencies target email hacking and social media postings undermining Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher met with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya during an April 2016 trip to Moscow. (Foreign Policy, 10.03.17)
• Emails turned over to investigators between former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and Ukrainian consultant Konstantin Kliminik reveal efforts to impress Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Manafort asked Kliminik if Deripaska had seen media coverage of his role in the campaign and if this could be leveraged or to make up for Manafort’s past bungled investment for Deripaska. Deripaska’s representatives denied that Manafort owed him any money or that they had any contact before or during the 2016 presidential campaign. (The Moscow Times, 10.03.17)
• Documents turned over to federal investigators by associates of U.S. President Donald Trump and his company reveal two previously unreported Russia contacts. In June 2016, Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and business associate Felix Sater exchanged emails about Cohen possibly traveling to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Additionally, in late 2015, Cohen received a proposal for a Moscow residential project from a company founded by Russian billionaire Sergei Gordeev. In an Oct. 2 statement, Cohen stressed that he did not attend the economic forum. "I did not accept this invitation," he said. "I have never been to Russia." (The Washington Post, 10.02.17)
• The special counsel investigating Russia’s alleged election interference has taken over FBI inquiries into a former British spy’s dossier of alleged links between Russia and U.S. President Donald Trump and his associates. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have met with MI6 officer Christopher Steele to discuss his dossier. (Reuters, 10.04.17, The Moscow Times, 10.06.17)
• Alexander Bortnikov, the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), the main KGB successor agency, said Thursday that he discussed claims of Russian meddling in the U.S. presidential vote with John Brennan when he led the CIA.Bortnikov reaffirmed that "Russia has never interfered and won't interfere in sovereign nations' affairs." (AP, 10.05.17)
• Three Russian investors accused of trying to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential elections in a controversial intelligence dossier are suing the investigation firm Fusion GPS for libel. Co-founders of Russia’s Alfa Bank Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan claimed that unverified information in the so-called “Trump dossier” was slanderous. (The Moscow Times, 10.05.17)
• Acting as special counsel Robert Mueller’s top legal counsel, Michael Dreeben has been researching past pardons and determining what, if any, limits exist, according to a person familiar with the matter. (Bloomberg, 10.03.17)
• John Demers, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Justice Department’s national security division, promised on Oct. 4 to support special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• The U.S. government should have anticipated Russia's efforts to meddle in the 2016 elections—but the FBI is nevertheless working to make sure Russia "pays" for its actions. "The fact is, the Russians have been targeting us with everything they have over the last 50 years," FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe said. "We sort of should have seen this coming." (CNN, 10.05.17)
• Top Hillary Clinton adviser Jake Sullivan met privately Oct. 3 with several House intelligence committee members to discuss how the Clinton campaign came to suspect—and then allege—Russian meddling amid the election. (Bloomberg, 10.03.17)
• As Canadian lawmakers took up legislation on Oct. 4 that would bar businesses from dealing with foreigners who have committed human rights abuses, a nonprofit group called the Russian Congress of Canada pushed hard against the measure. The lawmakers say the effort was part of a broader lobbying campaign orchestrated by Russia against such laws, including one in the United States. Canadian human rights advocates say they were also singled out. (New York Times, 10.04.17)

Energy exports from CIS:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia is open to extending a deal with OPEC to curb oil supplies to the end of 2018, though he’ll wait to make a decision until nearer the expiry of the existing pact in March. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17)
• There is no immediate need to talk about additional oil output cuts as part of a global deal between OPEC and non-OPEC nations, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said. (Reuters, 10.03.17)
• Russia’s production of hard-to-recover oil will rise by about 5.4% this year to 39 million tons, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Kirill Molodtsov said. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• Russian gas exports to Europe and Turkey increased by 11.3% year-on-year to 141.2 billion cubic meters in January-September, gas giant Gazprom said. (Reuters, 10.02.17)
• Transit via Ukraine's gas transport system rose 23.4% year-on-year in January-September to 70.357 billion cubic meters of natural gas. (Interfax, 10.02.17)

Bilateral economic ties:

• No significant developments.

Other bilateral issues:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Oct. 4 that relations with America had ''become hostage to the internal political situation in the U.S.,'' but that his country had ''many friends'' in the United States who can help improve relations between the two nations when the political tensions in America settle down. Putin praised U.S. President Donald Trump as someone with a strong character who will “never be anybody’s hostage,” but said the relationship between Russia and the U.S. has been poisoned by a domestic political fight in America. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17, New York Times, 10.05.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin offered newly accredited U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman condolences on Oct. 3 over the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas. Putin also told Huntsman he hoped Washington would follow a policy of "noninterference" in the country's domestic affairs, amid the ongoing controversy over alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Huntsman presented his diplomatic credentials to Putin at a ceremony Oct. 3 in the Kremlin. (Wall Street Journal, 10.03.17, The Moscow Times, 10.03.17, AP, 10.03.17)
• Moscow has threatened retaliation following the U.S. seizure of a Russian consulate building in San Francisco, a month after its diplomats were ousted from the property. U.S. State Department officials searched the Russian general consulate in San Francisco on Oct. 2. (The Moscow Times, 10.03.17)
• As the U.S.-Russia diplomatic dispute over embassy staff and buildings heats up, it’s likely the tit-for-tat retaliations could continue. What’s at stake are personnel, properties, and parking. Russian officials have 11 parking spots in Washington, D.C. (Foreign Policy, 10.04.17)
• Moscow could respond quid pro quo if Washington restricts operations of Russian news outlets in the United States. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Oct. 6 that Russia’s state-funded RT television network and Sputnik news agency had come under “unprecedented pressure” in the U.S. RT said it faces a U.S. demand to register as a foreign agent. RT’s editor-in-chief said Oct. 5 that “masses” of their employees in the United States were quitting their jobs because they “fear for their security.” (AP, 10.06.17, The Moscow Times, 10.06.17)
• Google recently removed RT from a package of premium YouTube video inventory that the company sells to advertisers. (Bloomberg, 10.03.17)
• U.S. Sen. John McCain and Sen. Ben Cardin are warning U.S. President Donald Trump to enforce the Russia sanctions that Congress recently passed into law over Trump's objections. A letter by the senators released Sept. 29 said Congress would conduct "vigorous oversight" of the law, which cements in place existing sanctions, adds new ones, and makes it harder for Trump to lift them unilaterally. (RFE/RL , 09.29.17)
•  The “anti-Russian” mood gripping the U.S. is likely to dash any hopes of a breakthrough in relations under U.S. President Donald Trump for at least another year, according to Russia’s former ambassador to the U.S., Sergei Kislyak. (Bloomberg, 10.05.17)
• A court in St. Petersburg has fined a police officer for concealing his U.S. citizenship. (The Moscow Times, 10.02.17)
• Russian woman Svetlana Travis Zakharova accused of blackmailing former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer won’t have to face trial on the allegations. (AP, 10.02.17)
• The CIA has released newly declassified documents showing that U.S. intelligence agencies were aware of Russia's impending launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite. (RFE/RL, 10.05.17)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has now served as Russia’s supreme leader longer than anyone since Joseph Stalin. With 17 years in office and counting, Putin last month surpassed the record of Leonid Brezhnev. Putin turns 65 on Oct. 7. Putin said on Oct. 4 he had not yet decided whether he would run for re-election in March 2018, something he is widely expected to do. (The Washington Post, 10.06.17, Bloomberg, 10.06.17, Reuters, 10.04.17)
• Russia’s GDP will grow by 0.83% in case of a one degree Celsius increase in temperatures, a new International Monetary Fund study finds. (Intellnews.com/Moscow Times, 10.03.17)
• Russia’s index of consumer prices that strips out volatile components such as food and energy slowed to an annual 2.6% in September from 3% a month earlier. In the U.K., it jumped to 2.7% in August and hasn’t risen above 3.7% over the past two decades. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17)
• Russia has taken over from India as the largest overweight position for emerging market equity funds. (Financial Times, 10.03.17)
• Russia ranked 38th on the list of 137 countries rated in the World Economic Forum’s 2017-18 Global Competitiveness Report, while Kazakhstan was the next Eurasian Economic Union country at 57 on the Global Competitiveness Index. (RFE/RL, 10.02.17)
• Investment in Russia's commercial real estate market declined by 70% to $532 million during the third quarter of 2017 compared to the same period in 2016. (RBC, 10.05.17)
• In the second quarter of 2017, the number of bankruptcies declared by legal entities in Russia grew for the third consecutive quarter. Some 336 more companies collapsed in the second quarter of this year than closed in the same period a year earlier—the highest level since 2007. (The Moscow Times, 10.03.17)
• Russia plans to put into operation a nuclear icebreaker "capable of piercing ice of any thickness,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said. (World Nuclear News, 10.05.17)
• Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom now says it will fuel its first floating nuclear power plant by October 2018, after it is towed to the Atomflot icebreaker port in Murmansk in May 2018. (World Nuclear News, 10.04.17)
• Russia's Federal Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety, Rosenergoatom and Mayak Production Association have completed the "hot tests" for TUK-141O casks for the transportation of used nuclear fuel. (World Nuclear News, 10.02.17)
• Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 20 days in jail on Oct. 2 for repeatedly violating Russian anti-protest laws. Navalny has called on Russians nationwide to protest on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 65th birthday on Oct. 7, despite a Kremlin warning that organizers of unsanctioned public gatherings will face prosecution. (The Moscow Times, 10.03.17, RFE/RL, 10.05.17)
• Russia’s Supreme Court has refused to overturn the conviction of Yaroslav Belousov who participated in mass anti-Kremlin protests in 2012, flouting a ruling from Europe’s top human rights court. (The Moscow Times, 10.04.17)
• Russian authorities on Oct. 5 raided the homes of opposition activists working for exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s Open Russia, the pro-democracy organization said. (The Moscow Times, 10.05.17)

Defense and aerospace:

• The launch of the Yars ICBM in September tested parallel deployment of warheads. (Russianforces.org, 10.04.17)
• Officials in far east Russia say a soldier who opened fire at other servicemen during drills has been tracked down and killed. (AP, 09.30.17).

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• No significant developments.

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• King Salman of Saudi Arabia arrived in Russia on Oct. 4 for a four-day state visit. Calling Russia a “friendly” country, the king told Putin that their talks will boost the global economy as well as aid international stability and security. Salman also demanded that Iran stop interfering in the internal affairs of other Middle East nations and destabilizing the region, and he called for a political settlement in Syria. He also said he was in agreement with Russia’s leadership on broadening the scope of relations. Putin, who accepted the king’s invitation to visit Saudi Arabia, told Salman that the summit is a “landmark event” that will give a “good impetus” to bilateral relations. (Bloomberg, 10.05.17, Reuters, 10.05.17, Bloomberg, 10.04.17)
  • Saudi Arabia and Russia reaffirmed a pledge to shrink a global oil glut, helping to send crude prices higher by more than $1 a barrel. Cooperation between Russia and Saudi Arabia “breathed life back into OPEC” and made his country more optimistic about the outlook for oil than it has been for several years, Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said after meeting with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak on Oct. 5. (Bloomberg, 10.04.17, Financial Times, 10.05.17)
  • Russia signed contracts to provide advanced S-400 air-defense systems as well as anti-tank weapons and multiple-rocket launchers to the kingdom, Saudi Arabian Military Industries said in an Oct. 5 statement. (Bloomberg, 10.05.17)
  • The Russian Direct Investment Fund and Saudis agreed to invest more than $1 billion in Russian projects across a range of sectors, including petrochemicals, power, logistics and transportation infrastructure. (Wall Street Journal, 10.06.17)
• Hungary's foreign minister of said that European Union sanctions placed on Russia aren't hurting Putin's regime. (CNBC, 10.04.17)
• The Russian energy and aluminum company EN+ plans to raise $1.5 billion in an initial public offering in London and Moscow. The listing would be one of the largest by a Russian company since the Kremlin drew sanctions and international condemnation by annexing Crimea in 2014. (New York Times, 10.05.17)
• Putin said on Oct. 4 that Russia was exercising a policy of non-interference and using cautious rhetoric after the independence referendum in Iraq’s Kurdistan in order not to explode the situation in the region. (Reuters, 10.03.17)
• Putin told Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro during a visit to Moscow that Russia would continue its economic cooperation with Venezuela, including on major projects. (Reuters, 10.04.17)
• Russia on Oct. 2 started delivering six MiG-29 fighter jets to Serbia, part of Moscow’s promised military hardware that could worsen tensions in the war-weary Balkans. (AP, 10.02.17)
• Putin said Moscow backs the idea of U.N. reform and its adaptation to modern-day demands, but these should be quality changes. (TASS, 10.03.17)
• Defense Secretary James Mattis said Oct. 3 that he wants to see more evidence on how deep Russia’s support for the Taliban is because what he’s seen “doesn’t make sense.” (The Hill, 10.03.17)

China:

• While there’s a risk oil may slide below $30 as it’s displaced by alternative energy sources, it will still be used to make petrochemicals, said the head of the enigmatic Chinese company that bought a $9 billion stake in Rosneft Oil Co. (Bloomberg, 10.02.17)

Ukraine:

• The Ukrainian parliament has passed hotly-disputed bills regarding the rebel-controlled eastern territories, despite opponents’ concerns that the bills don’t assert Ukraine’s control of the eastern territories strongly enough. The bills refer to elements of the 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany. (AP, 10.06.17)
• The Armed Forces of Ukraine now number 250,000 troops, the maximum stipulated by law, a top Ukrainian military leader said. (Interfax, 10.03.17)
• Nine Ukrainian battalions are currently interoperable with NATO forces, Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko said. (Interfax, 09.30.17)
• The United States will provide $5 million to Ukraine to strengthen cyber security. (Interfax, 10.02.17)
• Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in eastern Ukraine, said he will meet with Kremlin aide Vladislav Surkov on Oct. 7 in Belgrade. (RFE/RL, 10.05.17)
• All of the recent blasts at ammunition depots in Ukraine resulted from acts of sabotage, although this was facilitated by negligence on the part of officials, Ukraine’s prosecutor general said. (Interfax, 09.30.17)
• Russia’s top domestic security agency said one Russian border guard was killed in a shootout with two men who tried to cross into Ukraine.( AP, 10.02.17)
• The European Parliament on Oct. 5 adopted a resolution condemning Russian verdicts against dozens of Crimeans who opposed Moscow's seizure of the peninsula and demanding the release of those who are behind bars. (RFE/RL, 10.05.17)
• The Russian government is hauling thousands of residents into court to confiscate small land holdings distributed free as a campaign ploy in 2010 when Ukraine controlled the Black Sea peninsula. (New York Times, 10.01.17)
• About 1,000 Ukrainians who became victims of human trafficking have been convicted in Russia for drug-related crimes. (Interfax , 10.03.17)
• Ukraine has marked the 76th anniversary of a World War II-era Babi Yar massacre of 33,771 Jews by Nazi troops on the outskirts of occupied Kiev. (RFE/RL, 09.29.17)
• Ukraine has expelled the Russian TV journalist Vyacheslav Nemyshev, whom the country's main security agency accused of delivering "deceitful, anti-Ukrainian" reports from areas in eastern Ukraine that are held by Russia-backed separatists. (RFE/RL, 10.05.17)
• Former Georgian president and leader of the Movement of New Forces political party Mikheil Saakashvili has filed a request for political asylum in Ukraine, his lawyer Markiyan Galabala said. (TASS, 10.03.17)
• While activists in Ukraine welcomed news that Petro Poroshenko on Oct. 4 conceded to their demand to create an anticorruption court, their enthusiasm was curbed knowing that legislation that could hinder investigations is awaiting the president’s signature. (RFE/RL, 10.05.17)
• Ukraine’s parliament has adopted legislation to overhaul the country’s dysfunctional pension system, marking a big and long-delayed step toward deepening reform efforts as part of a $17.5 billion IMF assistance program. Ukraine will tackle the land reform requirements of the aid by using blockchain technology to manage its registry of farmland as its current system is vulnerable to fraud, leading to conflicts over ownership. (Financial Times, 10.03.17, Bloomberg, 10.03.17)
• The World Bank retained its forecast for Ukraine's GDP growth at 2 percent. (Interfax, 10.03.17)
• Ukraine cut coal production 11.5% year-over-year in January-September to 26.15 million tons. (Interfax, 10.03.17)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Kyrgyzstan is reportedly in talks with Moscow about hosting a second Russian military base. (Reuters, 10.02.17)
• Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev on Oct. 2 signed a law demarcating 85 percent of the 1,280-kilometer Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev and Atambaev on Oct. 5 reiterated the two neighboring Central Asian nations’ readiness for closer cooperation. (RFE/RL, 10.02.17, RFE/RL, 10.05.17)
• The Kyrgyz state security service has arrested opposition lawmaker Kanatbek Isayev on accusations of planning rioting before and after the country's upcoming presidential election. (RFE/RL, 09.30.17)
• Putin met the president of Turkmenistan on a rare visit to the gas-rich Central Asian nation. Putin arrived in the capital, Ashgabat, on Oct. 2 for talks expected to focus on the energy ties between the two former Soviet republics. (AP, 10.02.17)
• Uzbekistan’s Foreign Ministry said 19 citizens of the ex-Soviet nation were killed when a train slammed into a bus carrying them near Moscow. (AP, 10.06.17)
• Azerbaijani authorities said they arrested more than 80 people last month who offered "sexual services," following reports by international rights groups that the government had rounded up dozens of members of the country's gay community. (RFE/RL, 10.02.17)
• The European Commission warned on Oct. 3 that it will "closely monitor" the implementation of Moldova’s controversial new electoral law. The bill introducing a mixed electoral system was approved by lawmakers and signed into law by President Igor Dodon in July despite mass protests in Chisinau and criticism from the EU and the United States. (RFE/RL, 10.03.17)
• More than 30,000 tech specialists now work in Minsk, a city of about two million, many of them creating mobile apps that are used by more than a billion people in 193 countries, according to the local government. (New York Times, 10.06.17)

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments.