This Week’s Highlights:

• Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, claimed in Moscow on July 18 that “important verbal agreements" were reached by Putin and Trump at their meeting. The U.S. side had yet to disclose what these agreements were as of July 20, while also rejecting Putin’s proposal to hold a referendum in Eastern Donbass.
• Trump has invited Putin to visit the U.S. in the fall, while another group of U.S. lawmakers are reportedly planning to visit Russia.
• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is set to regain control of his country's frontier with Israel in what appears to be part of a larger Russian plan to reinstitute Syrian control in the border region while clearing the area of pro-Iranian militias, as reported by Israel’s prime minister during his recent visit to Moscow and then discussed by Trump and Putin during their July 16 summit.
• As Russia’s State Duma passed the much-criticized bill to raise the retirement age, popular confidence in Putin fell to the lowest level since December 2011, hovering at 38 percent. Only 9 percent of Russians approve of raising the pension age.

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

Nuclear security and safety:

• “It is crucial that we fine-tune the dialogue on strategic stability and global security and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. We submitted our American colleagues a note with a number of specific suggestions,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told a press conference that he and U.S. President Donald Trump held after meeting in Helsinki on July 16. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• Unspecified amounts of military-grade plutonium and cesium reportedly were stolen from the backseat of a rental car in San Antonio last year—and still haven’t been recovered. The radioactive materials were in a suitcase in a car rented by two security experts from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory. (San Diego Union-Tribune, 07.20.18)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16 that "Russia has agreed to help with North Korea, where relationships with us are very good and the process is moving along." He also said that he had provided Putin with “an update on my meeting last month with Chairman Kim on the denuclearization of North Korea.” (RFE/RL, 07.18.18, The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• Russia and China are blocking a U.S. effort at the U.N. to halt all deliveries of refined oil products to North Korea amid charges that Pyongyang is smuggling fuel into the country. (RFE/RL, 07.20.18)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• “I … emphasized the importance of placing pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions, and to stop its campaign of violence throughout the area, throughout the Middle East,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin held after their July 16 summit. “I also made clear that the United States will not allow Iran to benefit from our successful campaign against ISIS. We have just about eradicated ISIS in the area.” (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• Countries that continue to import Iranian oil could avoid penalties by making "significant reductions" by the time Washington reimposes sanctions on Tehran later this year, top U.S. officials have said. (AP, 07.16.18)
• Iranian President Hassan Rohani's chief of staff is claiming that U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly asked to meet with Rohani during his visit to New York for the U.N. General Assembly last year. (RFE/RL, 07.19.18)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• “Well, our militaries do get along. In fact, our militaries actually have gotten along probably better than our political leaders, for years. But our militaries do get along very well, and they do coordinate in Syria and other places. OK?” U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin held after their July 16 summit. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• “Let me remind you that both Russian and American military acquired useful experience of coordination of their actions, established the operational channels of communication, which permit it to avoid dangerous incidents and unintentional collisions in the air and in the ground,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told a press conference that he and U.S. President Donald Trump held after meeting in Helsinki on July 16. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov was cited as saying it would also be good to organize a meeting between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and U.S. counterpart James Mattis, adding that a group of U.S. lawmakers are also planning to visit Russia. (Reuters, 07.20.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin's airplane, en route from Moscow to Helsinki, passed through NATO airspace for about 50 seconds on July 16. (New York Times, 07.17.18)
• NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has defended Georgia’s right to decide for itself whether it wants to join NATO, saying that Russian pressure against Tbilisi on the issue is “totally unacceptable.” (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 19 warned NATO against cultivating closer ties with Ukraine and Georgia, saying such a policy was irresponsible and would have unspecified consequences for the alliance. “Our colleagues, who are trying to aggravate the situation, seeking to include, among others, Ukraine and Georgia in the orbit of the alliance, should think about the possible consequences of such an irresponsible policy," Putin said. (The Moscow Times. 07.20.18)
• When asked by an interviewer, "Why should my son go to Montenegro to defend it from attack?" Trump replied, "I understand what you're saying. I've asked the same question." He said that Montenegro is "a tiny country with very strong people, by the way. They're very strong people, they're very aggressive people. They may get aggressive and, congratulations, you're in World War III." Trump then acknowledged that under Article 5, NATO would have to defend Montenegro if attacked because "that's the way it was set up." (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)

Missile defense:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin told a press conference that he and U.S. President Donald Trump held in Helsinki on July 16 that the U.S. and Russia should discuss Russian concerns over U.S. missile defenses and a ban on space weapons. (The Wall Street Journal, 07.17.18)
• Russia’s Air and Space Defense Forces conducted a successful test of a "modernized" interceptor of the Moscow missile defense system at the Sary-Shagan test site. It was said that the test took place in July, but the date was not disclosed. (Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, 07.20.18)

Nuclear arms control:

• In introductory remarks before the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that he hopes a deal to reduce both countries’ nuclear arsenals can eventually be reached, saying Russia and the U.S. possess about 90 percent of the world's nuclear arms. "Hopefully we can do something about that," said Trump. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin said after his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump that the Russian side provided a document to the Americans with a number of specific proposals, including prolonging the New START agreement. Putin told Fox News that he was ready to extend the New START treaty. (The Washington Post, 07.17.18, Financial Times, 07.16.18)
  • Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, claimed in Moscow July 18 that “important verbal agreements" were reached by Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump at their meeting and those agreements included preservation of the New START and INF agreements. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on July 19 of the dangers of Moscow and Washington failing to continue to mend ties, saying the New START treaty would expire soon unless both countries took action. "If today, right now, work on extending it is not begun, it will simply expire in a year and a half,” he said. (The Moscow Times, 07.19.18)
• The Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement July 17 declaring that it was ready to "activate contacts" with its U.S. counterparts to discuss arms control, "cooperation in Syria" and other security matters. (The Washington Post, 07.17.18)

Counter-terrorism:

• “The president and I also discussed the scourge of radical Islamic terrorism. Both Russia and the United States has suffered horrific terrorist attacks, and we have agreed to maintain open communication between our security agencies to protect our citizens from this global menace. Last year, we told Russia about a planned attack in St. Petersburg, and they were able to stop it cold,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference after the U.S.-Russia summit on July 16. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• “Our special services are cooperating quite successfully together. The most recent example is their operational cooperation within the recently concluded World Football Cup,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told the post-summit press conference. “Today, both Russia and the United States face a whole new set of challenges. Those include a dangerous maladjustment of mechanisms for maintaining international security and stability, regional crises, the creeping threats of terrorism and transnational crime, the snowballing problems in the economy, environmental risks and other sets of challenges. We can only cope with these challenges if we join ranks and work together,” he said. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)

Conflict in Syria:

• “President Putin also is helping Israel. And we both spoke with Bibi Netanyahu, and they would like to do certain things with respect to Syria, having to do with the safety of Israel. So, in that respect, we absolutely would like to work in order to help Israel. And Israel would be working with us. So, both countries would work jointly,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin. “This will allow us to return calm to the Golan, restore the cease-fire between Syria and Israel and fully guarantee the security of the State of Israel,” Putin told the same press conference. “Mr. President devoted a lot of attention to this. Russia wants this to happen,” he said. Bloomberg interpreted Putin’s words as an indication that Russia has agreed with the U.S. to secure Israel’s Golan Heights frontier with Syria, a line set in 1974 at the end of their last war. The two leaders did discuss an earlier agreement Russia had reached with Israel, based on a 1974 U.N. agreement, to keep all Iranian and proxy forces fighting on behalf of Assad's military at least 50 miles from Syria's border, according to The Washington Post. They also agreed to work together to address the bitter conflict in Syria and help with humanitarian concerns, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, The Washington Post also quoted nonmilitary U.S. officials, who were provided minimal, indirect readouts of the summit, as saying they were confident that no agreement had been struck with Putin on Syria, and that Trump made clear to Putin that no American departure from Syria was imminent. During the summit, there was no agreement announced for Russians to help remove Iranian forces from the country, according to The Wall Street Journal. Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, claimed in Moscow July 18 that during his summit with Trump, Putin had made "specific and interesting proposals to Washington" on how the two countries could cooperate on Syria. One idea under consideration, Antonov said, was a joint U.S.-Russian fight against terrorism in Syria. "It seemed to me, my impression was that the U.S. side listened . . . with interest," he said, according to The Washington Post. (Russia Matters, 07.20.18)
• Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is set to regain control of his country's frontier with Israel in a major victory over rebels who have agreed to surrender in negotiations with Russia, sources on both sides say. The resumption of Syrian control over areas bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, one of the last remaining rebel strongholds in the country, appears to be part of a larger Russian plan to reinstitute Syrian control in the border region while clearing the area of pro-Iranian militias, as sought repeatedly by Israel and the U.S. in talks with Moscow this year. (RFE/RL, 07.20.18)
• Russia's Defense Ministry said on July 18 that Russian and Syrian authorities had set up a refugee center in Syria to help refugees return home from abroad. (Reuters, 07.19.18)

Cyber security:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russian and other security services thwarted nearly 25 million cyberattacks linked to the World Cup. (AP, 07.16.18)

Elections interference:

• Hours before the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump blamed Washington's troubled relations with Moscow on U.S. investigations into Russia’s alleged 2016 election interference and into whether his campaign colluded with Russia. Putin denies the accusations of interference, and Trump says there was no collusion. "Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!" Trump tweeted, referring to U.S. special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. The Russian Foreign Ministry, which has accused Trump's domestic opponents and the U.S. establishment of thwarting efforts to improve relations, liked Trump's tweet and retweeted it with the words: "We agree." (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• In introductory remarks with reporters present, U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16: “So, I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I will tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today.” “The main thing—and we discussed this also—zero collusion … I didn't know the president. There was nobody to collude with,” he said. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• In the days after his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki, U.S. President Donald Trump faced fiercer criticism from U.S. lawmakers—including some Republicans—who said he failed to hold Putin accountable for Russian actions, such as what U.S intelligence agencies said was a campaign of interference in the 2016 U.S. election. Sen. John McCain, who has criticized Trump’s posture toward Russia in the past, called it "one of the most disgraceful performances by an American president in memory." House Speaker Paul Ryan, who rarely criticizes Trump publicly, contradicted Trump's equivocations about Moscow's election meddling and said "the president must appreciate that Russia is not our ally." Sen. Richard Burr, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, pushed back against Putin’s assurance at the Helsinki summit that his country did not meddle in the election, calling it "a lie" and adding that it should be recognized as one by the president. Trump sought to calm the storm in comments on July 17, saying that he misspoke in Helsinki when he stated that he saw no reason to think that Russia had meddled. "The sentence should have been, 'I don't see any reason … why it wouldn't be Russia'" that interfered, Trump said. He said that he accepted the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the election, but added: "It could be other people also. A lot of people out there." (RFE/RL, 07.18.18, NBC, 07.16.18)
  • U.S. national security adviser John Bolton on July 17 laid out four talking points for the crisis-hit White House, according to one official: that Trump stress he supports U.S. intelligence agencies, that there was never any Russian collusion with his campaign, that Russian meddling is unacceptable and the United States is doing everything it can to protect elections in 2018 and beyond. (The Moscow Times, 07.20.18)
• “I heard rumors that we allegedly collected compromising material on Mr. Trump when he visited Moscow,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said after his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 16. “When he visited back then, I didn’t know he was there … You think we try to collect kompromat on every single businessman? It’s hard to image a bigger nonsense.” (Financial Times, 07.16.18)
• After the news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin scoffed at the Mueller investigation. "It's quite clear to me that this is used in the internal political struggle, and it's nothing to be proud of for American democracy, to use such dirty methods in the political rivalry," he said. (The Wall Street Journal, 07.17.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on July 18 that Russia is no longer interfering in U.S. elections, contradicting remarks by his chief of national intelligence, who has warned that Russia is continuing to try to influence the 2018 U.S. congressional elections. Trump's statement on the subject came as journalists were being ushered out of the cabinet meeting and a reporter shouted, "Is Russia still targeting the U.S., Mr. President?" Trump responded: "Thank you very much. No," looking at the reporter and shaking his head. She asked again: "No, you don't believe that to be the case?" Trump again said, "No." (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• A top cybersecurity official for the director of national intelligence said July 20 there is "good reason" the intelligence community is warning that the threats of Russian cyberattacks are "blinking red" ahead of the 2018 midterms. "With regards to Russia, I agree with the DNI and others' characterization that they are the most aggressive foreign actor that we see in cyberspace," said Tonya Ugoretz, who serves as director of the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (The Washington Post, 07.20.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump’s own director of intelligence, Dan Coats, pushed back against Trump’s remarks during the July 16 news conference and clearly stated, again, that the American intelligence agencies had concluded Russia tried to influence the 2016 election. (New York Times, 07.17.18)
• FBI Director Christopher Wray and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen have said in remarks at a conference that Russia did attack the U.S. and is continuing to interfere in domestic political affairs. "We haven't seen an effort to target specific election infrastructure at this time," Wray said. But Russia "continues to engage in malign influence operations to this day." (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, speaking at a gathering of U.S. secretaries of state, said the Russians were using social media, “sympathetic spokespeople and other fronts to sow discord and divisiveness amongst the American people.” She added, however, that the efforts are not “necessarily focused on specific politicians or political campaigns." Nielsen also contended that there were no signs Russia is targeting this year's midterm elections with the same "scale or scope" it attacked the 2016 U.S. presidential election. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• Two weeks before his inauguration, U.S. President Donald Trump was shown highly classified intelligence indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin had personally ordered complex cyberattacks to sway the 2016 American election. The evidence included texts and emails from Russian military officers and information gleaned from a top-secret source close to Putin, who had described to the CIA how the Kremlin decided to execute its campaign of hacking and disinformation. Several human sources had confirmed Putin’s own role. That included one particularly valuable source, who was considered so sensitive that former CIA director John Brennan had declined to refer to it in any way in the Presidential Daily Brief during the final months of the Obama administration, as the Russia investigation intensified. Instead, to keep the information from being shared widely, Brennan sent reports from the source to Obama and a small group of top national security aides in a separate, white envelope to assure its security. (New York Times, 07.18.18)
• When asked if he would ask Russian President Vladimir Putin to send the 12 indicted Russian nationals to the U.S., U.S. President Donald Trump said: “Well, I might. I hadn’t thought of that. But I certainly, I'll be asking about it. But again, this was during the Obama administration. They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration.” (The Washington Post, 07.16.18)
• One the 12 Russian citizens accused of interfering in the 2016 U.S. presidential election participated in a 2014 conference of hackers on the topic of "infiltration, hacking and the national peculiarities of cyberwarfare." (RFE/RL, 07.19.18)
• "The Russians … found it in their interest to meddle in our election. But the point is, we meddle in their elections," U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said. "We meddle all over the world at a much higher rate than what Moscow does." (The Wall Street Journal, 07.20.18)
• "I think for the president to cast doubt is appropriate," U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa said, referring to the probe into election interference. "Having said that, Putin is an evil man who has killed many people in his own country, there's no question at all Russia is still an adverse entity to the United States." (The Wall Street Journal, 07.17.18)
• Sens. Marco Rubio and Chris Van Hollen are stepping up a push for action on their bipartisan proposal to hit Russia with automatic new sanctions if it interferes in future U.S. elections. Rubio and Van Hollen have asked bipartisan leaders of the Banking and Foreign Relations committees, which share jurisdiction over sanctions legislation, to hold a hearing on and mark up their plan to impose new penalties on Moscow within 10 days after the director of national intelligence determines that further electoral meddling has occurred. Introduced in January, the Rubio-Van Hollen bill picked up eight new cosponsors on July 19, evenly divided between both parties. (Politico, 07.20.18)
• In the Senate, Republicans objected to two nonbinding measures that would have put the body on record as being in support of intelligence agency conclusions that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, called on Trump to fully impose sanctions against Russia and pressed for oversight of the summit meeting, including the production of any notes taken by Americans. (New York Times, 07.19.18)
• House Republicans on July 19 voted down a Democratic effort to increase election security spending, as Democrats accused the GOP of refusing to stand up to Russia over interference in U.S. elections. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• A 29-year-old Russian woman living in Washington, D.C., has been arrested and charged with conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian government while developing ties with American citizens and infiltrating political groups, the U.S. Justice Department said on July 16. Maria Butina, who studied at American University in Washington and is a founder of the pro-gun Russian advocacy group Right to Bear Arms, was arrested on July 15 and accused of operating at the direction of Alexander Torshin, a high-level official who worked for the Russian Central Bank and was recently sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury, the Justice Department said. Butina has appeared in numerous photographs on her Facebook page with Torshin. (Reuters, 07.17.18)
  • Butina has ties to Russian intelligence operatives and was in contact with them while in the U.S., federal prosecutors said July 18. (The Washington Post, 07.18.18)
  • Butina cultivated a "personal relationship" with an American Republican consultant as part of her cover and offered sex to at least one other person "in exchange for a position within a special interest organization," according to a court filing. (The Washington Post, 07.18.18)
  • Through her attorney, Robert N. Driscoll, Butina pleaded not guilty at the hearing July 18. He has said she was not a Russian agent but instead a student interested in forming bonds with Americans. In arguing that she should be released, Driscoll revealed that Butina had offered to assist law enforcement with a federal criminal investigation of an unidentified person in South Dakota. A description of that person's activities in court filings matches that of Paul Erickson. (The Washington Post, 07.18.18)
  • A spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry on July 18 called Butina's arrest alarming, saying it was aimed at undermining the outcomes of this week's meeting in Helsinki. The Foreign Ministry has also launched an online campaign in support of Butina. (The Washington Post, 07.18.18, The Moscow Times, 07.20.18)
  • Asked if he was concerned about Russian attempts to infiltrate American religious groups, including the National Prayer Breakfast—which was attended in 2016 and 2017 by Butina—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is ''concerned any time any country attempts to interfere with religious freedom of any individual.'' (New York Times, 07.19.18)
  • On July 17, U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher said that he had met with Butina on a 2015 trip to Russia. But Rohrabacher dismissed the charges against her as “bogus.” (New York Times, 07.18.18)
• A U.S. judge in Virginia has denied a request to relocate the trial of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort. Manafort's lawyers sought to move his upcoming trial from Alexandria—which is a politically left-leaning part of the Washington, D.C., area—to Roanoke—which is in the more conservative southern part of the state. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• Republican lawmakers contend that former FBI lawyer Lisa Page provided new information during private testimony July 20 that further convinces them political bias marred the investigations of Hillary Clinton's emails and the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia. (The Washington Post, 07.13.18)
• Jared Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, affirmed on July 18 he’d accept service of the complaint that was filed in April against President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, after the DNC failed repeatedly to deliver the document to Kushner’s homes in Manhattan and Washington, the DNC said July 19 in a court filing. (Bloomberg, 07.20.18)

Energy exports:

• “Well, actually I called him a competitor. And a good competitor he is. And I think the word ‘competitor’ is a compliment. I think that we will be completing when you talk about the [Nord Stream 2] pipeline. I'm not sure, necessarily, that it's in the best interests of Germany or not, but that was a decision that they made. We'll be competing—as you know, the United States is now—or soon will be, but I think it actually is right now the largest in the oil and gas world,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16  (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• “While we discussed the internal Ukrainian crisis, we paid special attention to the bona fide implementation of Minsk Agreements by Kiev. At the same time, United States could be more decisive in nudging the Ukrainian leadership, and encourage it to work actively on this,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told a press conference after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 16. “Then about the Nord Stream 2, Mr. President voiced his concerns about the possibility of disappearance of transit through Ukraine. And I reassured Mr. President that Russia stands ready to maintain this transit,” Putin said. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• On July 18, Republican Sens. John Barrasso and Cory Gardner introduced a bill that would make mandatory U.S. economic sanctions on companies building the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. The bill also seeks to streamline the export of more U.S. natural gas to allies such as Japan and members of NATO. Separately, Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez said July 19 that he will introduce a new bill to put teeth into the existing but still unused sanctions on Russian energy. (Foreign Policy, 07.19.18)

Bilateral economic ties:

• "It was announced that they would create an economic working group," Konstantin Kosachyov, head of Russia’s International Relations Committee of the Federation Council, said of the Helsinki summit. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• Russia was the biggest seller of U.S. Treasuries in May, selling $14 billion, according to Financial Times. Russia also sold $47 billion worth of U.S. Treasuries in April, according to Vzglyad. (Russia Matters. 07.18.18)
• Boeing is to spend $27 billion in Russia in the next 30 years to fund procurement of titanium and other purchases, according to a Boeing representative in Russia. (Russia Matters, 07.17.18)
• The U.S. has begun investigating whether uranium imports threaten national security, launching a process that could lead to more tariffs being imposed on imports from Russia and Central Asian countries. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross announced the probe on July 18 and said it would cover the entire uranium sector, including mining and enrichment, as well as both defense and industrial uses of the radioactive metal. Former Soviet republics provided more than one-third of the imported uranium used in U.S. power generation: Kazakhstan 24 percent, Russia 14 percent and Uzbekistan 4 percent. (RFE/RL, 07.19.18)

Other bilateral issues:

• Prior to his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump predicted the U.S. and Russia will "end up having an extraordinary relationship" and emphasized that he believes "getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing." "I really think the world wants to see us get along," Trump said, adding that he believes Russia and the U.S. have "great opportunities" to cooperate. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• When asked prior to the summit who his biggest competitor and global foes are, U.S. President Donald Trump told CBS: “Well I think we have a lot of foes. I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe. Russia is foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly they are a foe. But that doesn’t mean they are bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they are competitive.” (The Washington Post, 07.16.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said prior to the summit: “I don’t expect anything [from the meeting with Putin]. I frankly don’t expect—I go in with very low expectations. I think that getting along with Russia is a good thing. But it’s possible we won’t. I think we’re greatly hampered by this whole witch hunt that’s going on in the United States. The Russian witch hunt.” (The Washington Post,. 07.16.18)
  • The White House on July 14 rejected calls from leading members of Congress to cancel the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the wake of the indictments, which have increased domestic pressure on Trump to take a tough stance with Putin on the alleged meddling. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• Heading into the summit, the White House had planned for U.S. President Donald Trump to "push Putin" at the news conference, one official said. The White House thought any confrontational approach from Trump toward the Russian president would "make him look good.” "Obviously, it didn't happen," the official said. (The Wall Street Journal, 07.17.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump sought to portray the summit as the end of years of wrong-headed U.S. policy towards the Kremlin, saying former U.S. President Barack Obama and the Mueller probe had improperly damaged bilateral ties. “Our relationship has never been worse than it is now,” Trump said. “However, that changed as of about four hours ago.” Asked whether the Kremlin—which has been accused by the West of invading Ukraine, poisoning a former Russian spy in the U.K. and propping up the murderous regime in Syria—bore any responsibility for the breach, Trump said blame lay on all sides. “I think we have all been foolish,” he said. “We have both made some mistakes.” (Financial Times, 07.16.18)
• “We also agreed that representatives from our national security councils will meet to follow up on all of the issues we addressed today, and to continue the progress we have started right here in Helsinki,” U.S. President Donald Trump told a press conference after the U.S.-Russia summit on July 16. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• At the post-summit press conference, a reporter asked U.S. President Donald Trump: “Mr. President, you tweeted this morning that it's U.S. foolishness, stupidity and the Mueller probe that is responsible for the decline in U.S. relations with Russia. Do you hold Russia at all accountable or anything in particular? And if so, what would you what would you consider them that they are responsible for?” Trump said: “Yes I do. I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. I think we've all been foolish. We should have had this dialogue a long time ago, a long time frankly before I got to office. And I think we're all to blame.” (KNBA, 07.16.18)
• White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders listed a number of topics that had been discussed at the summit, including "Syrian humanitarian aid, Iran's nuclear ambition, Israeli security, North Korean denuclearization, Ukraine and the occupation of Crimea, reducing Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals and of course your favorite topic, Russia's interference in our elections." (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said the administration was "assessing . . . three takeaways" from the summit which she characterized as "modest." They were the establishment of separate working groups of business leaders and foreign-policy experts, and follow-up meetings between the national security council staffs of both countries. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, said in response to a question at the Aspen Security Forum: "Well, you're right, I don't know what happened at that meeting." (The Moscow Times, 07.20.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking to Russian diplomats from around the world assembled in Moscow, said on July 19 the Helsinki summit had been successful. "It was successful overall and led to some useful agreements. Of course, let's see how events will develop further," he said, without disclosing the nature of the agreements he referred to. (The Moscow Times, 07.19.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 19 accused forces in the U.S. of trying to undermine the success of his first summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, but said the two leaders had begun to improve U.S.-Russia ties anyway. (The Moscow Times, 07.19.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump’s longest encounter with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16, a two hour-plus session, included no other officials or note-takers, just interpreters. Asked about calls from congressional Democrats for testimony from the U.S. interpreter, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said it was a question for the State Department. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that there was no precedent for such a demand and that there had been "no formal request" for such an appearance. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• “We do have interests that are common. We are looking for points of contact. There are issues where our postures diverge, and we are looking for ways to reconcile our differences, how to make our effort more meaningful,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told the post-summit press conference. (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18)
• In an interview with Russia's RT television shortly before the summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov set the goalposts for the meeting: "The ideal outcome would be to agree to engage all the channels [of communication] on all divisive issues and also on those issues where we can already usefully cooperate." After the summit,  Lavrov described the talks as “amazing” and “better than super.” (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• “That which happened was the best possible [scenario] in the current circumstances,” according to Konstantin Kosachev, head of the Russian Federation Council’s foreign affairs committee. (The Moscow Times, 07.17.18)
• Andrei Klimov, deputy head of the foreign affairs committee in Russia's upper house of parliament, said July 17 that he expected senior U.S. and Russian officials to meet repeatedly in the next six months and hammer out a "road map" toward resolving contentious issues and deepening cooperation. Intelligence agencies, for instance, need to start working together more closely to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, Klimov said. Nuclear arms control and solutions to the Syria and Ukraine crises need to be discussed, he added. (The Washington Post, 07.17.18)
• The White House says U.S. President Donald Trump "disagrees" with a proposal by Russian President Vladimir Putin to have Russian investigators question U.S. citizens, including Michael McFaul, the former ambassador to Moscow. "It is a proposal made in sincerity by President Putin, but President Trump disagrees with it," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement on July 19. "Hopefully, President Putin will have the 12 identified Russians come to the United States to prove their innocence or guilt," she added. (RFE/RL, 07.20.18)
• British-American investor and rights activist William Browder says U.S. President Donald Trump may have made a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their summit to help Russian law enforcement pursue him. Browder said Putin wanted access to him, and in exchange is willing to give U.S. law enforcement agencies access to the 12 Russian intelligence agents who were accused of hacking and leaking U.S. Democratic Party documents. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• Only a third of Americans approved of the way U.S. President Donald Trump handled his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But a clear majority of Republicans—70 percent—approved of how Trump performed there, according to a new CBS poll. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to Washington this autumn, the White House said on July 19, a daring rebuttal to the torrent of criticism in the U.S. over Trump's failure to publicly confront Putin at their first summit for Moscow's meddling in the 2016 election. A senior White House official said national security adviser John Bolton extended the official invitation to Putin on July 19 via his Russian counterpart. "President Trump asked [national security adviser John Bolton] to invite President Putin to Washington in the fall and those discussion are already underway," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote on Twitter on July 19. (The Moscow Times, 07.20.18, RFE/RL, 07.20.18)
  • Russia is ready to discuss a proposed new meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Russia's ambassador to the U.S., Anatoly Antonov, was cited as saying on July 20. (The Moscow Times, 07.20.18)
  • U.S. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats on July 19 urged U.S. President Donald Trump not to meet alone again with Russian President Vladimir Putin at their next summit in Washington, proposed on July 19 by Trump. (The Wall Street Journal, 07.19.18)
• "The Fake News Media wants so badly to see a major confrontation with Russia, even a confrontation that could lead to war," U.S. President Donald Trump wrote amid a series of morning tweets on July 19. "They are pushing so recklessly hard and hate the fact that I'll probably have a good relationship with Putin." (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on July 19 the U.S. hoped to advance religious freedom in Russia. But he did not raise specific concerns about religious repression in Russia or suggest remedies that the U.S. might be seeking. (New York Times, 07.19.18)
• U.S. Sen. Rand Paul called the constant criticism in Washington of U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to improve relations with Russia a "Trump derangement syndrome." "I think these people are mistaken," Paul said. "We should look for ways to make the dialogue better." (RFE/RL, 07.17.18)
• The percentage of Americans who think U.S. President Donald Trump is too friendly toward Russia has grown since last year. Nearly half—46 percent—think Trump is too friendly, compared to 35 percent last year. The growth is mainly among Democrats and independents. And perhaps as a result, nearly 4 in 10 Americans feel less confident about Trump's ability to stand up for U.S. interests after the summit, according to a new CBS poll. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• In recent polling by the independent Levada Center, 69 percent of Russians expressed negative feelings toward the U.S. That figure is a little lower than the 81 percent who responded in that fashion during the peak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014–2015. (Carnegie Moscow Center, 07.11.18.)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• 2018 could prove to be the first year that Russia’s population declines since 2008. Russia’s population had been growing from 2009 to 2017, according to the World Bank’s database, which partially relies on data provided by national governments.  The database shows Russia’s population increased by 152,648 last year compared to 2016. However, the first five months of this year saw Russia’s permanent population decline by 77,100 compared to the same period last year, according to the latest batch of demographic data posted by Russia’s statistical service. The number of those born in January-May 2018 totaled 651,100 while the number of deceased totaled 798,300. Inbound migration compensated for only 47.2 percent of the natural population decline in that period, according to the statistical service. (Russia Matters, 07.19.18)
• In June 2018, the Russian Health Ministry said life expectancy for men grew by 1.01 years to 72.7 in 2017, while the life expectancy for women grew by 0.58 to 77.64 years. Overall, the life expectancy in Russia grew by 7.2 years from 2005 to 2017, according to the Russian government. (Russia Matters, 07.19.18)
• According to the Russian Central Bank’s July estimates, inflation in June 2018 slowed down to 2.3 percent after totaling 2.4 percent in May. Overall, however, inflation this year may turn out to be higher than last year’s 2.5 percent if the Central Bank’s forecast of 3.4 to 4 percent for 2018 turns out to be correct. It should also be noted that the Ministry of the Economy’s inflation forecast is 2.9 to 3.1 percent for 2018. (Russia Matters, 07.19.18)
• Russia’s economy in the first quarter of 2018 grew by 1.7 percent compared to the same period last year, and by 1.8 percent in the second quarter of 2018 compared to the same period last year, according to the Russian Ministry of the Economy. However, the ministry has also revised its forecast for this year’s 2.2 percent GDP growth to 1.4 percent growth. (Russia Matters, 07.19.18)
• Russia’s State Duma passed controversial legislation to raise the retirement age in the first of three readings on July 19, amid protests by several hundred activists outside the parliament building. The bill passed with 328 lawmakers voting in favor of the reform and 104 voting against. Only 9 percent of Russians approve of increasing the retirement age. Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 20 ended weeks of silence about the plan, saying no final decision has been made but warning of a growing strain on public finances. Putin said that he likes none of the options presented so far. While conceding the issue is “very sensitive,” he signaled Russia may be running out of time to find a fix. Pensions will probably have to remain low if no changes are made, he said. (The Moscow Times, 07.19.18, The Washington Post, 07.19.18, Bloomberg, 07.20.18)
• Confidence among Russians in Russian President Vladimir Putin fell below 38 percent in the first two weeks of July, the lowest level since December 2011, according to state-run polling company VTsIOM. Another recent survey found that 80 percent oppose the plans to raise the retirement age, with 43 percent of respondents saying they’d join any local protests against them if they take place. (Bloomberg, 07.18.18)
• In a July 8 poll by the Public Opinion Foundation—the polling agency the Kremlin itself uses—only 49 percent of respondents said they would vote for Russian President Vladimir Putin if elections were held that Sunday, a drop from 62 percent just a month earlier. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• In a June poll by the Levada Center, only 46 percent of respondents said they thought Russia was headed in the right direction, while 42 percent said they thought things were headed in the wrong direction—a shift from 60 percent and 26 percent, respectively, in April. That's a 30-point drop in net sentiment in one month. (The Washington Post, 07.19.18)
• Pyotr Ofitserov, a businessman who was a co-defendant in one of the criminal cases against Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, has reportedly died at the age of 43. (RFE/RL, 07.14.18)
• Russian theater and film director Kirill Serebrennikov called the embezzlement allegations against him and his colleagues "absurd" as a Moscow court ordered him to remain under house arrest until Aug. 22. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• The European Court of Human Rights ruled July 17 that Russia failed to properly investigate the murder of investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, whose stories exposed the corruption and brutality of security forces in the breakaway Russian region of Chechnya. (The Wall Street Journal, 07.17.18)
• Four anti-Kremlin protesters who briefly interrupted the World Cup final on July 15 have been sentenced to 15 days behind bars for violating attendance rules for sporting events. (The Moscow Times, 07.17.18)
• Foreign visitors have reportedly spent $1.5 billion during the World Cup over the past month in Russia. (The Moscow Times, 07.18.18)
• Russian president Vladimir Putin issued an order yesterday to end the special research status of Shikhany, the secretive town believed by British intelligence to have produced Novichok, a lethal nerve agent. U.K. authorities say the poison was recently used by Kremlin agents to try to kill former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. (Quartz, 07.18.18)
• Russian investigators have confirmed the authenticity of the bodies of Tsar Nicholas II and his family members on the eve of the 100th anniversary of their murder. (The Moscow Times, 07.16.18)

Defense and aerospace:

• Russia on July 19 broadcast a series of videos showing the testing and operation of a new generation of nuclear and conventional weapons, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump discussed how to avoid an arms race. The new weapons included an RS-28 Sarmat ICBM, a Burevestnik cruise missile, a Poseidon nuclear torpedo, a Kh-47M2 "Kinzhal" hypersonic missile, an Avangard hypersonic boost-glide vehicle and a Peresvet laser. Russia is claiming that the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aero-ballistic missile will have a range of 3,000 kilometers aboard the Tupolev Tu-22M3 Backfire supersonic bomber. Moscow also claims that the weapon has a range of 2,000 kilometers when launched from the Mach 2.83-capable Mikoyan MiG-31K Foxhound interceptor, onboard which it was initially fielded. (Reuters, 07.19.18, Business Insider, 07.19.18,The National Interest, 07.18.18)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has raided a space research facility after a suspected leak of hypersonic missile secrets to Western spies. State space agency Roskosmos said its security staff were co-operating with FSB officers on a criminal case. Russia's Kommersant daily says about 10 staff at a Roskosmos facility called TsNIIMash are under suspicion. (BBC, 07.20.18)
• Slovak authorities have extradited an asylum seeker from the Russian Caucasus region of Ingushetia to Russia, the Slovakian Justice Ministry said on July 18, despite protests by rights watchdogs and a U.N. Human Rights Committee ruling. Aslan Yandiev had been held in custody in Slovakia since 2011 on a Russian warrant for involvement in a series of bomb attacks in 2006 in Vladikavkaz, Russia's Federal Security Service said in a statement. (Reuters, 07.18.18)
• Russian media reports say Gen. Aleksandr Drymanov, the former head of the Moscow branch of Russia's Investigative Committee, has been detained until Sept. 12 over alleged links to the bosses of organized criminal groups. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• A group of visitors from Latin America are suspected of stealing $2.1-million worth of diamonds in the Russian World Cup host city of Kazan. (The Moscow Times, 07.17.18)
• Russian police have reportedly been released from a gag order on publishing crime reports days after the World Cup was brought to a close. (The Moscow Times, 07.19.18)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• U.K. investigators have reportedly identified several Russian suspects believed to be behind the Novichok nerve agent attack on the Skripals. “Investigators identified the suspected perpetrators through CCTV and have cross-checked the footage with records of people who entered the country around that time,” the Press Association was cited as saying by ITV. “They [the investigators] are sure they [the suspects] are Russian.” The latest news came as an inquest was opening for Dawn Sturgess, who died earlier this month after apparently coming into contact with Novichok from the same batch used in the attempted murder of the Skripals. Investigators are working to a theory that the substance was in a discarded perfume bottle found by Sturgess and her partner in a park or somewhere in downtown Salisbury, and Sturgess sprayed Novichok straight on to her skin. (The Moscow Times, 07.19.18, The Telegraph, 07.19.18)
• The same Russian military intelligence service now accused of disrupting the 2016 presidential election in America may also be responsible for the nerve agent attack in Britain against a former Russian spy. British investigators believe the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, was most probably carried out by current or former agents of the GRU who were sent to Skripal’s home in southern England. (New York Times, 07.15.18)
• British counterterrorism police say they believe they have found the source of the Novichok nerve agent that killed a woman in southwest England and made her partner critically ill. Police said in a statement late on July 13 that a small bottle was found in the Amesbury residence of one of the victims, Charlie Rowley, and scientists confirmed that it contained Novichok. (RFE/RL, 07.14.18)
• The “2+2” talks between Russia’s and Japan’s foreign and defense ministers are expected to be held in Moscow on July 21. (The National Interest, 07.08.18.)
• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reportedly canceled a trip to Greece, as tensions escalated between the two countries over a decision by Athens to expel two diplomats accused of trying to stoke opposition to an agreement that would clear the way for Macedonia to join NATO. (New York Times, 07.19.18)
• France has decided to shut its Business France trade agency in Russia after what it said on July 16 was a long period of negotiations with local authorities following Moscow's expulsion of its director. (Reuters, 07.17.18)
• European Council President Donald Tusk has urged the U.S., Russia and China to avoid starting trade wars that could threaten the global order and endanger world peace. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has dismissed the Taliban’s rejection of his offer of peace talks, suggesting that the militant group can still be persuaded to come to the negotiating table. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)
• A South Korean salvage team has discovered the wreck of an imperial Russian warship that was sunk in a naval battle 113 years ago and is believed to still contain a trove of gold bullion and coins worth $130 billion. Half of any treasure found aboard the vessel would be handed over to the Russian government, Shinil Group said, while 10 percent of the remainder would be invested in tourism projects and another portion would be donated to joint development projects in northeast Asia, such as a railway line from Russia to South Korea through North Korea. (The Telegraph, 07.19.18)

China:

• No significant developments.

Ukraine:

• Russian President Vladimir Putin said during their summit he and U.S. President Donald Trump disagreed on whether Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea was illegal.  “President Trump and—well, posture of President Trump on Crimea is well known, and he stands firmly by it. He continued to maintain that it was illegal to annex it. Our viewpoint is different. We held a referendum in strict compliance with the U.N. charter and the international legislation.” (The Washington Post/Bloomberg, 07.16.18, Financial Times, 07.16.18)
• The U.S. administration has said it is "not considering supporting" a proposal made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the July 16 Helsinki summit to hold a referendum in regions of eastern Ukraine. Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov has earlier said Putin made concrete proposals to Trump about resolving the conflict in eastern Ukraine, though he did not spell out what these were. (RFE/RL, 07.20.18, The Moscow Times, 07.20.18, The Moscow Times, 07.20.18, Bloomberg, 07.19.18)
• The U.S. Department of Defense announced on July 20 that it will provide $200 million to Ukraine in security cooperation funds for additional training, equipment and advisory efforts to build the defensive capacity of Ukraine’s forces. (Defense.gov, 07.20.18)
• EU ambassadors have decided to add six Russian entities to its asset freeze and visa ban list for being involved in the recent construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge—a 19-kilometer-long bridge linking the mainland of southern Russia with the Crimean Peninsula. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed in clashes in the country's east. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry says Russia-backed separatists used grenade launchers and assault rifles in two attacks on July 17, killing one Ukrainian soldier. (RFE/RL, 07.17.18)
• Russian intelligence has acquired internal documents of the OSCE team monitoring the conflict in eastern Ukraine, including dossiers with personal information about its hundreds of staff members, from a spy, likely a staff member. (RFE/RL, 07.17.18)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko says Russia "must be held accountable" for downing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in 2014 over the war zone in eastern Ukraine. Poroshenko wrote on Facebook on July 17, the fourth anniversary of the tragedy, that Ukraine "has been providing investigators with all necessary assistance." Russia denies any responsibility. (RFE/RL, 07.17.18)
• New maps based on satellite imagery appear to show that vegetation on Crimea is drying up at an alarming rate, raising new questions about water supplies in the Russian-annexed region. (RFE/RL, 07.13.18)
• The U.N. has called on Ukraine to take “immediate action” to end what it called the “systematic persecution” of the country’s Roma minority population. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)
• Dozens of people have commemorated journalist Pavel Sheremet on the second anniversary of his killing in a car-bomb blast in central Kiev. (RFE/RL, 07.20.18)
• A Ukrainian court ruling has revealed that former Ukrainian Defense Minister Mykhaylo Yezhel, who is wanted in Ukraine for the alleged misuse of state finances, has received political asylum in Belarus. (RFE/RL, 07.18.18)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• The Paris-based Reporters Without Borders and the National Association of Independent Mass Media in Tajikistan have condemned a 12-year prison sentence against Tajik journalist Hairullo Mirsaidov and called for his immediate release, saying the charges against him for alleged financial crimes were politically motivated. (RFE/RL, 07.16.18)

IV. Quoteworthy

• “It was a meeting that had to take place. I have advocated it for several years. It has been submerged by American domestic issues. It is certainly a missed opportunity. But I think one has to come back to something. Look at Syria and Ukraine. It’s a unique characteristic of Russia that upheaval in almost any part of the world affects it, gives it an opportunity and is also perceived by it as a threat. Those upheavals will continue. I fear they will accelerate,” Henry Kissinger said of the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki. (Financial Times, 07.20.18)
• Henry Kissinger noted Russia’s “almost mystical” tolerance for suffering. His key point is that the west wrongly assumed in the years before Putin annexed Crimea that Russia would adopt the west’s rules-based order. NATO misread Russia’s deep-seated craving for respect. “The mistake NATO has made is to think that there is a sort of historic evolution that will march across Eurasia and not to understand that somewhere on that march it will encounter something very different to a Westphalian [western idea of a state] entity. And for Russia this is a challenge to its identity.” (Financial Times, 07.20.18)
• "Putin's been a hit," said Michal Holas, a worker at a novelty store selling custom-made shirts at a central shopping district in Prague. "Even more than Einstein or Marilyn Monroe." (The Washington Post, 07.12.18)