Thursday's Russian press review

This Thursday Russian newspapers cover the financial crisis and its impact on the world, predict the contents of this year’s presidential address and throw a puzzled look at their American counterparts predicting a war between Russia and Ukraine. Here is

ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA writes, quoting a source in the Kremlin, that this year’s presidential address to the Parliament may be delivered next week. The paper says the address will not concentrate too deeply on the Caucasus problem and will describe the world financial crisis and its impact on Russia without the ‘sense of panic’ that has become usual for such descriptions by the world media.

KOMMERSANT reports from Geneva: Russia, Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia ‘failed to find a common Georgian language’ at the International Conference on Security in the Caucasus. The paper says, the Georgian delegation not only refused to recognise the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent entities represented by their respective delegations but included in its own delegation the representatives of Georgia-backed ‘legitimate’ governments-in-exile of the two republics. That, continues the paper, was used by the Abkhazian and South Ossetian delegations as a reason to leave the meeting. The paper says Georgia and Russia blamed each other for the failure of the event. As a result, concludes the paper, the EU decided to postpone the continuation of its negotiations with Russia on a new agreement of cooperation.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA writes that the Georgian and U.S. delegations in Geneva from the very start refused to sit down at the same negotiations table with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. They were ready to talk officially only with Russia, the EU and the OSCE. The paper says that even an informal meeting suggested by the Russian delegation could not be convened because of the Georgian position. On the other hand, says the paper, representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia refused to negotiate with the Georgian delegation while it included members of Tbilisi-backed ‘governments’ of the two republics. The next attempt at international consultations on security in the Caucasus is to take place on November 18, says the paper.

MOSKOVSKI KOMSOMOLETS writes that while European nations are trying to help Ukraine in its political crisis, U.S. newspapers have started speculating on the scenarios of a future war between Ukraine and Russia. The paper quotes The Washington Times as saying that the next major war in Europe is going to be between Russia and Ukraine and The International Herald Tribune hints at the danger of a large-scale military conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The paper says it seems the scenario for such a war may have been worked out in the U.S. already. The question remains, who ordered it done? Who is behind these rumours? Or, to be exact, says the paper, who among the presidential candidates is most likely to be ready to implement such a plan? The paper sets another question: will America have to choose if the next major war starts between America itself and Iran, or between Russia and Ukraine? And are we, the Russians, supposed to have a say in it?

KOMSOMOLSKAYA PRAVDA has an interview with author and economic analyst Yulia Latynina. Asked about the origin of the current crisis she says that superpowers make super-mistakes. The linking up of housing loans with the general financial market in the U.S. was caused by somebody’s wish to make more money out of the same loans, meaning, actually, out of thin air, while simultaneously solving a social problem, the shortage of quality living quarters. In the end it all looks like an attempt at mixing socialism with capitalism in a proportion that cannot fail to produce a financial bubble. But, warns Latynina, the aftermath of this crisis, in the worst case scenario will hit not America but the rest of the world including us. The world economy that we gladly joined sometime ago is built around the U.S. economy, and every instance of trouble in the States is felt around the world. The author says it may even happen that, in the end, America will suffer less then other countries, including Russia.

Evgeny Belenkiy, RT