This Week’s Highlights:

• The Kremlin says Putin could hold talks with Trump at three events in November: at a WWI event on Nov. 11 in France, at the East Asian summit in Singapore on Nov. 11-15 and at the G20 summit in Argentina on Nov. 30, but U.S. sources report Trump will be skipping the East Asian summit. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in September to reach an understanding with Moscow before the deadline for the second round of sanctions against Russia for the Skripal poisonings kicks in, The Washington Post reports.
• The U.S. has told Russia it is ready to take strong military action against Syria if Assad uses chemical weapons to try to recapture Idlib, reports RFE/RL. Lavrov on Aug. 29 described militants in Idlib as a "festering abscess" that needed to be liquidated, according to Reuters, and Russian newspaper Kommersant reports that Russia is boosting the combat potential of its forces in Syria in anticipation of a possible Western strike on regime forces. According to Kommersant, a battery of Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems has been moved to the Hmeimim air base, and The Moscow Times reports that the Russian navy has dispatched its largest task force to the Mediterranean Sea, where Russia will launch major naval maneuvers later this week.
• “What is his name? Bill, could you repeat the last name of our general?” Russian President Boris Yeltsin asked in a June 1999 phone call with his American counterpart Bill Clinton after the U.S. leader expressed dismay over a unilateral move by Russian peacekeepers to establish control over Kosovo’s Pristina airport. Clinton got irritated by Yeltsin’s request. “I don't care who. That is your choice, but I believe your general on the spot in Pristina is Zavarzin,” he said, according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library.
• French President Emmanuel Macron is reaching out to Russia to develop a "strategic partnership," and said he would put forward new proposals for talks with Russia on their security relationship, according to RFE/RL. Macron said he envisions a "revision of the European architecture of defense and security" as a result of "renewed dialogue on cybersecurity, chemical weapons, conventional weaponry, territorial conflicts, space security, the protection of the polar zones—in particular with Russia."
• While there’s nothing “on paper,” Russia and China “are building a de-facto military alliance,” says a China specialist at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics, the Wall Street Journal reports.
• Alexander Zakharchenko, the leader of Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine was reportedly killed on Aug. 31 in a blast at a cafe in Donetsk city.

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

Nuclear security and safety:

• Officials at Russia’s Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant have said they will stop operations at their number one power unit in December in preparation for its eventual decommissioning—only the second such project Russia has ever undertaken. (Bellona, 08.27.18)
• The first unit at the Kola Nuclear Power plant near the Russian port of Murmansk has received the nod from Russian regulators to operate until 2033, making it one of the longest running reactors in the world and raising the worries of environmentalists. (Bellona, 08.29.18)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• Russia is blocking publication of a U.N. report finding North Korea in violation of U.N. sanctions limiting its imports of fuel, including through some illegal transfers of oil at sea involving Russian ships. (RFE/RL, 08.31.18)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• Russia’s then president Boris Yeltsin admitted to U.S. President Bill Clinton in June 1997 that Russian enterprises could have supplied missile parts to Iran, such as warheads and tail sections, according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. (Russia Matters, 08.30.18) 
• The U.N. atomic watchdog says Iran continues to comply with the 2015 nuclear deal, even after the withdrawal of the U.S. (AP, 08.30.18)
• Iran has resumed talks with Russia to build a new nuclear power plant capable of generating up to 3,000 megawatts of electricity, energy minister Reza Ardakanian said on Aug. 25, according to the Tasnim news agency. (Reuters, 08.25.18)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• Boris Yelstin told Bill Clinton during the March 21, 1997 meeting in Helsinki that “[i]t remains a mistake for NATO to move eastward. But … one thing is very important: enlargement should also not embrace the former Soviet republics,” according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. (Russia Matters, 08.30.18)
• Russia accused Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) of intercepting its military aircraft over the Black Sea in a dangerous fashion designed to provoke Moscow after the RAF made two such interceptions in a single week. (Reuters, 08.26.18)
• Bill Clinton told Boris Yelstin in a June 13, 1999 phone conversation that he was not happy with Russian paratroopers on June 11-12 marching to establish control over Kosovo’s Pristina airport, which was not cleared with KFOR’s NATO-led command. “We need to tell our generals on the spot to resolve the airport,” he said. Yeltsin responded by vowing to “find those who initiated this whole thing.” “There is not such a person in the presidency, and we will find the one in the military who initiated this,” Yeltsin said. He then asked Clinton for the names of the NATO and Russian generals on the ground, which happened to be Gen. Michael Jackson and Gen. Viktor Zavarzin, and asked Clinton to spell these names out. “What is his name? Bill, could you repeat the last name of our general?” Yeltsin asked. Clinton got irritated by the request. “I don't care who. That is your choice, but I believe your general on the spot in Pristina is Zavarzin,” he said, according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. (Russia Matters, 08.30.18)

Missile defense:

• Russia’s 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. This appears to be the fifth test of the new interceptor, usually referred to as 53T6M. (Russian strategic nuclear forces, 08.30.18)

Nuclear arms control:

• “I've gone one-on-one with a bear. It was exciting. He was only 20 meters from me. You've got to be a pretty good shot—right for the heart. [Does an imitation of the bear.] I like goose hunting, but not when they're just sitting there on the water—only when they're in the air and it's a real test of skill. Getting START II ratified is nothing compared to that,” former Russian President Boris Yeltsin told former U.S. President Bill Clinton in 1998, according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. (Russia Matters, 08.31.18)

Counter-terrorism:

• Germany has extradited a man from Russia's North Caucasus region back to Russia, where he faces allegations of taking part in terrorist activities in support of a banned Islamic extremist group. Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) did not name the man who was extradited on Aug. 30, saying only that he was born in 1987 in Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria region and that he was wanted for alleged assisting and supporting the Imarat Kavkaz (Caucasus Emirate) group in the North Caucasus and for fighting in Syria alongside militants from the Islamic State. (RFE/RL, 08.31.18)
• A refugee from Uzbekistan who was convicted of supporting a terrorist group was sentenced to 11 years in U.S. prison on Aug. 30, but will receive credit for six years he already has served in custody. A U.S. jury in June found Jamshid Muhtorov guilty of providing $300 and other support to the Islamic Jihad Union, a militant Islamist group opposed to secular rule in Uzbekistan and which has staged attacks there and in Afghanistan. (RFE/RL, 08.31.18)
• A Kazakh friend of Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been released from a U.S. federal prison after serving more than five years for obstruction of justice. Dias Kadyrbaev has been transferred to the custody of federal immigration officials and will be deported back to his native Kazakhstan. (RFE/RL, 08.31.18)
• Boris Yelstin told Bill Clinton in a phone conversation that took place in the wake of Chechnya-based rebels’ incursion into Dagestan in September 1999: “Now, the question of Chechnya and Dagestan. That is like a dessert in our conversation, last but not the least.” Clinton responded: “I do support your efforts to stand up against terrorism in Dagestan and will continue to cooperate with you against terrorism and groups like Osama bin Laden that train these people. I will do everything I can to help you stand against common threats,” according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. During their subsequent meeting on Nov. 19, 1999 in Turkey, Yeltsin complained about rebels trained in Turkey to fight in Chechnya. “Bill, what about those camps here in Turkey that are preparing troops to go into Chechnya? Aren't you in charge of those? I have the details. Minister Ivanov, give me the map. I want to show you where the mercenaries are being trained and then being sent into Chechnya. They are armed to the teeth. Bill, this is your fault.” Clinton responded by suggesting that the Turkish government could help Yeltsin to resolve this issue. (Russia Matters, 08.30.18)

Conflict in Syria:

• After seven years of war, all signs are pointing to a final showdown in Syria. The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, buoyed by support from Russia and Iran, is preparing an offensive against the last rebel enclave: Idlib, a largely rural province that abuts the country's northwestern border with Turkey. (The Washington Post, 08.31.18)
• The U.S. has told Russia it is ready to take strong military action against Syria if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad uses chemical weapons to try to recapture Idlib Bloomberg said White House national security adviser John Bolton at a meeting in Geneva on Aug. 23 told his Russian counterpart, Nikolai Patrushev, that Washington is prepared to respond with greater military force than it has used in the past to punish Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons. However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has not confirmed reports that U Bolton warned Moscow that the U.S. would deliver a strike on Syria should chemical weapons be used there. (Interfax, 08.28.18, RFE/RL, 08.25.18)
• The U.N. called on Russia, Iran and Turkey on Aug. 30 to forestall a battle in Syria's Idlib province which would affect millions of civilians and could see both militants and the government potentially using chlorine as a chemical weapon. (The Moscow Times, 08.30.18)
• U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres joined Western powers in urging Syria not to use chemical weapons again after several previous incidents documented by the U.N. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Aug. 29 described militants in Syria's Idlib as a "festering abscess" that needed to be liquidated. Speaking after talks with Saudi counterpart Adel bin Ahmed al-Jubeir in Moscow, Lavrov said militants were using civilians as a human shield. Lavrov said that there was a political understanding between Turkey and Russia on the need to distinguish between the Syrian opposition and people he described as terrorists in the Idlib province. Lavrov then said on Aug. 31 the Syrian government had every right to chase militants out of Idlib and that talks on establishing humanitarian corridors there were ongoing. (Reuters, 08.29.18, Reuters, 08.31.18)
• The Russian Embassy in Washington says it has warned top U.S. officials not to engage in any "unjustified and illegal act of aggression," in response to recent U.S. warnings that it will retaliate against any new chemical-weapons attacks by the Syrian government. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Russia is boosting the combat potential of its forces in Syria due to the Western coalition's possible military operation against Syrian government forces, Kommersant reported on Aug. 28. In particular, a battery of Tor-M2 anti-aircraft missile systems has been moved to the Hmeimim airbase. Russia has also amassed the biggest naval task force near Syria since the start of Moscow's intervention in the country’s civil war in anticipation of what Moscow says is a possible U.S. strike on regime forces. A total of 10 surface ships and two submarines are on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast, Izvestia cited the Russian Defense Ministry as saying. NATO has called for restraint amid Russia’s reinforcements. (Interfax, 08.28.18, The Moscow Times, 08.29.18, The Moscow Times, 08.28.18)
•  Russia says it will launch major naval maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea later this week, amid growing tensions between Moscow and the West over Syria. The drills will be carried out from Sept. 1 to Sept. 8 and will involve 25 warships, including a missile cruiser and 30 aircraft, the Russian Defense Ministry said on August 30. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Russia suggested a Syrian rebel group was preparing to use chemical weapons amid a looming battle in Syria's Idlib. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov alleged that the al-Qaeda-linked Levant Liberation Committee was preparing an attack in the province. (RFE/RL, 08.28.18)
• Russia has initiated urgent consultations of the U.N. Security Council to discuss the pending chemical attack in Syria's Idlib province; the Security Council was to meet on Aug. 28, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. (Interfax, 08.28.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend a three-way summit in Tehran on Sept. 7 with the leaders of Turkey and Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (Reuters, 08.31.18)
• Chief of Russia’s General Staff Valery Gerasimov has suggested that member-countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) take part in the humanitarian operation in Syria. (TASS, 08.28.18)
• The EU does not believe Syria is safe for refugees to go back to, officials in Brussels said of a Russian push to have people return to the war-torn country and the international community to spend money on rebuilding it. (Reuters, 08.28.18)
• Russian paratroopers air-dropped over 400 platforms with various cargoes during the military operation in Syria, Airborne Force Commander Andrei Serdukov said at a media panel of the Army-2018 international military and technical forum on Aug. 25. (TASS, 08.25.18)

Cyber security:

• Telegram users suspected of terrorism will now have their personal data turned over to the authorities on court orders under the messaging app’s new privacy policy. (The Moscow Times, 08.28.18)
• Russian hackers have reportedly tried to breach the emails of senior Eastern Orthodox Church members for years, amid controversy surrounding the Ukrainian church’s possible move to break away from the Moscow Patriarchate. (The Moscow Times, 08.27.18)

Elections interference:

• Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis has backed off two massive claims he made in recent weeks, including that his client had told people he witnessed U.S. President Donald Trump being informed of Donald Trump Jr.'s 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian lawyer before it happened. He has also admitted he was the source for the initial report on that claim—despite denying it last week. U.S. President Donald Trump attacked CNN on Aug. 29, writing on Twitter that the network had been ''caught in a major lie'' in connection to an article it published in July about claims made by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The article said Cohen was claiming that Trump knew in advance about a now infamous June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower in which Russians were expected to offer damaging information on Hillary Clinton. (The Washington Post, 08.27.18, New York Times, 08.29.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump says the Russia investigation was not a factor, “even a little bit,” in his decision about White House counsel Don McGahn. Trump announced Aug. 29 on Twitter that McGahn will depart in the fall. Word of McGahn’s departure followed a New York Times report earlier this month on McGahn’s extensive cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. (AP, 08.30.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump, who levied extraordinary public attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions in recent weeks, has privately revived the idea of firing him in conversations with his aides and personal lawyers this month, according to three people familiar with the discussions. (The Washington Post, 08.29.18)
• Bruce Ohr, a U.S. Justice Department attorney who has drawn U.S. President Donald Trump's ire, has been grilled for more than seven hours by congressional Republicans over his role in aiding the department's investigation of Russian ties with Trump's 2016 election campaign. Ohr was questioned behind closed doors on Aug. 28 by two Republican-led committees of the House of Representatives that are looking into what triggered the department's investigation in the months before the November presidential election. In nearly three decades at the Justice Department, Ohr has made a career of supporting and facilitating important cases that targeted Russian organized crime. Ohr says a former British spy told him at a breakfast meeting two years ago that Russian intelligence believed it had Trump “over a barrel,” according to multiple people familiar with the encounter. Ohr also says he learned that a Trump campaign aide had met with higher-level Russian officials than the aide had acknowledged, the people said. (RFE/RL, 08.29.18, New York Times, 08.27.18, AP, 08.31.18)
• Russian national Yevgeny Nikulin, charged with hacking LinkedIn, is of great interest in a U.S. election meddling probe, according to a U.S. Justice Department official, even as his own lawyers complain he hasn’t cooperated with them since landing in a California jail in March. (Bloomberg, 08.24.18)
• Sam Patten, a former associate of Paul Manafort, was charged Aug. 31 with failing to register in the U.S. as a foreign agent for his work lobbying on behalf of a Ukrainian political party. He is a longtime international political operative who’s partnered with a Russian already indicted in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. (Bloomberg, 08.31.18)
• Nearly half of Americans, 49 percent, say Congress should begin impeachment proceedings that could lead to U.S. President Donald Trump being removed from office, while 46 percent say Congress should not, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Overall, 60 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with 36 percent approving, according to the poll. (The Washington Post, 08.31.18)
• Bill Clinton told Boris Yeltsin ahead of Russia’s 1996 presidential elections: “You know how we … feel about your reelection. This is big deal to me. And I will do my very best to work it out in a way that's helpful to you,” according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. Yeltsin responded to Clinton’s statement by saying, “I appreciate that throughout the campaign up to the last day, you said the right things and never sent the wrong signals. Rest assured, I will do the same for your campaign. There will be no interference in your internal affairs. But I know deep in my heart who I support and who I hope will win the election.” (Russia Matters, 08.30.18)
• The number of automated Twitter accounts supporting the populist anti-immigration Sweden Democrats has surged in the run-up to next month’s elections, according to a government agency, amid broader concern over misinformation ahead of the vote. (Financial Times, 08.29.18)

Energy exports:

• Construction work for Nord Stream 2, the planned Russian gas pipeline to Europe, has started in German coastal waters, despite the threat of sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump and condemnation from across the EU. (Financial Times, 08.30.18)

Bilateral economic ties:

• Russia’s anti-monopoly agency said on Aug. 30 that it had proposed that U.S. oilfield services giant Schlumberger extend its offer to acquire Russia’s Eurasia Drilling Company as the offer expires on Sept. 1. (Reuters, 08.30.18)
• The U.S. launched a complaint against Russia at the World Trade Organization on Aug. 29, challenging measures introduced by Russia in response to recent U.S. tariffs on global steel and aluminum exports. (Reuters, 08.30.18)
• Russia's Economy Ministry said on Aug. 31 that the U.S. would suffer economically from not playing by the rules, following a threat by U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw from the World Trade Organization. (Reuters, 08.31.18)
• Bill Clinton told Boris Yelstin in a conversation that took place less than six weeks before Russia’s financial meltdown in August 1998: “I'm just working on things here, spending a lot of time keeping up with the IMF proposal for Russia, and hope we can get it worked out quickly.” Yeltsin responded by saying: “Yes, Bill, soon is the word and it is not enough to describe the urgency of the situation. Otherwise, if we do not get a decision soon, by the end of next week, it would mean the end of reform and basically the end of Russia,” according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. (Russia Matters, 08.31.18)
• Rosneft has asked a U.S. federal court to establish “a robust appraisal and sale process” of Citgo shares following Canadian miner Crystallex’s win in court against Venezuela’s PDVSA, Citgo’s parent company. (Oilprice.com, 08.23.18)

Other bilateral issues:

• The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin could hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump at three summits by the end of this year. On Nov. 11, leaders of all countries involved in World War I will gather in France to mark the centennial anniversary of the conflict's end. Putin and Trump are also expected to attend the East Asian summit in Singapore that runs from Nov. 11 to Nov. 15, as well as the two-day Group of 20 (G20) summit in Buenos Aires which starts on Nov. 30. According to Peter Baker of the New York Times, however, Trump will be skipping the East Asian summit. (RFE/RL, Russia Matters, 08.31.18)
• U.S. sanctions against Russia over the March poisoning in Britain of a former Russian agent and his daughter have gone into effect, targeting foreign aid, the sale of defense and security goods and U.S. government loans for exports to Russia. The new penalties, which took effect Aug. 27, were announced earlier this month after the U.S. said that the Russian government had violated a 1991 U.S. law when it used a nerve agent in an attempt to "assassinate" Sergei and Yulia Skripal. A second, potentially more serious set of sanctions could be imposed by the end of November if Russia does not allow international inspectors into the country to look for chemical weapons. (RFE/RL, 08.27.18)
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is trying to reach an understanding with Moscow before a deadline for imposing sweeping new sanctions against Russia for allegedly poisoning a former Russian spy in Britain. The outreach reflects a desire by U.S. President Donald Trump to open up a constructive dialogue with Moscow and break the cycle of tit-for-tat sanctions that the Kremlin has decried as ruinous to bilateral relations. Pompeo's effort to find a way forward with Russia is supported by major European allies with economic ties to the U.S. and Russia, such as Germany and Italy. To find a way forward on the sanctions dispute, Pompeo asked Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in an Aug. 10 phone call to meet before the U.S. takes action. A diplomat familiar with the planning said it was unclear if the Pompeo-Lavrov meeting would happen in Washington or in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in late September. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Aug. 28 that it was "quite probable" the two would meet at the U.N. event, according to Russian news agencies. (The Washington Post, 08.29.18)
• Asked on a conference call with reporters if there was any sign that the U.S. wanted to reach a compromise with Moscow in order to avoid imposing the second round, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “no.” (Reuters, 08.30.18)
• The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Aug. 30 it was working to set up a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. (Reuters, 08.30.18)
• Outspoken Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza will be a pallbearer for John McCain when the coffin of the late Republican senator is carried at Washington's National Cathedral. The National Cathedral ceremony takes place Sept. 1. (RFE/RL, 08.29.18)
• Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said of late U.S. Sen. John McCain: “His only ideology was to ‘defend your own and attack others,’ where the only criterion was loyalty to America and American interests, and not the criteria of peace, good and justice.” (The Moscow Times, 08.27.18)
• Russian Gen. Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said: “Mr. McCain was always an American patriot. Unfortunately, however, the ‘Vietnam Syndrome’ had affected him all his life … He was an outspoken Russophobe over the past decades. Not only did he simply dislike our country, but he in fact hated it. Peace be upon him.” (The Moscow Times, 08.27.18)
• Russia’s contract with the U.S. to carry American astronauts to the International Space Station and back expires in April 2019, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov announced Aug. 31. (The Moscow Times, 08.31.18, TASS, 08.31.18)
  • Retired Russian cosmonaut Maksim Surayev says a "micro" pressure leak in a compartment of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft docked with the International Space Station has been repaired with epoxy resin and tape. (RFE/RL, 08.31.18)
• The U.S. cannot guarantee that it will provide India with a waiver from sanctions if it purchases major weapons from Russia like the S-400 missile system, a top Pentagon official has said. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• A California-based environmental organization was placed on Russia's "undesirable" blacklist, after Moscow said on Aug. 24 that the group poses a threat to "Russia's state security." The Pacific Environment group is the 15th organization to be blacklisted, but it is the first environmental group to be placed on the "undesirables" law targeting foreign entities adopted in 2015. (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)
• During a Kremlin luncheon on April 21, 1996, while Bill Clinton was visiting Moscow, he and Boris Yeltsin discussed the upcoming presidential elections in Russia, according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. "There are two paths for Russia's development. I do not need power. But when I felt the threat of communism, I decided that I had to run [in the election]. We will prevent it [communism]," Yeltsin said. Later in the conversation, Clinton responded in support: "So, I've been trying to find a way to say to the Russian people 'this election will have consequences,' and we are clear about what it is we support.” (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Boris Yeltsin told Bill Clinton in September 1999 that Vladimir Putin, whom he had appointed Russia’s prime minister, was a “solid man,” according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. “At the same time, he is thorough and strong, very sociable. And he can easily have good relations and contact with people who are his partners. I am sure you will find him to be a highly qualified partner," he told Clinton. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Boris Yeltsin told Bill Clinton in 1998: “Yes. The two of us have set out together to build an alliance [soyuz] based on full confidence in each other,” according to a collection of declassified documents concerning Yeltsin published by Clinton's official presidential library. (Russia Matters, 08.31.18)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced plans to soften a proposal to raise the retirement age following popular opposition. Under the original proposed reforms, the retirement age would increase for men from 60 to 65 years of age and for women from 55 to 63. Putin proposed on Aug. 29 to lower the increase in the pension age for women from 63 to 60 years, while keeping the proposed increase for men at 65 years. (The Moscow Times, 08.29.18)
• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been jailed for 30 days for repeat violations of the country's rules for mass gatherings, making it impossible for the activist to attend protests he is organizing next month against the government’s plans to raise the retirement age. (The Moscow Times, 08.27.18)
• Russian opposition activist Sergei Udaltsov has been hospitalized again as he continued a nearly two-week hunger strike in prison. (RFE/RL, 08.26.18)
• One of every five Russian State Duma deputies lobbies in the interests of Russia’s security and defense services, a report released Aug. 28 by the Transparency International anti-corruption group reveals. (The Moscow Times, 08.29.18)
• Exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky announced he would no longer fund the TsUR investigative news site following the murder of three Russian television journalists while on assignment for the publication in the Central African Republic. (The Moscow Times, 08.30.18)
• Last year, the pollster Levada registered record tolerance levels for foreigners among Russians. The share of respondents who said they would like to restrict one or more nationalities from the country fell to a low of 54 percent, down from an all-time high of 81 percent in 2013. This year, the share of respondents who favored limiting immigration for non-Russians has jumped 12 points to total 64 percent. (The Moscow Times, 08.27.18)
• Russia’s top crude producers more than doubled their combined profit in the first half of the year, trouncing estimates thanks to a weaker ruble, rebounding prices and lower taxes. And with output curbs easing, the influx of cash is set to continue. The combined revenue of Russia’s top five oil producers jumped 32 percent to more than 9.9 trillion rubles ($145 billion), while total net income doubled to almost 1.25 trillion rubles. (The Moscow Times, 08.31.18)
• Russian tech giant Yandex has announced the launch of Europe’s first driverless taxi, which will hit the road in Innopolis, also known as the “Russian Silicon Valley.” (The Moscow Times, 08.28.18)
• The Federal Financial Monitoring Service of Russia (Rosfinmonitoring) has commissioned an analytical tool for monitoring cryptocurrency transactions. The system will particularly focus on bitcoin, as reported by BBC’s Russian service. (Bitcoinist, 08.30.18)
• Russia unveiled a new luxury sedan at a Moscow motor show on Aug. 29 and also showed off the Russian-built limousine that President Vladimir Putin took for a televised drive during his swearing-in ceremony in May, as Russia continues to try to reduce its dependence on imported goods and technology. (Reuters, 08.29.18)
• Moscow State University has been named the best university in Eurasia by the Times Higher Education magazine, with two other Russian institutions following close behind. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Tomsk Polytechnic University placed second and third on the list. (The Moscow Times, 08.31.18)

Defense and aerospace:

• The Russian military plans to build a new anti-aircraft base in the Arctic. A Northern Fleet command arrived in the remote military settlement of Tiksi on Aug. 29, where it hammered the “first pile of the new military garrison” into permafrost, reported The Siberian Times. The command will oversee amphibious assault exercises. (The Moscow Times, 08.30.18)
• Russia is hosting its biggest military exhibition—Army-2018. The event will feature actual weapon showcases, as well as numerous discussions and forums on current and future military technology, innovation and fighting tactics. (The National Interest, 08.24.18)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Chechen authorities have denied a media report saying that up to 200 local youths had been detained for interrogations in the wake of a spate of deadly attacks in the volatile region last week. (The Moscow Times, 08.29.18)
• Two Russian prison guards have been detained in an alleged torture case at a notorious penal colony in the city of Yaroslavl. (RFE/RL, 08.29.18)
• A Belgian businessman has died after what appeared to be a fall from an apartment building in downtown Moscow. Bruno Charles De Cooman was vice president of research and development at the Russian group Novolipetsk Steel. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• French President Emmanuel Macron is calling on the EU to boost military cooperation and stop relying on the U.S. for defense while reaching out to Russia to develop a "strategic partnership." Macron said he would put forward new proposals in the coming months for the EU to boost defense cooperation, as well as talks with Russia on their security relationship. Macron said he envisions a "revision of the European architecture of defense and security" as a result of "renewed dialogue on cybersecurity, chemical weapons, conventional weaponry, territorial conflicts, space security, the protection of the polar zones—in particular with Russia." He qualified his call for talks with Russia, however, by saying Moscow must first make progress on putting an end to the conflict between the Ukrainian government and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. “It’s not about forgetting the last few years, that wouldn’t be right, but simply a realistic means ... to cooperate more deeply,” Macron said on Aug. 30, adding that Russia would need to signal advances on issues including the Ukrainian peace process. The EU’s relations with Russia needed to be “brought up to date”, he added. (RFE/RL, 08.28.18, Reuters, 08.30.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Moscow on Sept. 18 for talks on energy issues. Putin will also meet the Vietnamese Communist Party's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Sochi on Sept. 6. (Reuters, 08.30.18)
• Russia agreed to postpone a Moscow peace conference on Afghanistan amid opposition from the Kabul government, even as the Taliban had agreed to attend. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to delay the meeting initially fixed for Sept. 4 to an unknown future date. (Bloomberg, 08.28.18)
• At a dinner in June for the Russian ambassador in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered some insights into how he had wooed Russian President Vladimir Putin into the most fruitful partnership of any western leader. First, he paid homage to Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Then, he thanked the Red Army for defeating the Nazis. He spoke of the million Russian-speaking Jews now living in Israel. And he thanked the Russian president for fighting anti-Semitism. “I have great respect for Russia,” Netanyahu said. “I have respect for its contribution to civilization and the courage of its people.” (Financial Times, 08.28.18)
• The head of the Slovak branch of a Russian motorcycle club known for its allegiance to the Kremlin has been fined a hefty amount for storing decommissioned military equipment, including a tank, on a former military base. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)

China:

• Russia said it is preparing to conduct its largest military exercise in almost four decades and the first on such a scale to include Chinese troops, setting out details of the strategic war games that demonstrate the burgeoning cooperation between Moscow and Beijing as tensions with the U.S. rise. Russia's invitation to 3,200 Chinese soldiers to take part in the maneuvers, named Vostok, or East, underscores the strides the two countries have made in recent years toward melding military capabilities. "There is nothing on paper, but they are building a de facto military alliance," said Vasily Kashin, a China specialist at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. (Wall Street Journal, 08.27.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said Aug. 27 that about 40 Russian companies have expressed interest in taking part in a forum in Beijing this November on the strategic development of electricity networks, according to RIA Novosti. (Bear Market Brief, 08.28.18)
• The world’s largest diamond producer, Russia’s Alrosa, is increasing its marketing spend in China as it attempts to catch up with rival De Beers in a market that has returned to strong growth. The state-owned company sold diamonds worth $180 million in China last year. (Financial Times, 08.26.18)
• In an attempt to control Uighur diaspora communities, Beijing is extending its security apparatus from the western region of Xinjiang to its Central Asian neighbors, which in turn must balance their economic and political priorities with China. (Financial Times,  08.26.18)

Ukraine:

• The leader of Russian-backed separatists in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine was killed on Aug. 31 in a blast at a cafe in Donetsk city, the separatist administration said. Russia accused Ukraine of assassinating the separatist leader, Alexander Zakharchenko, to try to unleash a renewed war in eastern Ukraine, but Kiev said it had nothing to do with the blast and blamed separatist infighting. (The Moscow Times, 08.31.18)
• Ukraine says two of its soldiers have been killed and six others wounded in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in the country’s east. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said on Aug. 27 that the fighting also left three separatists dead and seven wounded. (RFE/RL, 08.27.18)
• Ukraine’s army and Russia-backed separatists have accused each other of breaching a new truce agreement coinciding with the start of the school year. But the Ukrainian military said on Aug. 30 that the intensity of shelling on its positions has significantly decreased since the cease-fire deal came into force overnight on Aug. 29. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Lech Walesa, the former Polish president and Nobel laureate, said he has nominated Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who is imprisoned in Russia, for the Nobel Peace Prize. (RFE/RL, 08.29.18)
• Roger Waters, co-founder of the rock band Pink Floyd, has expressed support for Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, causing a backlash in Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• The U.S. has condemned what it calls Russia’s "harassment" of international shipping in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait, saying it is a further example of Moscow’s attempts to “destabilize” Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)
• Russia is contesting the jurisdiction of the international Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Hague-based court said on Aug. 31. At issue is a dispute with Ukraine over oil rights in Crimea. Ukraine has claimed to the arbitrator that its rights to resources in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov were violated when Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014 and built a bridge between Russia and Crimea over the Kerch Strait. According to Russia, however, the court should have no say in the case, which started in September 2016, as the dispute mainly concerns Ukraine’s "claim to sovereignty over Crimea." (Reuters, 08.31.18)
• After a spate of brutal attacks on Roma settlements by far-right groups in Ukraine, authorities have been accused of failing to act. As the violence escalates, human rights groups are suing the police for failing to protect families from raids by masked men. (Guardian, 08.26.18)
• Ukraine has to pay off about $33 billion of debts in the coming five years, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said. (Xinhua, 08.28.18)
• Although the volume of counterfeit and contraband cigarette consumption in the EU has decreased slightly compared to the previous year, Ukraine continues to be the No. 1 source country. (UNIAN, 08.27.18)
• Ukraine will maintain defense spending at about 5 percent of its gross domestic product next year, Oleksandr Turchynov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said. (Xinhua, 08.27.18)
• In the first half of 2018, Ukraine exported goods and services to EU countries worth $9.8 billion, five times more than to Russia. (Ukrinform, 08.28.18)
• Ukraine is seeking some $3.5 billion from international lenders this year, a senior official of the country's central bank said. (Xinhua, 08.28.18)
• Ukraine has shut down its representative offices in member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The move came after Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier this year signed a decree recalling Kiev's envoys from CIS bodies and announced plans to quit the organization. (RFE/RL, 08.28.18)
• A federal judge on Aug. 28 delayed openings in former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort's trial in Washington on charges of conspiracy and money laundering by a week, to Sept. 24, after his lawyers said they need more time to prepare after just finishing Manafort's trial in Virginia. (The Washington Post, 08.29.18)
• Attorneys for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort are asking to have his upcoming money-laundering and conspiracy trial moved from Washington to Roanoke, arguing that his fraud convictions in Alexandria this month worsened pretrial publicity in the nation's capital. Jury selection in Manafort's trial in Washington is set to begin Sept. 17, and the trial is scheduled to start Sept. 24. (The Washington Post, 08.30.18)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Renat Makenov, a former deputy mayor of the Kyrgyz capital who is facing corruption charges, has been transferred from prison to house arrest. Makenov and Bishkek's former Mayor Albek Ibraimov were detained in July and charged with abuse of office, financial irregularities and illegal property sales. (RFE/RL, 08.28.18)
• The Russian government discreetly funded a group of seemingly independent news websites in the Baltic states—a key battleground between Russia and the West—and elsewhere in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to pump out stories dictated to them by the Kremlin. One of the news outlets, BaltNews, has admitted to being owned and operated by the Russian state through the Rossiya Segodnya media agency. (BuzzFeed News, 08.29.18, Meduza, 08.29.18)
• Belarusian authorities have imposed travel bans on several journalists working for three independent media outlets who are suspected of having obtained information illegally from state-run news agency BelTA. (RFE/RL, 08.28.18)
• Thousands of people rallied on Aug. 26 in Moldova's capital to protest against the government. The event was the latest in a series of protests against the ruling Democratic Party, which is headed by controversial billionaire Vladimir Plahotniuc. (RFE/RL, 08.26.18)
• An airstrike killed six Taliban insurgents along the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan, an area where cross-border attacks are rare, Afghan officials said on Aug. 27. The officials said that a Tajik or Russian aircraft had bombed a northeastern Afghan border district during a clash between gunmen and Tajik border guards, but officials in both Tajikistan and Russia denied that they had done so. A spokesman for Tajik border guards in Dushanbe said three Tajik forestry workers had been attacked by intruders from Afghanistan. Two were killed while the third escaped. Ahmad Jawad Hijri, a spokesman for the governor of Takhar Province in northern Afghanistan, said Tajik forestry officials surrounded and attacked a group of Taliban drug smugglers who had crossed the border and were just inside Tajik territory. However, the exact circumstances of the incident are mired in confusion as officials on both sides of the border have issued a flurry of contradictory accounts and denials. Tajikistan’s border guard service said on Aug. 27 that 10 to 12 people had crossed the Panj River from Afghanistan and opened fire. The attackers had AK-74 automatic rifles and RPG-7B rocket launchers, the statement said. (New York Times, 08.27.18, Reuters, 08.27.18, Eurasianet.org, 08.27.18)
•  German Chancellor Angela Merkel held what she called "intensive" discussions with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in talks that addressed energy cooperation, human rights and the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region. Earlier Merkel visited the Armenian Genocide memorial complex in Yerevan commemorating the 1.5 million Armenians killed in Ottoman Turkey during the World War I era. During her visit to pro-Western Georgia, Merkel said she backed Tbilisi's aspirations to eventually join the EU and NATO, but said she was not able to provide "hasty promises" and that EU membership was not on the "current agenda." (RFE/RL, 08.25.18, 08.24.18)
• Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has sacked the administrative head of the country's second-largest city, Ganca, weeks after the official was wounded in an armed attack and two police officers were stabbed to death. (RFE/RL, 08.28.18)
• Israel has accused an Israeli drone maker of bombing ethnic Armenian soldiers in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region at the request of Azerbaijani clients during a sales demonstration, government and local media reported. In its statement on Aug. 29, the Justice Ministry said it plans to indict the chief executive, deputy CEO and other officials and employees of Aeronautics Defense Systems for the incident, which it said occurred in 2017. (RFE/RL, 08.29.18)
• The Uzbek Justice Ministry has officially registered a local branch of the Washington-based American Councils for International Education (ACIE), the first nongovernmental organization to be accredited in Uzbekistan for more than 10 years. (RFE/RL, 08.30.18)

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments.