Press review: Putin cites global economic shift as OPEC+ keeps steady pace of oil output

MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the ongoing transformation of the global economy and the rise of BRICS create new opportunities for Russia to strengthen its global economic position and technological sovereignty, OPEC+ countries agreed to continue gradually increasing oil production quotas for July, and Iran’s ambassador to Russia said Tehran was prepared to involve Russia in Middle East settlement talks. These stories topped Monday’s newspaper headlines across Russia.

Vedomosti: Putin says global economic shift creates new opportunities for Russia

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said that one of the key themes of the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026) was the structural transformation of the global economy. Russia views global turbulence not only as a threat, but also as a tremendous opportunity, and "in order to make the most of it, we strive to act quickly and pragmatically," the Russian leader stated during his speech. Experts told Vedomosti that amid the fragmentation of the global economy and the emergence of new centers of power, Russia has a 10-15 year period of opportunity to strengthen its economic position by expanding into developing markets, building alternative financial mechanisms with friendly countries, and maintaining independence in economic policymaking.

According to Putin, the vertical model built over decades and based on a limited circle of Western financial centers, logistics hubs, and reserve currencies ultimately proved to be an instrument of political pressure and unfair competition. In essence, "it was a deliberately created system of dependency and resource extraction," he emphasized. Having recognized these risks, most countries began developing their own technological solutions, creating alternative supply routes and institutions.

Over the past 25 years, the share of BRICS in global merchandise trade has doubled, reaching nearly a quarter of global exports, while intra-bloc trade has surpassed $1 trillion, Putin noted.

Against the backdrop of global fragmentation and a paradigm shift, Russia now has an opportunity to secure a new place in the world economy, according to Dmitry Belousov, Head of the Analysis and Forecasting of Macroeconomic Processes Department at the Center for Macroeconomic Analysis and Short-Term Forecasting. Russia has a window of opportunity lasting 10-15 years while the new system continues to take shape, he noted. For example, Russia can already occupy niches in the markets of developing countries, primarily in Africa and Asia. In addition, this creates an opportunity to reach agreements with friendly countries on a new system of settlements and asset circulation, Belousov believes. "In the future, this will secure Russia a place at the negotiating table where the new world order and its rules are set," the expert concluded.

As the global economy becomes increasingly fragmented, the level of conflict is also rising, Alexander Shirov, Director of the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Vedomosti. For Russia, this means that under such conditions it must preserve its relative independence in making decisions in the field of economic policy while also attempting to use the opportunities offered by each of these centers of power to develop its economy, he noted.

Kommersant: OPEC+ keeps steady pace of oil output hikes amid Hormuz disruptions

The seven OPEC+ countries, including Russia, increased their oil production ceiling for July by 188,000 barrels per day (bpd), matching the pace of the previous month. Due to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, oil production in the Persian Gulf countries remains constrained. However, experts told Kommersant that the quota increases should make it possible to expand supply in the future without causing a shock to the market.

The OPEC+ countries, including Russia, raised the permitted level of oil production in July by 188,000 bpd, according to a statement released by the alliance. Production quotas for June were increased by the same amount. In May, OPEC+ quotas were raised by 206,000 bpd, although that figure also included the volumes of the UAE, which announced its withdrawal from OPEC and OPEC+ on April 28.

Russia and Saudi Arabia will each be able to increase oil production in July by 62,000 bpd compared with June, bringing output to 9.82 mln bpd and 10.35 mln bpd, respectively. Iraq’s quota for July was raised by 26,000 bpd to 4.37 mln bpd, Kuwait’s by 16,000 bpd to 2.64 mln bpd, Kazakhstan’s by 10,000 bpd to 1.6 mln bpd, Algeria’s by 6,000 bpd to 995,000 bpd, and Oman’s by 5,000 bpd to 831,000 bpd.

As noted in the OPEC+ statement, member countries of the alliance will continue to monitor and assess market conditions, reaffirming the importance of a cautious approach and maintaining full flexibility regarding the increase, suspension, or reversal of voluntary production adjustments.

Andrey Polishchuk, Senior Analyst for the Oil and Gas and Transport Sectors at Euler, told Kommersant he believes that the easing of restrictions will continue at the same pace through September. "After that, a pause is possible, and the cartel may return to reducing restrictions in 2027 if expectations regarding demand growth are confirmed," he said. According to Argus agency, if OPEC+ countries continue increasing quotas at the current pace, they will complete the rollback of the final package of voluntary production cuts by September.

Sergey Tereshkin, CEO of Open Oil Market, said that raising production ceilings would allow OPEC+ countries to increase supply after the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz without destabilizing the market, since the production growth would remain within previously announced parameters. "Overall, such a strategy is highly rational: it will allow them to increase their market share in the future without causing a shock similar to what happened in March 2020 during the first collapse of the OPEC+ agreement," he said. That year, Russia announced its withdrawal from the OPEC+ deal effective April 1, while a new agreement was reached starting May 1.

Izvestia: Iran says US opposes broader mediation efforts as Tehran expands ties with Russia

Iran was prepared to invite Russia to participate in negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in the Middle East, but the United States was not interested in such engagement, Iranian Ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali told Izvestia. According to him, Washington is also unwilling to involve its European allies, which participated in the 2015 nuclear deal. At the same time, Tehran is under no obligation to provide guarantees that it will refrain from developing nuclear weapons, since Iran has never pursued such a goal for itself, Jalali stressed.

Speaking about Pakistan’s mediation efforts and the possible involvement of other countries in resolving the Middle East conflict, Jalali said "Iran has always made use of Russia’s constructive role in negotiation processes. In fact, Tehran had been prepared to invite Russian representatives to help resolve the issue. However, Donald Trump and the United States were not interested in such engagement."

"This is indeed the case," he said, commenting on whether the United States is effectively the only obstacle to involving other countries in the settlement process.

Jalali stated that Europe currently plays no role in the processes around the possibility of a new agreement resembling the 2015 nuclear deal that involved European countries as well as Russia. "Where is Europe now?" he remarked, adding that there is no reason to rely on European countries. "Trump is unwilling to give any role to his European allies," he said. As previously noted, the US president does not want to allow additional participants into the process because he wants to present himself as the sole figure resolving the issue," he said.

At the same time, the ambassador stressed that Tehran does not need to provide guarantees to anyone. "Our military doctrine does not include any objective related to creating a nuclear bomb," he noted.

Commenting on the development of Russian-Iranian relations, the ambassador noted that Tehran had allowed an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitoring mission to visit the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, which is being built with the participation of Rosatom. "Peaceful nuclear cooperation between Iran and Russia has been ongoing for a long time and Tehran expressed gratitude to Russian partners for their assistance in this sphere. The first power unit of the Bushehr plant has already been launched and has long been generating electricity, while Russian contractors are currently constructing the second and third units of the station," he said.

Jalali said the Islamic Republic is interested in introducing a visa-free regime for individual travelers between Russia and Iran. "Tehran has already proposed its own solutions on this issue to Russian counterparts. The matter now depends on their decision. Iran is fully ready to open the country to Russian citizens," the ambassador stated.

Vedomosti: AmCham head says Russia and US could cooperate in space industry

Russian and American businesses could cooperate in the space sector and in the development of data center infrastructure, head of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Russia Robert Agee told Vedomosti on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026). Experts believe that despite severe sanctions and export controls limiting US-Russia cooperation in space, the sector remains one of the few areas where professional dialogue continues, although meaningful commercial projects would require reduced sanctions pressure and the reestablishment of at least technical-level trust between the two countries.

"The most logical partner for the United States [in the space sector] is Russia <...> What data centers need is cheap electricity and a favorable climate – Russia has that," he emphasized. Agee suggested that bilateral cooperation, including business ties, could develop in these and other areas as a result of the ongoing negotiation process between Russia and the United States.

As the primary reason to focus on space cooperation, he cited the fact that interaction between the two countries within the framework of the International Space Station (ISS) project has remained relatively unaffected by US sanctions. He explained the interest in bilateral projects involving data centers by pointing to Russia’s access to the key resources required for such initiatives.

The scope for partnership, particularly commercial cooperation in space, has been sharply constrained by US sanctions and export controls, Senior Lecturer at St. Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation Pyotr Punchenko told Vedomosti. However, space remains one of the few areas in which, even during periods of severe political crisis, the two sides are compelled to maintain professional dialogue.

Robert Foresman, Vice Chairman of KingsRock Advisors, specified the area of potential cooperation in space, referring to "space commerce." According to Punchenko, this involves the commercialization of the entire chain of space-related activities, including launches, satellite manufacturing, insurance, ground infrastructure, the sale of satellite data, communications, navigation services, Earth observation, analytics based on space data, and the servicing of spacecraft in orbit.

"Commercial projects can emerge only after sanctions pressure is reduced and trust is restored at least at the technical level. For now, the American private space sector remains integrated into US strategic policy, while the Russian space industry is increasingly reorienting itself toward domestic priorities, BRICS, China, India, the countries of the Global South, and partners for whom space is becoming an instrument of technological sovereignty," Punchenko stated.

Izvestia: Russian scientists warn growing space debris could contribute to extreme climate changes on Earth

Russian scientists have discovered that microfragments of space debris could alter Earth’s climate. For the first time in the world, researchers have quantitatively assessed how small man-made particles in orbit weaken solar radiation traveling toward the planet. According to their calculations, this factor currently plays no significant role. However, if the current pace of debris accumulation continues, the scale of solar dimming could increase thousands of times over the next 80-100 years. Researchers warned that in the future this could affect climate processes and living ecosystems, meaning that the rules governing the operation of satellite constellations need to be reconsidered now, Izvestia writes.

"Currently, space debris creates problems for orbital stations and ground-based telescopes. However, in the future this factor could lead to negative environmental consequences. At present, satellite fragments block one one-hundred-millionth of the Sun’s radiation directed toward Earth, which is insignificant, but if the pace of development of satellite constellations continues, then within 50 years the share of light that does not reach us could reach approximately one one-millionth," Stanislav Kozlov, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Leading Researcher at the Laboratory of Electrodynamic Processes in Geophysics at the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia.

According to him, this could trigger a chain of climatic effects. For example, a reduction in incoming solar energy would alter the circulation patterns of atmospheric masses and reduce the intensity of water evaporation. This, in turn, could affect precipitation patterns and make the climate more extreme by increasing the number of droughts and hurricanes.

"If the weakening of light reaches 0.1% or higher, this could theoretically affect Earth’s heat balance due to the reduction of infrared radiation, as well as the ionosphere and the propagation of radio waves because of ultraviolet radiation. It could also affect the efficiency of solar energy generation and photosynthesis," Tatyana Ledashcheva, Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental Safety and Product Quality Management at the Patrice Lumumba Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia Institute of Ecology, told Izvestia.

According to Sergey Yazev, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and Director of the Astronomical Observatory at Irkutsk State University, no effective technologies currently exist for cleaning near-Earth space of man-made pollution. Such projects have not yet been widely developed because they require significant expenditures, while the potential damage from the problem is still considered limited.

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