The North Caucasus region of Ingushetia now has a "red" rating from the Finance Ministry, which means Moscow may take direct control over its debt management. Ingeshutia is approaching bankruptcy, with a debt of over 125% of its annual income. It was already one of the most subsidized regions in Russia, receiving over 80% of its annual budget from the central government. More regions are expected to approach bankruptcy in the near future as the pandemic drags on, but the Russian government remains reticent to stimulate the economy with its cash reserves stored in the National Wealth Fund. It is believed that these reserves are being saved to prepare for a Biden presidency which promises to be tough on Russia, both economically and politically.
Putin refuses to officially congratulate Joe Biden for his projected win in the 2020 U.S. Election, despite that several world leaders from France, England, etc. already have, and that he had congratulated Trump within an hour of his victory declaration 4 years prior. This is yet another clear indicator of Russia's bias towards a Trump presidency with the hope of softer anti-Russia rhetoric.
Nikolai Bulayevand other leading members of Russia's election panel are skeptical of this year's American Election's legitimacy, citing concerns regarding mail-in votes such as “people who are long dead are casting ballots and [] mailboxes are being broken into.” Though presented under the guise of non-bias (for example claiming that both candidates will commence lawsuits), these sentiments wholly echo Donald Trump's attempts to delegitimize the election's results in myriad swing states leaning in Biden's favor.
Although Russia is finally prepared to agree to America's New START renewal terms, Russia is continuing to hold nuclear-powered missile tests, despite that new weapons would mean the Russian nuclear stockpile likely surpasses 1550 warheads. This implies that Russia doesn't have complete faith in the deal, and is making myriad preparations in advance in case the New START renewal falls through.
Russia and the US disagree on the conditions of a potential New START nuclear treaty extension. The US demands that both nations freeze their nuclear warhead stocks between now and the treaty's expiration on February 5, 2021, but Russia refused this condition among others proposed by the US. The US was surprised that Russia rejected this proposal (initially assuming they'd accept), but both sides do see a potential deal as a victory for both sides, so it's fair to assume negotiations will continue.
This article reports on the sanctions placed on Belarus by the EU and America because of election protests as well as the retaliation by Belarus and Russia.
![Nikolai Bulayevand other leading members of Russia's election panel are skeptical of this year's American Election's legitimacy, citing concerns regarding mail-in votes such as “people who are long dead are casting ballots and [] mailboxes are being broken into.” Though presented under the guise of non-bias (for example claiming that both candidates will commence lawsuits), these sentiments wholly echo Donald Trump's attempts to delegitimize the election's results in myriad swing states leaning in Biden's favor.](https://s3.amazonaws.com/sc-lib-ds-omeka-s/medium/add27c1896a888356451a4d447682489d46722f8.jpg)
