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

Nuclear security:

• "And we must prevent nuclear weapons and materials from coming into the hands of terrorists and being used against us, or anywhere in the world, for that matter,” U.S. President Donald Trump said. (New York Times, 08.21.17)
• The International Atomic Energy Agency’s low-enriched uranium bank opened Aug. 29 in Kazakhstan. Arms control advocates celebrated its opening, hoping it will dissuade countries interested in nuclear power from developing the capability to make atomic weapons. Although initially cool to the project, Moscow ultimately agreed to support it. Both Russia and China granted transit rights for uranium fuel being shipped to and from the facility. The project was funded by donors, including the United States, the European Union, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Norway and the Nuclear Threat Initiative. (Reuters, 08.29.17, The Washington Post, 08.29.17)
• "The prospect of a global summit on nuclear security, which was held at the initiative of the United States, remains open. I participated personally in several of these forums. Kazakhstan is ready to initiate the renewal of the global nuclear security summit in order to hold it here in our capital, Astana,” Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev said. (Business Intelligence for Southeast Europe, 09.29.17)
• Approximately one kilogram of Chinese-origin highly enriched uranium was repatriated from a reactor in Ghana. This shipment removes the last known highly enriched uranium from Ghana, making it the 32nd country plus Taiwan to become free of highly enriched uranium. (NNSA, 08.29.17)
• Szuhsiung Ho, aka Allen Ho, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Taiwan, was sentenced Sept. 1 to 24 months in prison and one year of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. Ho pleaded guilty in January 2017 to conspiracy to unlawfully engage or participate in the production or development of special nuclear material outside the U.S., without the required authorization from the U.S. Energy Department, in violation of the Atomic Energy Act. (U.S. Department of Justice, 09.01.17)
• Chinese lawmakers on Sept. 1 passed a Nuclear Safety Law. The new law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2018, reflects China's coordinated and balanced nuclear safety outlook and commitment to fulfilling obligations under international treaties. (Xinhua, 09.01.17)
• In Singapore, starting Sept. 1, it will be an offence to possess radioactive material or any nuclear explosive devices with the intention to cause harm. (Channel News Asia, 08.30.17)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• The U.N. atomic watchdog says Iran remains in compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States and five other world powers. The International Atomic Energy Agency, in a confidential quarterly report seen by news agencies Aug. 31, said Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium and its enrichment level were within limits set by the accord. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• U.S. President Donald Trump declined on Aug. 28 to describe Russia as a security threat. “I consider many countries as a security threat, unfortunately, when you look at what’s going on in the world today,” Trump said after a Finnish broadcaster asked specifically about Russia. “I say it loud and clear: I've been saying it for years. I think it's a good thing if we have great relationships, or at least good relationships, with Russia,” Trump said. He also said the U.S. is “very protective” of the Baltics in the face of a Russian naval exercise with China in the Baltic Sea, and he said the U.S. and its allies would be able to handle any threat. At the same time, Trump sidestepped a question on what type of assistance the United States would provide to Finland in the event of diplomatic breakdown between the Nordic country and Russia. (AP, 08.28.17, RFE/RL, 08.29.17, Reuters, 08.28.17, The Hill, 08.28.17)
• The Russian military sought Aug. 29 to allay Western fears about major war games set for next month, describing them as regular drills that will not threaten anyone. Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister, Lt. Gen. Alexander Fomin, rejected what he described as Western “myths about the so-called Russian threat. “The most improbable scenarios have been floated,” he said at a briefing for foreign military attaches. “Some have reached as far as to claim that the Zapad 2017 exercises will serve as a ‘platform for invasion’ and ‘occupation’ of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine.” (AP, 08.29.17)
• The Zapad war games will be based on the scenario of a threat from three neighboring states to the west, given the fictional names of Weisbaria, Weistoria and Lubinia, located on the map where Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are, Belarusian Chief of the General Staff Oleg Belokonev said. (Bloomberg, 08.29.17)
• Belarusian Deputy Defense Minister Oleg Belokonev said any troops and equipment brought into Belarus for the war games would be withdrawn afterwards. (Reuters, 08.29.17)
• Russian officials said Aug. 30 that the Zapad exercise would be under the threshold set by the Vienna Document for inviting formal observation teams. Russia plans to have 12,700 troops participate in Zapad. NATO and U.S. officials have disputed that saying that they expect 70,000 or more troops to take part in Zapad and interconnected exercises. Estonian Defense Minister Juri Luik said that Moscow could deploy up to 100,000 troops for the maneuvers. (AP, 08.29.17, Wall Street Journal, 08.30.17)
• NATO said Aug. 30 it will send three experts to observe the Zapad war games but alliance Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg wants Belarus and Russia to allow broader monitoring. NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said the three experts will attend “Visitors’ Days” in the two countries, but international rules permit monitors to have much wider access, including briefings on the exercise, opportunities to talk to soldiers and overflights. Under the rules set by the Vienna Document, states conducting maneuvers involving more than 13,000 troops must notify other countries in advance and be open to observers. (RFE/RL, 08.29.17, AP, 08.30.17)
• In eastern Poland, U.S. 2nd Cavalry Regiment Lt. Col. Christopher L’Heureux, says NATO troops remain in a state of readiness during the Zapad war games, but will not over-react to developments across the border. (AP, 08.30.17)
• Poland and Sweden, a NATO partner, are conducting drills in September, but the alliance as a whole won't hold any of its own exercises during Zapad. While the alliance has increased the number of planes conducting the Baltic air-policing mission, it intends to keep the size of its ground force, roughly 4,000 personnel, steady in September, to avoid any moves that look like provocation. (Wall Street Journal, 08.30.17)
• The U.S. took over the Baltic air-policing mission in Lithuania, beginning with flying seven F-15C jet fighters from the U.K. out of Lithuania on Aug. 30. The U.S. fighters will begin standing alert to intercept unknown aircraft Aug. 31, replacing four Polish F-16s. (Wall Street Journal, 08.30.17)
• The Pentagon is pitting two American contractors against each other as it looks to replace the nation's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles. But with Russia and China modernizing their nuclear forces and North Korea becoming a potential nuclear threat, some defense experts say a better plan would be to make Boeing Co., Northrop Grumman Corp. and others work together to confront mounting challenges. (Wall Street Journal, 08.27.17)
• The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration has revealed that it has conducted a second series of test flights involving an upgraded version of a nuclear bomb that has been part of the U.S. arsenal for decades. Work on the B61-12 has been ongoing for years, and government officials say the latest tests using mock versions of the bomb will be vital to the refurbishing effort. (Daily Mail, 08.29.17)
• Germany stands on the front line of a new Cold War, Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said, and Chancellor Angela Merkel was making a grave error by following U.S. President Donald Trump down the rearmament path. (Reuters, 08.25.17)

Missile defense:

• The United States conducted a missile defense test Aug. 30 off the coast of Hawaii and intercepted a medium-range ballistic missile, just days after North Korea’s bold missile test over Japan. (New York Times, 08.30.17)

Nuclear arms control:

• The U.S. conducted a New START inspection in Russia while Canada conducted an Open Skies surveillance flight over Russia during the week of Aug. 18-25, according to the Russian Defense Ministry’s website. (Russia Matters, 08.28.17)

Counter-terrorism:

• Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Aug. 31 it has detained two suspects from ex-Soviet Central Asia accused of plotting attacks on civilians in Moscow on behalf of the Islamic State. The FSB said the suspects were preparing to launch the attacks on Sept. 1, the beginning of the school year in Russia. (AP, 08.31.17)
• Russian authorities say three law enforcement officers were killed in two separate incidents in the southern Dagestan region on Aug. 28, including an attack claimed by Islamic State’s propaganda agency. Video from the scene showed a black jihadist banner said to have been found on the attackers. (RFE/RL, 08.28.17, Wall Street Journal, 08.28.17)
• Iraqi forces raised the national flag on Aug. 26 in the heart of Tal Afar, Islamic State’s stronghold in the country’s northwest, and said they were poised to take full control of the city after a week-long offensive. (Reuters, 08.26.17)

Conflict in Syria:

• Civilians caught up in the battle for the Syrian city of Raqqa are paying an “unacceptable price” and attacking forces may be contravening international law with their intense air strikes, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said Aug. 31. He said that his office had documented 151 civilian deaths in six incidents alone in August. (Reuters, 08.31.17)
• “The enemy’s losses in the last three months of military actions have totaled more than 8,000 gunmen, 1,500 units of armaments and military and other hardware,” Col. Gen. Sergei Surovikin, commander of Russian troops in Syria, said. (TASS, 08.28.17)
• Russia`s Aerospace Forces destroyed four tanks, 16 automobiles and two Islamic State strongholds the near the city of Deir ez-Zor. (TASS, 08.29.17)
• Russian aircraft flew 350 combat sorties in Syria during the week of Aug. 18-25, according to the Russian Defense Ministry’s website. (Russia Matters, 08.28.17)
• Russia`s military has deployed systems to counter and engage unmanned aerial vehicles in Syria. Thus far, Russian unmanned aerial vehicles have amassed more than 14,000 sorties over Syria. (The National Interest, 08.25.17, TASS, 08.28.17)
• Russia’s two new cruise missile-armed submarines have entered the Mediterranean Sea, amid state media reports they could be used in Moscow’s operation in Syria. The Kolpino and Veliky Novgorod submarines will significantly build up the Russian Navy's squadron in the Mediterranean and may carry out strikes with Kalibr cruise missiles in Syria on Islamic State facilities. (Interfax, 08.28.17, Newsweek 08.28.17)
• Russian military experts have established a steadily operating satellite communications network in Syria. (TASS, 08.28.17)
• Russia is hopeful that the new weapons it tested for the first time in Syria will lead to a spike in arms sales abroad, Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said. (AP, 08.30.17)
• The Kh-101 air-launched cruise missile tested during Russia's military operation in Syria has met its precision requirements. (TASS, 08.28.17)
• The carrier-based Mikoyan MiG-29K/KUB and Sukhoi Su-33 fighter jets performed over 400 sorties from the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier during the ship's Mediterranean deployment to the Syrian coast, destroying about 1,300 Islamic State targets in the process. (Interfax, 08.25.17)
• Russia is determined to help Saudi Arabia in the process of merging Syrian opposition groups, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said following talks with his United Arab Emirates counterpart. (TASS, 08.29.17)
• France and Russia have reached “concrete results” to prevent the use of chemical weapons in Syria, French President Emmanuel Macron said. (TASS, 08.29.17)
• French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Sept. 1 he wanted major powers to agree on a transition calendar that would be imposed on Syrians, but ruled out any role for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who Le Drian said had “murdered” part of his population. (Reuters, 09.01.17)
• The international contact group on Syria will begin its work during the session of the U.N. General Assembly in September, French President Emmanuel Macron said. (TASS, 08.29.17)
• The next round of talks between Russia, Turkey and Iran on settling the Syrian civil conflict will take place in Astana on Sept. 14-15 and focus on forces that the three nations plan to deploy. (Reuters, 09.01.17)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was in Kuwait on Aug. 28 at the start of a three-nation tour of Gulf Arab states amid the ongoing diplomatic crisis over Qatar. Following talks with Lavrov, the United Arab Emirates foreign minister said the UAE and Russia intend to boost bilateral ties, including military cooperation. (TASS, 08.29.17, AP, 08.28.17)

Cyber security:

• Reality Winner, a former U.S. Air Force linguist charged with leaking classified U.S. documents, has asked a federal judge to rule that comments she made to FBI agents before her arrest can’t be used as evidence. (AP, 08.31.17)
• After the 2016 U.S. presidential race was subject to Russian cyber meddling, analysts say the ferocity of more recent online assaults by Russian bots is a preview of what could be coming in the 2018 elections. (Bloomberg, 09.01.17)

Elections interference:

• Paul Manafort's notes from a controversial Trump Tower meeting with Russians during the 2016 presidential campaign included a mention of political contributions near a reference to the Republican National Committee. The previously undisclosed contents of the note elevated the significance of the June 2016 meeting for congressional investigators, who are focused on determining whether the meeting included any discussion of donations from Russian sources to either the Trump campaign or the Republican Party. Manafort's notes, typed on a smart phone and described by one source as cryptic, were turned over to the House and Senate intelligence committees and to special counsel Robert Mueller. (NBC, 09.01.17)
• Paul Manafort's political-consulting firm was active for more than a decade doing work that often dovetailed with Russian political interests not only in Ukraine, but also in Georgia and Montenegro, other countries the Kremlin considered to be in its sphere of influence. Manafort’s work across Eastern Europe, as well as his links to Oleg Deripaska, explain why he is of such interest to investigators probing alleged Russian election meddling. Deripaska has offered to give testimony to the House and Senate intelligence committees in exchange for immunity. (Wall Street Journal, 08.31.17)
• Felix Sater, a business associate of U.S. President Donald Trump promised in 2015 to engineer a real estate deal with the aid of Russian President Vladimir Putin that Sater said would help Trump win the presidency. Felix Sater wrote a series of emails to Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, in which he boasted about his ties to Putin and predicted that building a Trump Tower in Moscow would highlight Trump's savvy negotiating skills and be a political boon to his candidacy. “Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it,'' Sater wrote in an email. ''I will get all of Putin’s team to buy in on this, I will manage this process.'' (New York Times, 08.29.17)
• U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, confirmed Aug. 28 that the president’s company pursued a project in Moscow during the Republican primary, but said that the plan was abandoned “for a variety of business reasons.” As part of the potential deal, Cohen also sent an email a Kremlin spokesman. The confirmation that the Trump Organization was actively considering doing business in Russia during the presidential election could provide special counsel Robert Mueller with motivation for probing Trump’s personal and business finances, a line Trump has warned him not to cross. (AP, 08.28.17)
• The Kremlin received an email appeal from U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, seeking help with a Trump Tower project in Moscow last year but never replied because “it’s not our issue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The message was sent to the Kremlin press service’s general email address, which receives “thousands of messages,” including many “that aren’t in our area of competence,” Peskov said. No further emails were sent and Peskov said the subject wasn’t discussed with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Cohen discussed a prospective real estate deal in Moscow with Trump on three occasions during the presidential campaign.  (Bloomberg, 08.30.17, Wall Street Journal, 08.28.17)
• A Russian businessman who explored building a Trump Tower in Moscow during the presidential campaign is a little-known developer of working-class apartments on the city's outskirts. Although Andrei Rozov's development background might seem an unlikely match for the opulent Trump Organization, he had a connection to Trump's firm: He and Trump associate Felix Sater both worked for Russian property tycoon Sergei Polonsky. (Wall Street Journal, 09.01.17)
• Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into Paul Manafort and his financial transactions. The cooperation could potentially provide Mueller with additional leverage to get Manafort to cooperate in the larger investigation into Trump’s campaign, as Trump does not have pardon power over state crimes. (Politco, 08.30.17)
• Special counsel Robert Mueller has obtained a letter that President Trump and a top political aide drafted in the days before Trump fired FBI director James Comey, which explains the president’s rationale for why he planned to dismiss the director. The May letter had been met with opposition from Donald McGahn, the White House counsel, who believed that some of its contents were problematic, according to interviews with a dozen administration officials and others briefed on the matter. (New York Times, 09.01.17)
• Special counsel Robert Mueller had issued subpoenas to Melissa Laurenza, an attorney with the Akin Gump law firm, who formerly represented Paul Manafort, and to Jason Maloni, a Manafort spokesman. (Reuters, 08.29.17)
• Special counsel Robert Mueller is examining what role, if any, former national security adviser Mike Flynn may have had in an effort to obtain Hillary Clinton’s emails from Russian hackers. (Reuters, 08.25.17)
• U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff said that the current investigation into Russian election interference could result in two separate, contradictory reports, one from Democrats and another from Republicans. (The Hill, 08.29.17)
• Weeks after he was invited to testify in public at a hearing in July, Donald Trump Jr., President Trump’s oldest son, has agreed to testify privately to the Senate Judiciary Committee as it looks into allegations of Russian election interference. (Reuters, 08.29.17)
• U.S. President Donald Trump called Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassle to talk about one of his most important parochial issues—ethanol—shortly before the committee is slated to interview his son in its ongoing Russia probe. (The Washington Post, 08.31.17)
• Russian journalists Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan have released a new version of their book that includes an additional chapter on the alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The new chapter provides important context about Russian President's Vladimir Putin's possible motivations—as well as evidence of apparent links between WikiLeaks and the Kremlin, and details of the ongoing fallout in Russia. (The Washington Post, 08.28.17)
• U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis made a special demonstration of loyalty to U.S. President Donald Trump last week by introducing an amendment to protect him from the Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. (The Washington Post, 08.30.17)
• Rinat Akhmetshin, the lobbyist and former Soviet army officer who met senior Trump campaign aides at a controversial meeting last year, has given evidence before a grand jury investigation. Akhmetshin gave testimony under oath for several hours on Aug. 11 in a sign that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking at the 2016 meeting as part of his investigation. (Financial Times, 08.31.17)

Energy exports from CIS:

• Russian natural gas volumes piped via Ukraine to European consumers are up by 23.4% so far this year at 61.9 billion cubic meters. (Reuters, 09.01.17)

Bilateral economic ties:

• The Trump administration is ready to block a Russian state-owned oil giant from gaining control of critical U.S. energy assets owned by Moscow's ally in Venezuela. (Wall Street Journal, 08.31.17)

Other bilateral issues:

• The Trump administration directed Russia to close three buildings in the U.S., but declined to expel any diplomats in retaliation for the Kremlin’s decision in July to expel U.S. diplomats from Russia. “We are requiring the Russian government to close its Consulate General in San Francisco, a chancery annex in Washington, D.C. and a consular annex in New York City,” a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said in a statement Aug. 31. The closures will need to be completed by Sept. 2. In addition to the San Francisco consulate, the State Department decision affects the consul-general’s residence in San Francisco and two buildings that housed Russia’s trade mission to the U.S. in New York and Washington. (Bloomberg, 08.31.17)
  • The State Department did not say how many employees would be affected by the closings, although officials said it would be far fewer than 755—a figure that would leave no Russian diplomats in the United States. Earlier, Russia insisted that the American diplomatic presence in Russia match the Russian presence in America: 455 people. (New York Times, 08.31.17)
  • In regards to the United States’ decision to shut the Russian consulate in San Francisco, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow “will have a tough response to the things that come totally out of the blue to hurt us and are driven solely by the desire to spoil our relations with the United States.” (AP, 09.01.17)
  • “The new steps push our bilateral relations even further into a dead end and contradict other high level announcements,” Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said. “There have been words, but there’s no readiness to cooperate yet. This is about further escalating tensions. We regret this and will calmly think about how we might respond.” (Reuters, 09.01.17)
  • "Now we need to sort this out calmly, very calmly and act in a professional manner," Anatoly Antonov, Russia's newly appointed ambassador to Washington told journalists right after landing on U.S. soil. "To cite Lenin, we don't need any hysterical outbursts,” he said. (The Moscow Times, 08.31.17)
  • Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in mid-August dismissed reports of possible consulate closure as “bluff" intended to impress "those who don’t understand the core of the issue.” (The Moscow Times, 08.14.17)
  • The U.S. Consulate in St. Petersburg was splashed with paint the night of Aug. 28, damaging the building’s facade and a nearby vehicle. (The Moscow Times, 08.29.17)
• U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to meet in September, probably on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly session in New York. (The Washington Post, 08.31.17)
• Anatoly Antonov, Russia's new ambassador to the United States, on Aug. 30 called for re-establishing regular, direct contacts between Moscow's and Washington's military, intelligence and foreign policy chiefs. “The time has come to resume joint meetings of Russia’s and the United States’ foreign and defense ministers in a ‘two plus two’ format,” Antonov said. He also called for meetings between the heads of Russia's intelligence services and the CIA and FBI, saying that would further the fight against terrorism and cyberattacks. He also suggested a "working cooperation" between Russia's Security Council and the U.S. National Security Council. Antonov met the U.S. ambassador to Russia, John Tefft, Aug. 28 to discuss ties between Moscow and Washington before flying to the U.S. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17, Reuters, 08.30.17, Reuters, 08.28.17)
• Russian oil companies will quickly find ways to work around tighter restrictions imposed this month by the United States on the foreign finance they can use. (Reuters, 08.29.17)
• U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson expressed hope on Aug. 29 that Serbia won’t grant diplomatic status to the Russian staff of a controversial facility that some believe is a spy base but that Moscow insists is a disaster relief center. (AP, 08.29.17)
• Gov. Jerry Brown of California is traveling to Russia next week to discuss collaborating with Pacific nations on climate change at an economic forum hosted by the Russian government and featuring a talk by Russian President Vladimir Putin. (The Washington Post, 08.31.17)
• The immigrant group with the highest level of educational attainment in U.S. is from the former Soviet Union—people who left Russia and the other 14 Soviet republics before 1991, when the communist government rarely gave permission to leave. Many of them were highly educated dissidents. (Journalist’s Resource, July 2017)
• When Leyla arrived in the United States after being smuggled over the Mexican border, she showed her passport to the Border Patrol officers who found her.  It showed that she was born in the Russian republic of Chechnya—and that she was born and raised as a man. (The Washington Post, 09.01.17)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• The Kremlin is considering pitting a female candidate against Russian President Vladimir Putin in next year’s elections. (The Moscow Times, 09.01.17)
• Russia’s up-and-coming economy minister Maxim Oreshkin says his country is no longer suffering from U.S. and EU sanctions, and sees better prospects for future trade in Asia. The former economist at Societe Generale SA’s Russian unit and VTB Capital has emerged as a Putin favorite. (AP, 08.29.17, Bloomberg, 08.25.17)
• Russia seized control of stricken lender Bank Otkritie FC after the bank lost a quarter of its deposits in recent months and the return of its largest shareholder failed to steady investor nerves. (Bloomberg, 08.29.17)
• Russian diamond producer Alrosa said Aug. 26 it had called off the search for eight miners who went missing three weeks ago when an underground mine flooded. (Reuters, 08.26.17)
• In an unexpected ease of hostilities toward environmental groups, the Kola Ecological Center was peeled off the Russian Justice Ministry’s list of “foreign agents,” where it had landed in April. (Bellona, 08.25.17)
• The Russian human rights group Memorial is calling for the release of 77-year-old Vladimir Lapygin, a former space researcher who was sentenced to prison on a treason conviction in 2016. Memorial said he is a political prisoner and called for his immediate release. (RFE/RL, 08.28.17)
• More than 30 cultural figures from different countries have signed a petition calling on Russian authorities to drop the criminal investigation into prominent theater and film director Kirill Serebrennikov. The Kremlin said on Aug. 30 the arrest of Serebrennikov, who has a history of criticizing authority, was about embezzlement and had nothing to do with politics or censorship. The Federal Security Services department tasked with protecting Russia from internal threats is overseeing the case against Serebrennikov. (RFE/RL, 08.28.17, Reuters, 08.30.17, The Moscow Times, 08.30.17)
• The studio of Russian director Aleksei Uchitel, who has been under pressure from conservative activists for his film highlighting the romantic youth of Tsar Nicholas II, has reportedly been attacked. (RFE/RL, 08.30.17)
• A court in Kazan, the capital of Russia's Tatarstan region, has sentenced local activist Danis Safargali to three years in prison for inciting hatred on the Internet, inflicting bodily harm and hooliganism—charges which rights groups say are fabricated. The Russian human rights center Memorial has recognized him as political prisoner. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17, RFE/RL, 08.29.17)
• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has launched a new YouTube corruption attack against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Navalny’s video showed a lavish villa allegedly used by Putin and purportedly owned by a son of Putin’s friend. (AP, 08.31.17)
• Authorities in Chechnya are claiming success in an unconventional, sweeping campaign to compel people who have divorced to reunite, for the sake of the children—and, they say, to help in the fight against terrorism. (New York Times, 08.27.17)
• Russia’s suspended anti-doping agency RUSADA appointed a new director general on Aug. 31, part of Moscow’s push to rehabilitate its tarnished sporting image and overturn a ban on most of its track-and-field athletes competing internationally. (Reuters, 08.31.17)
• Wealthy Chechen businessman Umar Dzhabrailov has been suspended from the ruling United Russia party and charged with hooliganism after allegedly firing into the ceiling of his luxury Moscow hotel room during the early hours of Aug. 30. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17)

Defense and aerospace:

• Moscow will build 100 T-14 Armata main battle tanks by 2020, putting to rest the fanciful notion that the Kremlin would build a fleet of 2,300 of fearsome new machines by that time. (The National Interest, 08.28.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin says that whoever reaches a breakthrough in developing artificial intelligence will come to dominate the world. Putin predicted that future wars will be fought by drones, and "when one party's drones are destroyed by drones of another, it will have no other choice but to surrender." (AP, 09.01.17)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Oleg Feoktistov, a Russian Federal Security Service general accused by former Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev of helping set him up for a bribery charge, has been called to testify for the prosecution at Ulyukayev's trial. (RFE/RL, 09.01.17)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the removal of sanctions on Russia would be economically beneficial to both Russia and Germany but insisted that Moscow would have to cease its imposition on Ukraine before these sanctions could be lifted and the advantages felt. (CNBC, 08.29.17)
• Germany’s Alternative for Germany party and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CDU/CSU bloc are engaged in a fierce fight for the support of former Soviet immigrants in an upcoming Sept. 24 poll. Although the Russian-Germans were once considered the Christian Democrats’ most loyal constituency, surveys suggest many are switching their allegiance, attracted by the AfD’s pro-Kremlin stance and hard line on Muslim refugees. Numbering some 2.5 million, Russian-Germans form one of Germany’s largest immigrant groups but retain strong family and cultural links to Russia. (Financial Times, 08.31.17)
• Germany and Europe want to ensure that new U.S. sanctions against Russia do not lead to a new “ice age” in ties between Russia and the West, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Aug. 29. (Reuters, 08.29.17)
• Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is vowing to go ahead with a plan to join the board of directors of Russian oil giant Rosneft, a move that has drawn criticism ahead of his country’s election. (AP, 08.31.17)
• European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said that the EU should seek better relations with Moscow, but without giving up its values. (RFE/RL, 08.29.17)
• Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has encountered problems syndicating a loan to Glencore and Qatar’s wealth fund to finance their purchase of a stake in the Kremlin-controlled oil major Rosneft because of new U.S. sanctions against Russia. (Reuters, 08.25.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ban on European Union cheese imports has driven up milk prices in Russia by so much that French yogurt maker Danone is transporting almost 5,000 cows to a farm in Siberia to ensure it has an affordable supply. (Bloomberg, 08.27.17)
• Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, is about to grab even more customers in the fast-growing economies of Asia due to drought eroding production in Australia, the U.S. and Canada, the current dominant wheat suppliers to Asia. (Bloomberg, 08.30.17)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin was in Hungary for the second time this year on Aug. 28, attending the World Judo Championships in Budapest and discussing mutual energy interests with his Hungarian counterpart. The two leaders discussed Russia’s construction of new reactors for Hungary’s Soviet-built nuclear power plant and Hungarian imports of natural gas from Russia. (AP, 08.28.17)
• A Russian military ship, the Kruzenshtern, has been barred from docking in Mariehamn by the Finnish military, according to the Hufvudstadsbladet newspaper. Russian officials had asked permission for the 91-year-old, four-masted vessel to dock at the demilitarized Aland province between Sept. 28-30, but were denied by the Finnish Defense Forces. (The Moscow Times, 08.29.17)  
• Poland has expressed concerns to Russia over what it called “difficulties” in accessing the site of the 2010 plane crash in Russia that killed Poland’s President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others. (AP, 08.29.17)
• The U.N. Committee Against Racial Discrimination called on the Russian Federation on Aug. 28 to step up prosecutions of racist attacks by ultra-nationalists and neo-Nazis and of hate speech by politicians. (Reuters, 08.28.17)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said that “all options” are under consideration in response to North Korea firing an unidentified ballistic missile over Japan on Aug. 29 as Kim Jong Un’s latest provocation rattled markets. (Bloomberg, 08.29.17)
  • Russian President Vladimir Putin says the standoff over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs is "on the verge of a large-scale conflict." In an article published on the Kremlin’s website Sept. 1, Putin obliquely criticized U.S. warnings of potential military action and said stepping up the pressure on Pyongyang won't solve the problem. (RFE/RL, 09.01.17)
  • In a telephone call Aug. 30 with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov urged the United States to refrain from military action or pursuing further sanctions in the wake of North Korea's launch this week of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead over Japan's island of Hokkaido, even as U.S. allies called for more sanctions stiffening limits on Pyongyang's workers in Russia and China. (RFE/RL, 08.30.17)
  • Commercial ventures planned between Russia and North Korea three years ago are not being implemented because of Pyongyang’s missile testing program. (Reuters, 08.26.17)
  • A tour agency reportedly licensed by Pyongyang to boost Russian tourism to North Korea has been outed as a Russian company. (The Moscow Times, 08.25.17)
• U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says he has signed the orders to send additional troops to Afghanistan as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's new strategy to fight the 16-year-old war against the Taliban and other insurgents. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17)
• The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Aug. 30 called on Estonia to reverse its decision to bar three Russian journalists from covering an EU meeting in Tallinn next month. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17)

China:

• In an article published Sept. 1 ahead of the BRICS summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that the BRICS nations draft universal rules of global information security and sign an intergovernmental agreement on the issue. (TASS, 09.01.17)
• China prepares to host next week’s summit of leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. The summit Sept. 4-5 in the city of Xiamen gives Chinese President Xi Jinping an opportunity to showcase his leadership and promote his country as a central pillar of 21st century global governance. (AP, 09.01.17)
• The Chinese Foreign Ministry says China and Tajikistan agreed to exchange security intelligence as part of an upgrade to diplomatic relations during a state visit by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon to Beijing. (RFE/RL, 09.01.17)
• Odd Arne Westad, a professor of United States-Asia relations, writes: “Russia and China, unlike the Soviet Union, are not likely to seek isolation or global confrontation. They will attempt to nibble away at American interests and dominate their regions. But neither China nor Russia is willing or able to mount a global ideological challenge backed by military power. Rivalries may lead to conflicts, or even local wars, but not of the systemic Cold War kind.” (New York Times, 08.28.17)

Ukraine:

• A representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic said that more than 30 people have been killed and more than 40 injured by Ukrainian forces as a result of violations of the “harvest ceasefire,” which is supposed to be in force from June 24 to Aug. 31. (TASS, 08.25.17)
• Nine militants were killed and 17 were wounded in eastern Ukraine Aug. 21-27, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. (Ukrainian News Agency, 08.28.17)
• The Security Service of Ukraine reports that about 23 officers were killed during “anti-terrorist operations.” (Interfax, 08.29.17)
• The Russian Prosecutor-General’s Office has handed over to authorities in the Netherlands the data on the investigation into the 2014 crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. (TASS, 08.25.17)
• U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has brought some “defense equipment” for the Ukrainian army on his visit to Kiev, according to Kurt Volker’s interview to a Ukrainian television station cited by Russia’s Kommersant newspaper. (Russia Matters, 08.27.17)
• Kurt Volker, the U.S. special envoy for efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine, says that the country is not ready yet to join NATO. U.S.-Russia relations will be “crippled” unless a solution is found to the Ukraine crisis, he said. Volker also confirmed that the U.S. administration was “seriously considering” whether to change its position and deliver lethal weapons to Ukraine. (RFE/RL, 08.27.17, Financial Times, 08.27.17)
• "There are 60 wars underway in the world, but not a single one on Europe’s territory, if we don’t count Ukraine. But Ukraine is not a European country in terms of the EU membership," European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. However, Junker is welcoming the full entry into force of an agreement on closer ties with Ukraine, despite Russian attempts to derail the accord. The Association Agreement was signed in June 2014, seven years after negotiations began and gradually introduced to mollify Russia. (TASS, 08.29.17, AP, 09.01.17)
• International press freedom monitors are calling on Ukraine to allow Russian journalists there to report without “fear of reprisals,” after a journalist working for Russian state television was expelled from Kiev this week. Russia's Channel One said on Aug. 30 its reporter Anna Kurbatova was “abducted” outside her residence in central Kiev. On Aug. 29, Ukrainian media cited a security service spokeswoman as saying the security service had also expelled two Spanish freelance reporters and barred them from the country for three years. (The Moscow Times, 08.31.17)
• Ukraine’s Ministry of Economic Development and Trade expects GDP growth to amount to around 2% this year and 3% in 2018. (TASS, 08.26.17)
• Real wages in Ukraine in July 2017 grew by 17.2% from July 2016 but decreased by 0.5% from June 2017. (Kyiv Post, 08.29.17)
• An Austrian court has rejected a Spanish extradition request for Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash, potentially paving the way for the businessman to face bribery allegations in the United States. (Reuters, 08.30.17)
• Authorities in Belarus said on Aug. 31 that a Ukrainian teenager whose disappearance has triggered claims of a Russia-orchestrated kidnapping entered the country a week earlier but that they have no record of his departure. (RFE/RL, 08.31.17)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• Authorities in Kyrgyzstan say security forces have killed two suspected militants in a gun battle in the northern Chui region. (RFE/RL, 08.29.17)
• Kyrgyzstan's parliament has approved the president's chief of staff, Sapar Isakov, as the next prime minister of the Central Asian state. (RFE/RL, 08.25.17)
• Freedom House says that the international community should “acknowledge positive changes” in Uzbekistan since President Shavkat Mirziyoev took power almost a year ago while continuing to encourage “full-scale scale reform” in the Central Asian nation. (RFE/RL, 08.28.17)
• The United States has announced the appointment of Andrew Schofer as U.S. co-chair of a negotiating group on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. (RFE/RL, 08.29.17)
• Azerbaijan's State Security Service says it has killed a man suspected of planning terrorist attacks in a special operation in the town of Ismayili, northwest of the capital. (RFE/RL, 08.28.17)
• Azerbaijani authorities have sent the director of the independent Turan news agency to nearly three months of detention pending trial on tax evasion and abuse of power charges. (RFE/RL, 08.25.17)
• The journalism watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has called for the immediate release of Afqan Muxtarli, an investigative journalist who was abducted in Georgia and detained in Azerbaijan three months ago. (RFE/RL, 08.30.17)
• Southern Georgia will host the Agile Spirit 2017 multinational exercise engaging NATO member countries and partners on Sept. 3-11. (Interfax, 08.29.17)
• Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who is also a former governor of Ukraine's Odessa region, has accused Georgian and Ukrainian authorities of planning to accuse him of planning a coup in Georgia. (RFE/RL, 08.26.17)

IV. Quoteworthy

• “We sincerely want the political atmosphere to normalize,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. "But, as you know, it takes two to tango and so far we’ve been seeing our U.S. partners perform an individual break dance time and time again.” (The Moscow Times, 09.01.17)