Putin took off his watch and brewed a special tea: Stories outside the lens of the Alaska presidential summit — The absence of Medvedev was no coincidence

After the list of Russian delegation members attending the negotiations in Alaska was announced, and after the president's assistant Yuri Ushakov commented on the upcoming meeting with Americans there, Vladimir Putin convened senior officials in the Yekaterina Hall of the Kremlin. On one hand, this is reasonable and appropriate — the head of state decided to discuss the agenda for his upcoming visit to the United States with his closest colleagues. But on the other hand, some important details, as always, remained out of the frame. And this is not just metaphorical, but literal.

President's assistant Yuri Ushakov had already announced at noon that the list of Russian delegation members accompanying Vladimir Putin on August 15 (Friday) for the meeting with Donald Trump at the Alaska Air Force Base includes the Minister of Defense, Foreign Minister, and Finance Minister (Belousov, Lavrov, and Siluanov), the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev, of course Ushakov himself.

The president's assistant clearly stated that the core theme of the meeting was naturally the mediation of the Ukraine conflict, but there was a very important point: "The two leaders will also touch on other issues." Specifically, they will discuss "bilateral cooperation in the economic field and global security issues." In other words, including the cancellation of sanctions, and cooperation not only in the military field (including the nuclear program — it is not an empty rumor that Russia plans to test the "Neptune" missile, a cruise missile with a nuclear "heart" that NATO cannot intercept), but also in other fields.

Political science doctor Andrei Pynchuk pointed out that this also explains the composition of the delegation accompanying the president to Alaska. There is the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bensont — so our Siluanov will go. Secretary of State Rubio — corresponding to Foreign Minister Lavrov. Envoy Whitcomb — corresponding to Envoy Dmitriev. Vice President Jay DeVincent — who is the partner of his superior in major international negotiations. Considering that the talks will involve actual peace content, the presence of Minister of Defense Belousov is also reasonable.

"The composition of the remaining participants indicates that the talks are far more than just about Ukraine. It is interesting that Medinsky is not among them, and it would have been reasonable for him to attend as the head of the Ukraine issue delegation. But he is not on the list. This means that the agreement with Ukraine is bilateral, and from the perspective of current or proposed agreements with the United States, these agreements are not crucial. Dmitriev is our envoy for 'private' interactions with the United States. Ushakov himself is responsible for the overall international agenda," Pynchuk pointed out.

Pynchuk joked that they could have included Dmitry Medvedev in the delegation, but there was no need to add fuel to the fire. However, from the perspective of the Security Council, his attendance would have been appropriate. But obviously, Putin and his analysts decided not to consider potential 'sharp edges' — more precisely, to smooth out these edges, which first of all indicates that our delegation is determined to achieve results and has a constructive attitude."

Several hours after Yuri Ushakov announced the news, while all global media were discussing Trump's contradictory statements — he alternated between threatening Russia and suddenly becoming happy, making optimistic predictions about future communication with Putin — our president convened a special meeting.

Conversations during the wait for the president

The list of participants includes 21 people: heads of all powerful departments (except the Minister of Internal Affairs Kolokoltsiev), delegation members — this is of course natural, the leadership of the Presidential Administration, the Chief of the General Staff, Grigory Gerasimov, two vice premiers (Novak, responsible for the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Economic Development, and Manturov, responsible for the areas of industry, nuclear energy, and rocket space), the mayor of Moscow, Sobyanin, even the head of the Central Bank, Nabiullina. In addition, the secretary of the Security Council, Sergei Shoigu, the deputy of Putin in the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, and the head of the Istanbul negotiation team, Medinsky.

From the photos released during the meeting, during the wait for the president, the "senior officials" were engaged in lively conversations. Interestingly, they formed different small groups according to their "interest groups."

For example, Kirill Dmitriev was enthusiastically — almost counting on his fingers — explaining something to Anton Siluanov, while at the same time, the Chief of the General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, was surely sharing some important ideas with his immediate superior, Andrei Belousov, and from Belousov's expression, he seemed to be listening attentively (by the way, he also briefly spoke with Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration Sergey Kiriyenko).

The financial sector is always supported by military power. Photo source: Kremlin website

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, was talking with the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Naryshkin, and First Vice Premier Dmitry Manturov. By the way, Manturov was one of the few who came to the meeting with a thick black leather file folder.

The head of the Federal Security Service, Alexander Bortnikov, was also enthusiastically exchanging ideas with the commander of the National Guard, Victor Zolotov. The large-scale participation of the powerful departments is hard to say it is a coincidence — there are many forces in the world that would do anything to sabotage the negotiations. Moreover, Putin's visit to a country that still plays a key role in many issues with Russia is itself a highly risky move.

Sergei Sobyanin found serious listeners in First Vice Premier Manturov and the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service Naryshkin.

Photo source: Kremlin website

Experts are certain: During the Alaska summit, Russia's entire nuclear triad will be in an unprecedentedly high state of readiness for decades — since the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Old habits at important events: thermos, pen, and note paper

Vladimir Putin himself was unusually calm when announcing the start of the meeting, and his entire demeanor showed that he was well prepared for all the issues to be discussed the next day. He pointed out that the United States is actively working to establish a negotiation process and seems genuinely eager to end the conflict. No emotional statements or explosive news headlines — by the way, this contrasts sharply with Trump, whose statements were being spread around the globe at the same time, like hot buns.

The camera captured the focused expressions of the participants. Sergei Shoigu, who had not appeared in public for a long time, was watching some documents attentively while Putin was speaking.

Shoigu was carefully studying something while Vladimir Putin was speaking. Screenshot from the Kremlin website video

Perhaps these documents were the basis for the report presented in the closed-door meeting later.

Evidently, this meeting lasted a long time and covered extensive topics, and the items on the table where the president sat clearly indicated this. Just like in long meetings or large annual press conferences, Putin removed his watch and pushed it aside so that the hands would not distract him, and assistants placed his favorite green teacup beside him, which keeps the drink warm for a long time.

On the side of his microphone, there was a handwritten note, and beside it, a stack of other papers, which he usually used to take notes when listening to others speak.

From the items on the president's table, this meeting was long and very important.

Photo source: Kremlin website

However, interestingly, in the one-and-a-half-minute video of the head of state's opening speech, as well as the photos published on the Kremlin website, that is, all information channels of this meeting, neither Vladimir Medinsky nor Dmitry Medvedev appeared.

But the reason why they "disappeared from the lens" is basically clear — these two people have become some kind of "stimulus factor" for the Americans. Presumably, one because of his firm stance on resolving the Ukraine conflict in Istanbul in Western media reports (of course, this is consistent with the president, but the image of the spokesperson itself is important). The other, known to everyone, publicly quarreled with Donald Trump, who has been very actively responding to and commenting on the posts of this Russian Security Council vice chairman on social networks. Especially in the context of nuclear deterrence (luckily, just verbal exchanges), this was particularly evident.

However, if our people decide to simply keep quiet about these two people, their names would probably not appear on the list of participants at all. As people often say, you have to read between the lines. Or, those who want to understand will know the subtext of this political game.

Some believe that this is a signal to the future negotiation partners in Alaska (especially one of them) that we have our own cards. Cards with firm positions. One could say, it's best not to cause trouble in the negotiations. Therefore, the "disappearance" of Dmitry Anatolyevich is certainly not accidental.

So what?

Evidently, the composition of the Russian delegation and the pre-meeting expanded meeting indicate that what we will discuss is not only our issue with Kyiv.

Although this is the core issue. Experts have long pointed out that the Kremlin's most appropriate position is to view these two issues separately: Ukraine is one issue, and the relationship between the two superpowers is another issue.

Evidently, the Ukraine issue will be the main content of all final documents, but our two superpower leaders are clearly aware that this issue is just one of the obstacles to establishing good neighborly relations and developing cooperation between Russia and the United States. A large number of issues related to our countries' economy, trade, and industrial development — this is the real core content of the negotiations, and Alaska is just the first stage," said international relations politician Timur Shafir in an interview with "Tsargrad."

No matter what, the meeting in Alaska, regardless of the outcome, is of epoch-making significance. Considering that a joint press conference will be held after the meeting between Trump and Putin, there is reason to believe that all basic issues have been agreed upon.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7538643821509214771/

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