MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. NATO excludes Russia from probes into drone incidents, and the top two US negotiators seem more focused on Iran and domestic issues than on Ukraine. Meanwhile, Japan’s remilitarization drive raises concerns in Russia, China and North Korea. These stories topped Wednesday's newspaper headlines across Russia.
Izvestia: NATO squeezing Russia out of drone probes
The North Atlantic Alliance has not approached Russia with proposals to jointly investigate drone crashes, Vladislav Maslennikov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of European Affairs, told Izvestia. Nor does the bloc make use of emergency communication channels through the Russian embassy in Belgium, he added. Germany has accused Russia of involvement in the drone incident at Leipzig Airport. In May, Romania blamed Moscow for the shooting down of a drone in the city of Galati. Experts say that NATO allies refuse to conduct a joint investigation with Moscow because of the risks of uncovering a Ukrainian trace.
Natalya Yeryomina, a professor at St. Petersburg State University, told Izvestia in an interview that NATO’s refusal to conduct a joint investigation with Russia is linked to concerns about exposing Ukraine's role. Otherwise, it will become clear that the incidents are related to Kiev's actions, and the West does not want to make it responsible.
Drone crashes in Romania, Poland and Germany are used to justify increased military spending. In parallel, the bloc is boosting its presence in Eastern Europe. Thus, in September 2025, it launched Operation Eastern Sentry with a view to integrating radars, anti-aircraft missile systems and aircraft of NATO allies into a single network spanning from the Barents Sea to the Black Sea. The North Atlantic Alliance has stationed nine multinational combat groups in Bulgaria, Britain, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Finland, and Estonia. NATO air patrol missions are conducted in the Baltics and in the Balkans. On August 1, Spain deployed a tactical air detachment including three NH-90 helicopters designed to combat drones at low altitude to Romania as part of NATO’s enhanced Air Policing mission.
The bloc will continue to gradually reinforce its groups in the region, Yeryomina believes. In her opinion, it could increase personnel and counter-drone means. Germany will be the main donor, which has already announced plans to boost the number of its Bundeswehr troops to 460,000. At the same time, a radical buildup of NATO forces in Eastern Europe should not be expected amid a lack of consensus, political analyst Denis Denisov maintained.
The lack of NATO proposals to investigate drone incidents shows that the alliance is unwilling to find out the true cause behind them. And they provide an opportunity to justify the need for increased military spending. A joint investigation with Russia may reveal Ukraine's role, which is definitely not part of Brussels' plans.
Vedomosti: Witkoff, Kushner focused on Iran, domestic issues instead of Ukraine
A recent visit to Moscow by CIA Director John Ratcliffe prompted questions about where US special envoy Steve Witkoff and the US leader’s son-in-law Jared Kusher, the two top US negotiators on Ukraine who were expected to visit Moscow and Kiev late last month, have disappeared. The Hill, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), The Washington Post and Axios mentioned three major issues that could divert Kushner and Witkoff from resolving the Ukraine conflict, namely their personal financial interests, domestic US issues and Iran.
It’s not only about their preoccupation with Iran or any other track but rather the fact that the US is currently pursuing the goal of securing concessions from Russia so Moscow can agree to conditions being sought by European warmongers and Kiev, Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics, told Vedomosti. Witkoff and Kushner could return to work only when the US administration understands how things really stand with Russia winning on the battlefield, he explained. "Maybe, after the winter. Meanwhile, the positions of such hawks as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe are strong in [US President Donald] Trump’s administration," the expert said. Besides, he continued, Washington has been unable to exert pressure on either Kiev or Europe.
Witkoff last commented on the Ukraine conflict after Moscow released ex-US marine Robert Gilman in mid-August as he thanked the Russian side for its assistance in that matter. Both Witkoff and Kushner spoke with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky in late July.
Now that the United States has realized that it has failed to persuade Kiev to accept conditions negotiated with Moscow, it is trying to pressure Moscow into considering terms agreed with Kiev, Andrey Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai International Discussion Club, said. It is for this reason, he stressed, that Witkoff and Kushner have yet to visit Russia. At first, they apparently seek to establish contact with Zelensky, making him more cooperative. But such an approach looks dubious because Kiev may put forward only unrealistic proposals. Another problem is Witkoff and Kushner’s administrative weakness compared with Rubio, for there are no major government institutions behind them, Kortunov noted. The whole thing can involve the course of the negotiating process or the Russian side’s intention to keep that at a level that is appropriate to the negotiators’ status, diplomats told Vedomosti.
Kommersant: Japan’s remilitarization course raises concerns in Russia
The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned Japan about potential negative implications of Tokyo’s recent policy course in the military sphere. Among other issues, Moscow is concerned about Japan’s upcoming joint exercises with the United States and Australia in areas near the Russian border which may see the deployment of the latest US Typhon missile system. Russia slammed the drills as provocative and unacceptable as it threatened Japan with "compensatory countermeasures." Meanwhile, Japan is seeking a record defense budget, citing alleged Russian threats.
"Japan is obviously seeking to draw conclusions from the wars raging in Iran and Ukraine, especially given North Korea which is directly watching the Ukraine hostilities and China which has actively supplied equipment and drones to both Moscow and Kiev could be its most likely enemies," Ilya Kramnik, research fellow with the Center for Strategic Planning at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told Kommersant. "Amid tensions with Russia, Japan apparently finds it necessary to prepare for potential hostilities in this direction as well, given the enemy will have combat experience from which Tokyo is absent," he added.
Hence, he said, it is giving priority to drone systems, bolstering air defenses and anti-aircraft systems and deploying attack drones. "And Japan will likely develop skills in the aforementioned spheres in close cooperation with the United States which is actually facing the same problems, albeit on a larger scale," the expert maintained.
For obvious reasons, the measures to increase its military capabilities taken by Japan in the past few years raise concerns not only in Russia but also in China and North Korea. Last week, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense of China, said that Japan’s remilitarization course and other "dangerous trends" look like war preparations by "militarist Japan" ahead of and during WWII. And the sister of the North Korean leader, Kim Yo Jong, warned that Pyongyang will weigh "additional military options" in response to Japan’s remilitarization.
Izvestia: EEF discussing digital assets, neural networks and social issues
The central theme of the 11th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF), taking place in Vladivostok on September 1-4, is titled "The Far East: Development for the Benefit of People." This year, the forum no longer discusses investments only, with its focus being on housing, personnel, cities, infrastructure and a search for new funding for the region.
The interest in cooperation with Russia remains, said Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev. Delegates from 80 countries are attending the 2026 EEF, compared to 75 a year earlier. The program includes business dialogues with China, India, the UAE, Mongolia, Vietnam, and ASEAN.
Over the years, the EEF has become a major instrument for attracting capital to the Far East and strengthening Russia's ties with partners in the Asia-Pacific, Natalya Milchakova, a leading analyst at Freedom Global, told Izvestia. According to her, this is how the forum differs, for example, from the SPIEF, with its focus being on Far Eastern projects and Asian investors. In 2025, 358 agreements, contracts and other documents worth 6.6 trillion rubles ($76 billion) were signed at the venue. And the figure may increase by another 5% to 8% in 2026, the expert believes.
At the same time, the investment landscape is also changing. The theme of the latest edition of the EEF suggests a greater focus on projects that directly affect the quality of life, Milchakova emphasized. Along with steelmaking, energy, food and logistics industries that are traditional for the Far Eastern Federal District, the expert expects new initiatives in robotics and AI.
And the forum itself has stopped being merely a showcase for the Far East, Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at Finam, argued. According to him, Russia is now simultaneously trying to attract private capital to the region, reorient its foreign trade to Asia and find new sources of growth. At the same time, not the number of signed documents, but how many projects will eventually move into the construction and production stage serves as the success rate.
This becomes particularly important as Russia diversifies its foreign economic relations, Yulia Kovalenko, Deputy Head of the Higher School of Economics of Moscow at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, maintained. According to her, against the backdrop of the sanctions, the role of European partners has decreased, while countries in Asia and the Pacific region are playing a more active role in Russian investment projects. Therefore, not only attracting foreign capital, but also assisting Russian producers in entering international markets becomes an important task of the EEF, she concluded.
Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Experts weigh in on oil volumes lost because of Hormuz
According to Bloomberg, in August, Saudi Arabia's oil exports fell to their lowest since the turn of the century, as by August 23, daily Saudi oil supplies to the global market averaged 3.2 million barrels per day. Simultaneously, supplies from Iran dropped to a near-record low of 260,000 barrels per day.
Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy claimed that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is growing and that oil and petroleum exports from the Persian Gulf had rebounded to 15-16 million bpd, or 75% of the pre-crisis level. The DOE takes into account oil volumes bypassing the Hormuz Strait, a route that is available to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Iraq.
Russian National Energy Security Fund head Konstantin Simonov told Rossiyskaya Gazeta that the United States is a stakeholder that would benefit from the Hormuz situation not appearing critical. Therefore, calculations by Kpler and Bloomberg, based on tanker tracking data, look more credible to the expert.
According to DA Consulting CEO Daniil Tyun, the actual oil deficit currently amounts to roughly 2 million barrels. The International Energy Agency (IEA) put the Q3 deficit at 1.8 million bpd in its August report. The significant reserves held by oil importers significantly affect the situation, Simonov said: instead of putting the market for "free" oil volumes at higher prices, they used their oil reserves and have not yet felt the full impact from the Hormuz crisis.
Tyun agrees that the physical oil shortage is much larger than one might expect by looking at how much a barrel costs. It is partially offset by strategic and commercial reserves, bypass pipelines, alternative routes, US exports, Russian supplies and perhaps some flows that are not immediately detected by standard monitoring systems, he said. And oil stockpiles are declining. Simultaneously, high oil prices are putting pressure on demand globally. But the market has adjusted to a closed Hormuz much better than expected in the spring.
