From October 1, marketplaces cannot add a product to a promotion with…

BRICS members adopted the joint declaration of the 18th summit in New Delhi on 12 September. The document makes no mention of Ukraine. It says conflicts are preventable by addressing root causes, voices concern over Middle East escalation and calls for protection of civilians and infrastructure; it urges comprehensive UN reform, representation for Palestine in all international organizations (including full UN membership) and permanent UNSC seats for Africa, while Russia and China backed a bigger UN role for Brazil and India; the declaration calls for cancelling unilateral and secondary sanctions and for continued work on cross-border payments in national currencies and an autonomous insurance and reinsurance system. China will take the BRICS chairmanship in 2027.

Putin told the summit plenary on 12 September that BRICS has become the world's largest association - a third of the planet's territory, 40% of global GDP and nearly half its population - while the unipolar system is fading and the balance of power shifts toward new growth centers of the Global South and East. He criticized multipolarity's opponents, who think in colonial categories, divide the world into a blooming garden and wild jungles, live at others' expense and restrain rising competitors with tariff wars, sanctions, economic pressure, interference and military force; he called for preserving the UN's central role, expanding the Security Council with Asia, Africa and Latin America, deeper BRICS coordination in the IMF, World Bank and WTO, and recalled Russian initiatives on payment and settlement infrastructure, an investment platform, reinsurance and a grain exchange.

Zelensky said he is ready to meet Putin at the G20 summit in Miami on 14-15 December. Peskov called such a meeting impossible, noting Putin had earlier said Zelensky could fly to Moscow if he wanted to talk. Lavrov called the invitation to Moscow an enormous gesture of goodwill on Russia's side, reaffirming readiness for talks without pausing the special military operation; Ushakov said Putin's G20 trip has not been discussed yet.

The US Congress will begin reviewing the hell-sanctions bill against Russia on 14 September, Kommersant reported. Peskov said the same day there is no cooperation with the US so far - only mediation efforts - while the Kremlin said there is no trade or economic cooperation between the two countries and the West froze relations with Russia almost to zero on its own initiative.

Putin met Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in New Delhi on 12 September, saying bilateral trade has tripled and keeps growing, and invited him to the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow; the same day Putin called the UAE one of Russia's closest partners in the region. Peskov also said Putin and Xi Jinping have not yet had a substantive conversation at the summit.

Iran has sent the US seven conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim news agency reported. The strait's blockage amid the US-Iran standoff remains a key driver of high oil prices (Brent up about 9% for the week, above $105). The specific conditions have not been published.

A Saudi oil pipeline was attacked by drones launched from Iraqi territory, Kommersant reported. The risk to Middle Eastern energy infrastructure keeps rising: Houthis took control of the Bab el-Mandeb strait this week while the US and Iran face off at the Strait of Hormuz.

Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 230 Ukrainian drones overnight and 53 more during the day (to 20:00). Recent daily tallies stay high: 97 on 10 September and 67 on 11 September.

Taganrog in Rostov region was hit by a massive drone attack early on 12 September; Tolyatti in Samara region was struck the same day. Houses and a shop were damaged in both cities, with no clear casualty reports.

The Belgorod region came under another overnight Ukrainian drone attack, leaving 1 dead and 14 injured (per Vedomosti; Kommersant earlier reported 1 dead and 3 injured, with numbers updated during rescue work). On 11 September the region had already been hit by multiple daytime attacks (1 dead, 5 injured including three children).

Russian forces launched a massive strike on Ukrainian metallurgical plants (Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih) and Odesa ports, hitting a vessel carrying Ukrainian military cargo, the Defense Ministry said; control over the settlement of Veseloe in the DNR was also declared. In Zaporizhzhia region, 1 person was killed and 6 injured in attacks.

The death toll from Friday evening's bus-logging truck collision on the M-8 highway rose to 13, including three children, with five victims in critical condition; the Arkhangelsk region declared a day of mourning on 12 September. The earlier count was 12 dead and 8 injured; the Investigative Committee opened cases under Art. 238(3) and 264(5) of the Criminal Code.

Six people were killed in a road accident in the Amur region on 12 September, RIA Novosti and Kommersant reported.

A light Cessna aircraft clipped a TV tower and crashed into a vegetable garden in Tatarstan, killing both people on board; Rosaviatsia classified the crash as an accident and the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case.

Presidential envoy and RDIF head Dmitriev said the planned Russia-US-Germany business forum has received more than 20 applications; Peskov said the same day that Moscow sees business interest in restoring ties with the US.

Avtostat data show Russia imported 22,200 new passenger cars via alternative channels in August (+69% YoY), nearly 60% of the month's imports, while official-dealer sales (mostly Chinese brands) fell 6.5% to 114,300. The top model was the Mazda CX-5 (3,271 units from China), followed by Nissan Qashqai (954), Toyota RAV4 (872) and Highlander (850). Experts cite trust in Japanese brands and residual value plus a preferential utilization fee for engines under 160 hp; gray imports reached 18% of new-car sales over eight months, with China holding about 73% of imports.

More than 90,000 people took part in a cross procession in St. Petersburg on 12 September.

Forecasters expect a warm and wet 2026-2027 winter in Russia due to El Nino, while the night of 13 September in Moscow could be among the coldest since early May.

Anthropic's chief called for slowing AI development for safety, warning that an AI swarm could capture the internet; Elon Musk and Sam Altman backed the idea. Vedomosti's investment desk reported Nvidia may invest in Anthropic's IPO.

Moscow-born Elena Rybakina, playing for Kazakhstan, beat Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final and will rise to world No. 1 in the WTA rankings.

On September 12, Igor Igoshin, first deputy chair of the State Duma committee on competition protection, told RIA Novosti that from October 1 the platform economy law makes promotions transparent: a marketplace cannot put a seller's product into a sale without consent, and refusing cannot be met with fines or demotion. He said this ends the practice where a flashy discount hides a quality-downgraded product and frees manufacturers from forced loss-making campaigns. What it means for Chinese sellers: from October you can legally decline unprofitable promotions and keep control of your price; but quantify the traffic loss beforehand and rebuild your promo budget and price bands for Q4.

The same briefing set the law's scope: a large digital platform is one with 100k+ daily users, more than 10k partners, or annual turnover from RUB 50 bn - which covers Ozon, Wildberries and Yandex Market. Search ranking is now regulated too: platforms must explain to a seller why its offer ranks below competitors, removing discretionary manipulation of results. What it means for Chinese sellers: ranking drops can be formally challenged, but ranking rules will be written into terms, shrinking grey practices like review farming; expect to compete on content quality and ads.

Overnight on September 12, drone debris sparked fires at four commercial facilities in Taganrog, Rostov region, including a food warehouse, a Svetofor supermarket and a children's football club. Open flames at three sites were contained during the day, with no deaths reported. It is a rare case in the current campaign of retail and food storage being hit directly rather than Ozon or Wildberries logistics centers. What it means for Chinese sellers: risk to southern distribution and storage nodes keeps spreading - build in delays on Rostov truck routes, and if you use third-party food/FMCG warehouses, confirm they carry insurance and contingency plans.

The New Delhi Declaration adopted on September 12 voices serious concern over unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures and protectionism pursued under environmental pretexts: such WTO-inconsistent actions distort trade, may further shrink global trade, disrupt supply chains and inject uncertainty into international economic activity. Members also pledged to make the WTO more responsive to trade disruptions. What it means for Chinese sellers: the declaration is not binding and does not change current Russian customs or tariff rules; it is a public position on tariffs and green barriers, and in the medium term could shape EAEU anti-dumping and safeguard cases against Chinese goods.

The same briefing set two hard rules: platforms may not publish a listing unless the seller has supplied certificates or declarations of conformity, cutting off uncertified goods at the source; and platforms will start sending partner income data to the Federal Tax Service every month. The seller's tax payment procedure is unchanged, but oversight becomes far more complete. What it means for Chinese sellers: from October, certificates and declarations (EAC, GOST, etc.) become a de facto precondition for listing - renew expired documents now; and with platform data flowing to the tax service, under-reporting revenue to undercut prices is effectively over, so bake tax into your pricing.

RBC reported on September 12 that the Bank of Russia will inject RUB 165 bn into the Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNPC), its first recapitalization in a decade, driven by sustained losses from infrastructure-strike claims. RNPC is Russia's reinsurer of last resort for property risk; on September 5 the RSPP publicly said no insurer would cover Ozon or Wildberries warehouses and urged reliance on RNPC reinsurance. What it means for Chinese sellers: warehouse and cargo insurance availability may ease at the margin - re-quote terms and rates in October; but recapitalization is not a product, so do not expect war-risk policies soon. Keep diversifying storage and using FBS as the main hedge.

Fobos weather center lead specialist Evgeny Tishkovets told RIA Novosti that an El Nino pattern will bring an abnormally warm and wet winter across most of Russia, 3-4 C above normal, most pronounced in Central Russia and the south, peaking in February. January precipitation may run 30-40% above normal, with snowstorms, fog and ice, potentially disrupting ground transport and aviation. What it means for Chinese sellers: a warm winter blunts and delays peak demand for heavy outerwear, heaters and snow gear - shift stocking later and cut the share of extra-heavy models; demand for de-icing, moisture absorbers and rain gear may rise; with higher January delay risk, place replenishment orders earlier.

The New Delhi Declaration shows cross-border settlement - a priority of Russia's 2024 chairmanship - has still not made substantial progress. It merely acknowledges work on cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels and discussions on settling trade and investment in national currencies, and urges the working group to keep discussing fast, cheap, accessible, efficient, transparent and safe solutions, while noting national priorities and that there is no one-size-fits-all approach. What it means for Chinese sellers: a unified BRICS payment rail is not coming soon; keep using existing yuan correspondent and border-trade routes. Do not treat summit language as a usable funding channel - what moves your cash flow is the CNY/RUB rate and the CBR reference rate.

The same declaration includes an insurance section: members see a need to use BRICS collective capacity to build a more autonomous insurance ecosystem supporting intra-bloc trade, and to keep discussing reinsurance capacity building. It welcomes continued talks on a BRICS Centre for Sustainable Insurance, a voluntary platform for shared risk-assessment models, best-practice exchange and specialist training. What it means for Chinese sellers: in principle this is an international backstop for the post-strike insurance gap, running alongside the domestic RNPC route; but the language stops at continued discussions, with no timeline, capital or membership - near term, the RNPC recapitalization matters far more.

At the BRICS finance ministers and central bank governors meeting on September 12, Bank Indonesia governor Destry Damayanti said Indonesia sees a strategic opportunity to turn challenges into shared resilience by strengthening local-currency settlement and cross-border payment system interlinking, to shield economies from geopolitical risk. Kommersant notes Jakarta said in June it planned to expand local-currency use in trade with Russia. What it means for Chinese sellers: political will for local-currency settlement is growing, but in the Russia-China corridor yuan routes are already mature and new members will not change your cost or timing; watch the CNY/RUB rate and the CBR official rate rather than summit statements.