This Week’s Highlights:

• U.S. national security adviser John Bolton and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev chose not to issue a joint statement following their meeting in Geneva due to a disagreement over whether the statement should include language on elections interference, according to Russia’s Gazeta.ru news portal.
• During Congressional hearings this week, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy—who visited Moscow in July as part of a congressional delegation—asked Treasury officials how Russia’s economy could be “brought to its knees,” according to Bloomberg.
• Vital Kremlin informants have largely gone silent, leaving the CIA and other spy agencies in the dark about precisely what the Kremlin’s intentions are for November’s midterm elections, the New York Times reports.
• Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called Russia’s upcoming war games in Siberia and the Far East "the largest preparatory action for the armed forces since Zapad-81,” according to The Moscow Times.
• Russia says the Islamic State is playing stock markets and investing in businesses around the globe, reports AlJazeera.

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

Nuclear security and safety:

• Russian scientists have taken to the seas in a research vessel as part of an effort to locate and map radioactive waste, nuclear reactors and other castoffs the Soviet Navy scuttled in the Arctic’s Kara Sea. (Bellona, 08.21.18)

North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs:

• The U.S. on Aug. 21 announced sanctions on two Russian shipping companies and six vessels it said were involved in the transfer of refined petroleum products to North Korean vessels in violation of U.N. restrictions. (Reuters, 08.21.18)
• Russia will oppose a U.S. request to the U.N. Security Council to blacklist two Russian shipping firms and six Russian-flagged vessels over their dealings with sanctions-hit North Korea, the Russian ambassador said Aug. 23. The U.S. Treasury identified the shipping firms as Vladivostok-based shipping companies Primorye and Gudzon. (AFP, 08.23.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said on Aug. 24 he had canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s planned trip to North Korea next week because “we are not making sufficient progress” toward the goal of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. Earlier in the week, Trump said it was "most likely" that he will have a second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the two nations negotiate over the issue of denuclearizing the peninsula. (Reuters, 08.24.18, RFE/RL, 08.21.18)

Iran’s nuclear program and related issues:

• Tehran has urged the EU, Russia and China to accelerate their efforts to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal after the accord was abandoned by U.S. President Donald Trump on grounds that it was "deeply flawed." (RFE/RL, 08.20.18)

Military issues, including NATO-Russia relations:

• White House national security adviser John Bolton and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev met in Geneva on Aug. 23.
  • After the meeting, Patrushev said he and Bolton had broadly agreed to re-open communication lines between their respective foreign and defense ministries. Patrushev, who also said a broad agreement on restarting contacts between army chiefs-of-staff had been reached, said he had invited Bolton and U.S. officials to Russia for future talks, but said no date had been agreed for a follow-up meeting.
  • Bolton said he warned Moscow that the U.S. "wouldn't tolerate meddling” in the upcoming midterm elections. According to Gazeta.ru, Bolton’s team insisted that the joint statement to be signed by the two officials at the end of the talks include an item saying that the U.S. believes Russia has meddled in U.S. elections, but that the Russian side denies it. The Russian team said it would agree to such language only if the statement also commits the U.S. to refraining from interference in the internal affairs of other countries, Gazeta.ru quoted Patrushev as saying. Eventually, the two officials chose not to issue a joint statement because of this disagreement, according to Gazeta.ru.
  • Bolton said he discussed a “series of steps” with Patrsuev that would lead to removing Iran's military presence in Syria. The administration has demanded that Iran withdraw all of its "regular and irregular" military forces from Syria. "That would be an objective that I think President Putin would share," Bolton said after meeting Patrushev.
    • Speaking in Israel on Aug. 22, Bolton claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin told the U.S. that an Iranian presence in Syria does not tally with Russian interests and he would be content to see all Iran-linked forces go home. "It was not a question of where they might be inside Syria. We were talking about a complete return of both the regular and irregular Iranian forces.” His claims clashed with recent statements by Russian officials, who have said that Iran was playing a constructive role in Syria. Patrushev and Bolton also discussed Ukraine and cyber-security and nuclear issues. While in Israel, Bolton also said Russian military forces were "stuck" in Syria at the moment. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov challenged Bolton's remarks, saying: "It is not correct for anyone, let alone our counterparts in Washington, to claim that Russia is stuck someplace. Let us not forget that U.S. military personnel are present on Syrian soil, too."
  • The Trump administration is "very, very early in the process of considering" what it wants to do about New START, Bolton said Aug. 23 after meeting with Patrushev. Bolton said that U.S. options include extending the accord, renegotiating it or returning to the agreement it replaced—the one-page Moscow Treaty signed in 2002 by President George W. Bush. "All of these are things the United States is going to consider, along with what to do about the INF," Bolton said.
  • Prior to the meeting Bolton also said he intended to discuss Iraq.  (RFE/RL, 08.23.18, The Washington Post, 08.22.18, TASS, 08.20.18, RFE/RL,  08.23.18, Reuters, 08.23.18, Russia Matters, 08.28.18, RFE/RL, 08.22.18, The Washington Post, 08.23.18)
• The U.S Navy on Aug. 24 formally reactivated the 2^nd Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia, the Cold War-era naval command it relied on for decades to confront adversaries in the waters off North America—the latest in a series of efforts to check Moscow's military expansion. (Politico, 08.24.18)
• Russia does not plan to put weapons in space first and considers this to be an important signal that Washington should not ignore, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Aug. 20. (Reuters, 08.20.18)
• British fighter jets interrupted the path of a Russian maritime patrol aircraft over the Black Sea in the second such incident this week. (The Moscow Times, 08.24.18)

Missile defense:

• No significant developments.

Nuclear arms control:

• No significant developments.

Counter-terrorism:

• Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has said that the minors who were reportedly behind a series of deadly attacks on police in the North Caucasus republic earlier this week had been directed from abroad. Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the multiple attacks on Aug. 20, released a video on Aug. 22 of four boys it said were behind the coordinated attacks, which included a botched suicide bombing and stabbing. At least four police officers were injured in the attacks. (The Moscow Times, 08.23.18, Reuters, 08.23.18)
• A suspected Islamist from Russia’s volatile Chechen region, Magomed-Ali, has been detained in Germany on suspicion of plotting an attack using an explosive device. (The Moscow Times, 08.22.18)
• Russia says the Islamic State is playing stock markets and investing in businesses around the globe in order to raise cash after its main sources of income were neutralized. (AlJazeera, 08.24.18)
• Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi resurfaced on Aug. 21 to deliver a message in which he urged his followers to keep up the fight and to wage lone-wolf attacks in the West. The message cited the resistance of countries such as Russia, Iran and Turkey to the Trump administration's policy of imposing sanctions against its foes as evidence that America is a waning power, "held in contempt" even by its allies. (The Washington Post, 08.22.18)

Conflict in Syria:

• Russia’s Defense Ministry has said that more than 63,000 Russian military personnel have "received combat experience" in Syria since September 2015, some 86,000 “militants” have been killed and 231 types of weaponry have been tested, including aircraft, surface-to-air systems and cruise missiles. (BBC, 08.23.18)
• A 200-strong unit of military police from Russia’s southern military district has returned to its base in Chechnya after successfully carrying out special tasks in Syria. (TASS, 08.20.18)
• After reclaiming nearly every stretch of the country—except what's controlled by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces—pro-Syrian government fighters have gathered around the final rebel-held, northwestern province of Idlib and attacks have increased in what may be the beginning of the last major operation against the insurgents, led by the jihadi coalition of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which includes Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or the Nusra Front, a former branch of Al-Qaeda. (Newsweek, 08.20.18)
• The summit between the leaders of Russia, Turkey, Germany and France on Syrian regulation has not been agreed upon yet, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. (TASS, 08.20.18)
• Russia will help Lebanon return refugees to neighboring Syria, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Aug. 20, accusing the U.S. of impeding the general repatriation process by declining to assist in Syria's reconstruction. (Reuters, 08.21.18)
• "In contrast to the United States and its coalition, we and the other guarantor countries, Turkey and Iran, are promoting stabilization and normalization in that country [Syria] with deeds, rather than words," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said. (The Washington Post, 08.22.18)

Cyber security:

• Microsoft said on Aug. 20 that it had recently thwarted hackers associated with the Russian government attempting to steal user information from conservative groups. The company's digital crimes unit acted on a court order last week, disrupting and transferring control of six internet domains created by a group known as Strontium, also known as Fancy Bear or APT28. Microsoft said APT 28 created fake websites that mimicked websites of the U.S. Senate, two conservative non-profits—the International Republican Institute and the Hudson Institute—and the Microsoft's Office 365 website. The Kremlin said on Aug. 21 it did not understand these allegations from Microsoft. (Financial Times, 08.23.18, Financial Times, 08.21.18, The Moscow Times, 08.21.18)
• The Kremlin on Aug. 22 rejected allegations from Facebook that Russia's GRU military intelligence service had been using the social media site to run disinformation campaigns, saying it did not understand the basis for such accusations. Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet collectively removed hundreds of accounts tied to an alleged Iranian propaganda operation on Aug. 21, while Facebook took down a second campaign it said was linked to Russia. FireEye, a cybersecurity company that has been involved in a number of prominent investigations, including the 2016 attack on the Democratic National Committee, alerted Facebook in July that it had a problem. (Reuters, 08.22.18, New York Times, 08.23.18)  
• The Democratic National Committee acknowledged on Aug. 23 that an attempted cyberattack it reported to the FBI was actually a security test by friendly volunteers from Michigan. U.S. officials have earlier said hackers attempted to break into the massive voter database of the Democratic National Committee, but were stopped, two years after Russian operatives allegedly hacked and leaked the committee's e-mails during the presidential election. (NPR, 08.23.18, RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• The U.S. on Aug. 21 imposed sanctions on two Russians, one Russian company and one Slovakian firm for what it said were their actions to help another Russian company avoid sanctions targeting Russia's malicious cyber-related activities. The U.S. Treasury said St. Petersburg-based Vela-Marine and Slovakia-based Lacno S.R.O., as well as the two individuals, Marina Igorevna Tsareva and Anton Aleksandrovich Nagibin, were linked to a previously sanctioned entity—Divetechnoservices. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the new sanctions groundless and promised a response from Moscow. (Reuters, 08.21.18, RFE/RL, 08.22.18)
• U.S. intelligence worker Reality Winner, who pleaded guilty to sending a secret report on Russian election cyberattacks to a news website, was sentenced Aug. 23 to five years in prison. (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)

Elections interference:

• U.S. authorities say U.S. President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer has agreed to plead guilty to campaign finance violations and other criminal charges. Michael Cohen's plea on Aug. 21 comes amid mounting problems for Trump. Cohen's plea did not involve any Russia-linked activity, but rather alleged violations of U.S. election law involving the payment of so-called "hush money" to women who claim they had affairs with Trump. If the payment was made during the 2016 election campaign, federal law requires that it be reportedly publicly. If Trump authorized the payment, but it wasn't disclosed, that could be charged as a federal crime. (RFE/RL, 08.22.18)
  • Cohen has "knowledge" about computer hacking and collusion that may interest special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis said. Cohen has information "on certain subjects that should be of interest" to the special prosecutor investigating ties between Russia and his 2016 election campaign Davis said. Cohen would be happy to share the information with the special counsel or Congress, according to Davis. Cohen told lawmakers last year, in sworn testimony, that he didn't know whether then-candidate Trump had foreknowledge of the 2016 Trump Tower meeting with Russians. (Bloomberg,  08.22.18, RFE/RL, 08.23.18, Axios, 08.23.18)
  • Federal authorities investigating whether Cohen committed bank and tax fraud have zeroed in on well over $20 million in loans obtained by taxi businesses that he and his family own. The inquiry has entered the final stage and prosecutors are considering filing charges by the end of August. (New York Times, 08.19.18)
  • Trump decried the widespread practice of prosecutors offering lenience to criminal defendants in return for incriminating information about other people, in an interview recorded a day after Cohen implicated him in a federal crime in a plea deal. (Wall Street Journal, 08.23.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump said he has worries about falling into what he called a "perjury trap" if he agrees to be interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller. Trump said his testimony, for example, might contradict the testimony of former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired last year when he was leading the Russia investigation. Trump contended that Comey is a "proven liar," without providing evidence. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out anew at Attorney General Jeff Sessions in an interview broadcast Aug. 23, saying Sessions had failed to take control of the Justice Department and was given his job only because of his loyalty during the 2016 campaign. Trump then on Aug. 24 responded to Sessions' defiance over the handling of the Justice Department by resuming his remarkable public hammering of the attorney general and suggesting Sessions pursue the White House's political opponents. (The Washington Post, 08.23.18, Wall Street Journal, 08.23.18, CNN, 08.24.18)
• In a series of tweets Aug. 20, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that special counsel Robert Mueller was using his 15-month-long probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election as a vehicle to hurt Republican chances in the November midterm elections. Trump also claimed he could run the investigation himself if he wanted to. "I can go in, and I could do whatever—I could run it if I want," Trump said in an interview. "But I decided to stay out." He added: "I'm totally allowed to be involved if I wanted to be. So far, I haven't chosen to be involved. I'll stay out." (The Washington Post, 08.20.18, Financial Times, 08.20.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump attacked The New York Times on Aug. 19 in a series of tweets in which he denounced a report describing the extensive cooperation between the White House counsel, Donald McGahn and the special counsel's investigators. Trump said the Times article had falsely insinuated that McGahn had ''turned'' on him. (New York Times, 08.19.18)
• Amid a series of high-profile pardons and commutations by U.S. President Donald Trump in recent months, his personal lawyers cautioned against even considering clemency for former aides under investigation by the special counsel until the inquiry was over, Rudolph Giuliani said on Aug. 23. (New York Times, 08.23.18)
• U.S. President Donald Trump says he is considering moving "very quickly" to revoke the security clearance of Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who had connections with a firm that produced a controversial dossier on Trump's ties to Russia. On Aug. 17, 60 former CIA officials issued a statement saying they have a right to express unclassified views on national security issues without fear of being punished for doing so. That followed a joint letter signed by seven former CIA directors, six former CIA deputy directors and two former national intelligence directors calling Trump's move against John Brennan "ill-considered and unprecedented" and "an attempt to stifle free speech." (RFE/RL, 08.18.18)
• The special counsel investigating Russian election interference has told a judge that a former adviser to the Trump campaign repeatedly lied about his contacts with Russian operatives and “caused damage” to the government’s inquiry. In a document filed Aug. 17, special counsel RobertMueller said that George Papadopoulos misled investigators about the “timing, extent and nature” of the meetings. Mueller’s memo recommended that Papadopoulos be imprisoned for up to six months. (New York Times, 08.17.18)
• Americans have given hundreds of thousands of dollars to people on both sides of the Trump-Russia investigation, from Peter Strzok and Andrew McCabe to Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen and George Papadopoulos. Fundraising sites like GoFundMe have become a platform to either urge them to “stay strong” in the face of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation or “expose the truth” about the president. (BuzzFeed News, 08.23.18)
• All 49 U.S. missions located in Europe and Eurasia are required to develop, coordinate and execute tailored action plans for rebuffing Russian influence operations in their host countries, according to U.S. Assistant Secretary of State A. Wess Mitchell. The State Department also formed a new position—the Senior Advisor for Russian Malign Activities and Trends (or, SARMAT)—to develop cross-regional strategies across offices. (U.S. State Department, 08.21.18)
• Vital Kremlin informants have largely gone silent, leaving the CIA and other spy agencies in the dark about precisely what the Kremlin’s intentions are for November’s midterm elections, according to American officials familiar with the intelligence. The officials do not believe the sources have been compromised or killed. Instead, they have concluded they have gone to ground amid more aggressive counterintelligence by Moscow. (New York Times, 08.24.18)
• U.S. officials are concerned that not only Russia but also China, Iran and North Korea will try to interfere in this fall's midterm elections, national security adviser John Bolton said Aug. 19. "Well, I can say definitively that it's a sufficient national security concern about Chinese meddling, Iranian meddling and North Korean meddling that we're taking steps to try and prevent it," Bolton said when asked about a tweet by U.S. President Donald Trump saying that "all the fools" are focused on election interference by Russia alone. "So, all four of these countries, really." (The Washington Post, 08.19.18)
• Seventy-one percent of Russians said they don’t believe the Russian government tried to influence the U.S. election, a poll found. Just 15 percent said Russia did intervene, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Aug. 21. While Russians were split over whether their government generally seeks to influence other countries’ internal affairs, 85 percent believe the U.S. does. (Bloomberg, 08.22.18)

Energy exports:

• No significant developments.

Bilateral economic ties:

• On an issue related to sanctions—Russia's faltering economy—U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters that Russian President Vladimir Putin seemed eager for help at the summit. “I think they would like economic development. And that's a big thing for them," he said. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)

Other bilateral issues:

• U.S. President Donald Trump has said in an interview that he isn't considering lifting sanctions on Russia, but he would consider doing so if Russia gave him something he wants in Ukraine or Syria. "I’m not considering it at all. No. I would consider it if they do something that would be good for us. But I wouldn’t consider it without that," Trump said in an interview released late on Aug. 20. Trump then suggested areas where he could foresee making a deal with Russia over sanctions. "We have a lot of things we can do good for each other. You have Syria. You have Ukraine. You have many other things," he said. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
  • The Kremlin said on Aug. 21 it welcomed statements by U.S. President Donald Trump indicating a desire to cooperate with Russia, but that it would welcome concrete steps to improve relations more. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Kremlin would like to hear more details from the U.S. on any proposed cooperation in Syria and Ukraine, and that Kiev should also take positive steps. (Reuters, 08.21.18)
• The U.S. on Aug. 24 announced details of limited new sanctions against Russia over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in the U.K. Restrictions released by the U.S. State Department target remaining sources of foreign assistance and arms sales to Russia, and deny any U.S. credit to Russia, including through the Export-Import Bank. The sanctions will officially take effect on Aug. 27, according to a notice posted on Aug. 24 at the Federal Register. (Reuters, 08.24.18, Bloomberg, 08.24.18)
• A summit with U.S. President Donald Trump was useful, but U.S. sanctions against Moscow are counter-productive and pointless, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Aug. 22 after talks with Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Sochi. (Reuters, 08.22.18)
• U.S. lawmakers pushed for more aggressive steps to counteract the Russian "menace" on Aug. 21. Members of Congress have called for more action, including introducing new sanctions legislation "from hell," to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea, involvement in Syria's civil war and cyber-attacks seeking to influence U.S. elections. They held three hearings related to Russia on Aug. 21, in the Banking and Foreign Relations committees and a Judiciary counter-terrorism subcommittee. Lawmakers chastised administration officials for doing too little to change Russian behavior.  During the hearings, Sen. John Kennedy—who visited Moscow in July as part of a congressional delegation—asked Treasury officials how Russia’s economy could be “brought to its knees.” (The Moscow Times, 08.22.18, Bloomberg, 08.23.18)
• In all, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control lists 491 sanctioned Russian people and entities, compared with 146 from China and 335 from Iran. (The Washington Post, 08.22.18)
• In response to U.S. sanctions, Russia is vowing to speed up its efforts along with China and Iran to stop using the U.S. dollar in global trade, particularly in oil sales that are vital to both Moscow and Tehran. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in an interview on Aug. 23 said "the time has come when we need to go from words to actions and get rid of the dollar as a means of mutual settlements, and look for other alternatives." (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)
• Moscow may ban more U.S. politicians from entering Russia as part of a response to a new round of U.S. sanctions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said. (Reuters, 08.24.18)
• Eight in 10 Russians are concerned that Western sanctions are affecting their economy—with 47 percent characterizing the impact as major. Sixty-nine percent identify inflation as one of their most pressing concerns, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Aug. 21. Still, 81 percent of those surveyed expressed confidence in Putin’s handling of international affairs, and nearly three-fourths say Russia plays a more important global role than a decade ago, according to the poll. (The Moscow Times, 08.22.18)
• Top Democrats on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Aug. 24 asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for all relevant documents related to the two hour private meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July―including notes from the U.S. interpreter in the room. (Huffington Post, 08.24.18)
• A Russian woman who has been charged in the U.S. with acting as an unregistered agent for the Russian government has been transferred from a jail in Washington, D.C. to one in Alexandria, Virginia. No reason was given why Maria Butina was moved to the new facility on Aug. 17. She is being held without bail pending trial. (RFE/RL, 08.19.18)
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry has issued a diplomatic protest note to the U.S. State Department for its closure of several Russian foreign policy consulates and missions that have marked increasing tensions between the two nations in the past several years. (The Moscow Times, 08.17.18)
• Russian-made communication technology is being used by the White House as a direct line between Washington and Moscow, Russia’s state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec has said. A Rostec unit that specializes in encryption and secure communications, Avtomatika, reportedly supplies the White House with products that allow U.S. President Donald Trump to communicate directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. (The Moscow Times, 08.23.18)
• “Do you still treat your kids with leaves? No? And why don’t you #vaccinate them? It’s medicine!” With messages like those, Russian internet trolls meddling in the 2016 presidential election also lashed out at Americans debating the safety of vaccines, a new study has found. (New York Times, 08.23.18)

II. Russia’s domestic news

Politics, economy and energy:

• Russia’s central bank said it will suspend sales of rubles to purchase foreign exchange through the end of September in an effort to steady the currency, helping pull it back from the lowest level in two years. (The Moscow Times, 08.24.18)
• Russia added more gold reserves in July than any other month this year as it continues to buy up the metal in the face of U.S. sanctions. The Russian central bank added 26.1 tons last month, bringing its holdings to 2,170 tons. The value of Russia's gold holdings alone has risen to about $80 billion, almost twice as much as five years ago. (The Washington Post, 08.22/18, Bloomberg, 08.22.18)
• Russia has moved to shelve a controversial plan to levy a new $7.5 billion tax on some of the country’s largest industrial companies, after an outcry from business groups and leading executives. (Financial Times, 08.24.18)
• Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Raiffeisen Bank International are among foreign banks protesting a Russian central bank plan that would drastically reduce their ability to move funds from local units to their parent companies outside of Russia. (Bloomberg, 08.22.18)
• Unit one of the Leningrad Phase II nuclear power plant in northwest Russia is now ready for commercial operation, Rosenergoatom announced following the completion of the final commissioning test. (World Nuclear News, 08.22.18)
• Russian weapons manufacturer Kalashnikov has unveiled an electric concept car that its creators say will compete with Elon Musk’s market leader Tesla. Kalashnikov also revealed a robot on Aug. 20, “Igorek.” The robot, designed for carrying out engineering and combat tasks, met with ridicule on Russian social media for its clunky appearance and lack of mobility. (The Moscow Times, 08.23.18, BBC, 08.23.18)
• Nearly two-thirds of Russians believe there is an organized group of people working to minimize Russia’s role in history and subvert its traditional values using “gay propaganda,” according to a survey by Russian state-run VTsIOM pollster. (The Moscow Times, 08.20.18)
• More than 100 asylum seekers who entered Russia with World Cup fan identity documents are seeking legal help in Moscow, in an attempt to escape war, political repression and homophobia. (The Moscow Times, 08.20.18)
• The leader of Russia’s Chechnya has vowed to bar human rights activists from visiting his region once the trial of a prominent activist wraps up. (AP, 08.24.18)
• Three Jehovah’s Witnesses have been detained in Russia’s Far East on extremism charges in a continuing crackdown on the religious group labeled as extremist in Russia. (The Moscow Times, 08.21.18)

Defense and aerospace:

• The Russian military has announced the start of a five-day “snap inspection” testing the combat readiness of troops ahead of massive maneuvers in Siberia and the Far East. Russia is holding war games dubbed Vostok-2018 (“East-2018”) in its central and eastern military districts in August and September, with some 3,200 Chinese troops scheduled to join the exercises in Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region in September. Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called the upcoming games "the largest preparatory action for the armed forces since Zapad-81," referring to war games conducted by the Soviet Union in 1981. (The Moscow Times, 08.20.18)
  • Drivers in the Russian Far East were treated to a private airshow when the military shut down a highway to let jets practice landing onto a makeshift runway. The stunts were performed as part of large-scale military drills dubbed “Vostok-2018.”  (The Moscow Times, 08.17.18)
• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed a report by a U.S. television network that Russia lost a nuclear-powered missile in the Barents Sea during 2017 and is launching an operation to get it back. CNBC reported on Aug. 21 that the nuclear-powered missile remains lost at sea after a failed test in late 2017. Norway’s military intelligence has said that Russia in November 2017 conducted two failed test launches of a new land-based cruise missile from Novaya Zemlya—possibly nuclear-powered. The first failed shortly after launch and fell on the island; the other had a longer flight path before failing or the test was aborted. That missile fell in the sea near the western coast of Novaya Zemlya. (The Barents Observer, 08.23.18, RFE/RL, 08.22.18)
• Russia’s RSK-MiG is insisting that the company is developing a fifth-generation Mach 3 replacement for the Soviet-era Mach 2.83-capable Mikoyan MiG-31 Foxhound interceptor. (The National Interest, 08.21.18)

Security, law-enforcement and justice:

• A man from Russia's volatile North Caucasus region shot and wounded a police officer in Moscow on Aug. 23 and was fatally wounded by retaliatory fire. Russia's Investigative Committee said the assailant fired at two police officers near the main Foreign Ministry building in downtown Moscow. (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)
• The deputy director and two other top executives of Russia's Energia Rocket and Space Corporation have been arrested on suspicion of attempted fraud. (RFE/RL, 08.19.18)
• A prison in Yaroslavl has become the focal point of torture allegations yet again following the publication of a second video in which guards are seen beating prisoners. (The Moscow Times, 08.24.18)

III. Foreign affairs, trade and investment

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

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have used a bilateral meeting in Germany to signal a desire for a working relationship despite strong disagreements in many areas. The two discussed the Syrian conflict and the refugee issue at their talks on Aug. 18 but made no agreements, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Merkel and Putin also agreed to take steps to protect the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project from threats by U.S. President Donald Trump, Peskov said. Prior to the meeting, Merkel said that "Ukraine must continue to play a role in the transit of gas to Europe once Nord Stream 2 is in place." The Kremlin said the pair also discussed the conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, the Iran nuclear deal and the consequences of the U.S. administration’s trade and economic policies for third countries. While Putin suggested humanitarian aid would pave the way for some Syrian refugees to return home, German officials say that’s unrealistic for now. The two leaders met at Merkel’s Meseberg castle retreat north of Berlin, the first time she had hosted Putin one on one in Germany since before Russia’s annexation of Crimea. (Financial Times, 08.19.18, The Moscow Times, 08.20.18, RFE/RL, 08.19.18, TASS, 08.20.18)
• The EU and NATO are not Russia’s enemies, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at a meeting with students of Tbilisi State University on Aug. 24. (TASS, 08.24.18)
• Deutsche Bank’s London branch threatened in June to stop doing business with the Russian government if it fails to submit documents that the lender needs to refresh its know-your-customer information, according to a letter seen by Bloomberg News that was signed by investment-banking head Garth Ritchie and one of the bank’s lawyers, Alex Scott-Gall. (Bloomberg, 08.23.18)
• The Taliban said on Aug. 22 it would send senior members to Russia for peace talks on Afghanistan on Sept. 4, hours after the Afghan government declined the offer to attend. Russia has invited several countries, including the U.S., to the Moscow talks in September, but Washington and Kabul have said they will not go. The Afghan government hopes Russia can press Taliban insurgents into holding peace talks with the government, Afghanistan's top security official said Aug. 22 after he met Russia's ambassador in Kabul. (The Moscow Times, 08.23.18, The Moscow Times, 08.22.18)
• According to the Haaretz newspaper, 1,344 Russians filed for political asylum in Israel between January and June 2018, up from 635 in 2017 and 395 in 2016. Only 17 requests were filed in 2009-2015. Russia also provided the biggest number of immigrants last year under Israel’s repatriation program. The number of Russian citizens who have been refused entry into Israel has also reportedly tripled alongside the surge in asylum requests. (The Moscow Times, 08.22.18)
• Russia signed a military cooperation agreement with the Central African Republic (CAR) on Aug.21, less than a month after three prominent Russian journalists were killed in the war-ridden country while investigating Russian mercenaries. CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s national security adviser is a Russian and Russians have formed part of his presidential guard. (RFE/RL, 08.22.18, Financial Times, 08.22.18)
• As his country commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Soviet invasion that crushed an effort to ease the totalitarian grip of Communism known as the Prague Spring, the Czech Republic’s president, Milos Zeman, is staying silent. (Bloomberg, 08.21.18)
• Britain's Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt praised U.S. President Donald Trump for increasingly strong sanctions against Russia and called on Europeans to match his efforts, whether in response to a nerve agent attack in England last spring, election interference or the annexation of Crimea. In response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Britain on Aug. 21 of trying to impose its hostile Russia policy on the EU and the U.S. (The Washington Post, 08.21.18,  Reuters, 08.21.18)
• Russia is preparing for President Vladimir Putin to visit Saudi Arabia after he received an invitation from Saudi King Salman, agencies cited Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov as saying on Aug. 24. (Reuters, 08.24.18)
• Media reports from Saudi Arabia say Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman has met with the visiting leader of Russia's Chechnya region, Ramzan Kadyrov. The reports said the talks were held at Mina Palace in Jeddah on Aug. 21, with the crown prince and Kadyrov exchanging regards on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. (RFE/RL, 08.22.18)
• The world's biggest shipping firm says it is preparing to send a cargo vessel through the Russian Arctic for the first time—a voyage made possible by melting sea ice. A spokeswoman for Denmark’s A.P. Moller-Maersk said on Aug. 23 that the newly designed vessel would embark on "a one-off trial designed to explore an unknown route for container shipping." (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• Russia's state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, says it will begin delivering its advanced S-400 antiaircraft missile systems to Turkey in 2019. Rosoboronexport also said on Aug. 21 that it would stop conducting its sales to foreign customers in U.S. dollars, allowing purchases in local currencies. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
• Serbia has taken delivery of two Russian MiG-29 fighter jets—the first of six planes that are part of an arms deal between Belgrade and Moscow.  (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
• Authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have barred Russian writer Zakhar Prilepin from entering the country, triggering an angry reaction from Bosnian Serb leaders and Russia’s embassy in Sarajevo. (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)

China:

• See “Defense and aerospace" above.

Ukraine:

• Five Ukrainian soldiers have been killed and seven others wounded in clashes with Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Aug. 23 said the casualties represented the biggest loss of life among soldiers in months. (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said on Aug. 24 during a trip to Kiev that Ukraine had made progress in its efforts to join NATO, but that it still had more work to do. He also said U.S. sanctions against Russia would remain in place until Moscow changed its behavior. Additionally, Bolton said Ukraine’s government should consider looking for alternatives to natural gas supplies from Russia. Speaking to reporters in Ukraine for talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Bolton  said Kiev should consider inviting U.S. companies to explore gas in Ukraine. (Channel NewsAsia, 08.24.18, Reuters, 08.24.18, Reuters, 08.24.18)
• Putin aide Vladislav Surkov and U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker will meet in the near future, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on Aug. 21. (TASS, 08.23.18)
• U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeated U.S. calls for Russia to “immediately release” jailed Ukrainian writer and filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike for more than 100 days and is reported to be critically ill. The Russian Foreign Ministry acknowledged that Pompeo raised the issue of Sentsov in a call with Sergei Lavrov and that Lavrov “explained the situation,” without providing specifics. (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned that his country’s pro-Western reform process is in danger because of approaching presidential and parliamentary elections and what he said was Russian interference in the campaigns. Poroshenko said the prolonged conflict with Russia and Moscow-backed separatists in the Donbass region was a severe test of his country’s unity. (Financial Times, 08.24.18)
• Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has marked Ukraine's Independence Day by announcing at a military parade in Kiev that his country "has cut all ties with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union." (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)
• Stanislav Yezhov, an aide to Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman who is charged with spying for Russia, went on trial on Aug. 22. (RFE/RL, 08.22.18)
• Bratislav Zivkovic, the commander of the Chetnik paramilitary force in Serbia, has been arrested on suspicion of organizing a group of Serbs who joined Russia-backed separatists in their war against Ukraine's government, Serbia's Interior Ministry said on Aug. 23. (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)
• On Aug. 21, a federal jury in Alexandria, Virginia, found former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort guilty on eight counts of bank and financial fraud. The charges stemmed from work Manafort did for pro-Russian politicians in Ukraine, including former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. The prosecution of Manafort did not focus directly on Russia. Manafort goes back on trial next month on a new set of charges. The new trial—with charges including conspiracy to defraud the U.S., witness tampering and failure to register as a foreign agent—is expected to shine a brighter light on how Manafort sought to influence U.S. lawmakers and policymakers, and potentially Russia's involvement in that effort. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
  • Manafort would have been convicted on all 18 charges of financial fraud but for one holdout juror, who forced a mistrial on 10 counts. (New York Times, 08.23.18)
  • U.S. President Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning Manafort, according to a Fox News reporter who interviewed Trump. (Reuters, 08.22.18)
  • Ukrainian authorities have launched an investigation into whether former state officials paid Manafort for political consulting work, the country's prosecutor-general says. Yuriy Lutsenko did not name any of the suspects, but at least six Ukrainian oligarchs and politicians, including four who held public office during Yanukovych's term, are alleged to have paid a total of $65.9 million to Manafort for consulting work, according to documents released by a U.S. court. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
  • A team of Russian investigative journalists has reported that Manafort worked in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 to promote the Kremlin’s geopolitical interests—including the closure of a U.S. military installation near Bishkek that was the main logistics hub for NATO forces in Afghanistan. (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• Eighty-two percent of Ukrainians see themselves as patriortic, and only 13 percent hold the opposite view, according to a poll conducted by the Rating sociological survey service in August 2018. Nearly 80 percent of respondents would support the proclamation of Ukraine's independence and 13 percent would not if they had this choice today. (Interfax, 08.21.18)

• Poland has leveraged its authority as an EU member to ban Ukrainian human rights activist Lyudmila Kozlovska from the EU's 26-member Schengen zone, saying she poses a security threat. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)
• Police in Ukraine's eastern region of Kharkiv have named a man who was shot dead near the Kharkiv city council early on Aug. 20 after killing a police officer, saying investigators also discovered the body of the gunman's slain wife. (RFE/RL, 08.21.18)

Russia’s other post-Soviet neighbors:

• German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said during a visit to Tbilisi that Georgia should be classified a "safe country" of origin, a move that would make it more difficult for its citizens to seek asylum in Germany. Merkel is also to visit Armenia and Azerbaijan this week. A senior German official said Germany had a “big interest” in developing the so-called “southern gas corridor” linking Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey. (RFE/RL, 08.23.18, Financial Times, 08.21.18)
• Russian President Vladimir Putin met with leaders of the Georgian separatist republics South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the Kremlin on Aug. 24, telling them that Moscow would do all it could to guarantee their security. The talks with South Ossetia’s Anatoly Bibilov and Abkhazia’s Raul Khajimba come 10 years after Russia fought a war with Georgia and became one of the few countries to recognize independence claims the two republics had made since the 1990s. (AFP, 08.24.18)
• An oil tanker with 19 crew members on board, most of them Georgians, has gone missing in waters off West Africa frequently plied by pirates, and no word has been heard from it for a week. (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)
• Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka tapped Syarhey Rumas, head of the state-owned Development Bank, as prime minister to replace Andrey Kabyakou, who has served as head of the government since 2014. (RFE/RL, 08.18.18)
• The Kremlin says Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenka met in Sochi. Lukashenka's visit to Russia came after he harshly criticized Moscow on Aug. 10 for what he called a "failure to carry out its obligations as a member of the Eurasian Economic Union." (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• Moldova's number one problem after more than a quarter of a century of independence isn't poverty or corruption—it is depopulation, President Igor Dodon said. (RFE/RL, 08.23.18)
• Leaders of five former Soviet republics in Central Asia met in Turkmenistan on Aug. 24 to discuss the way to save the Aral Sea, which is facing severe environmental issues. (RFE/RL, 08.24.18)

IV. Quoteworthy

• No significant developments.