Version 2: Sat, Oct 4, 2025
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to HSE University Dean of the
Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs Sergey Karaganov ©
Sputnik / Sputnik
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin held a meeting with permanent members of the Security
Council in the Kremlin http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78051
September 22, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/NzsE8
Putin on extending the New START Treaty - emphasis added:
The New START Treaty will expire on February 5, 2026, signalling the
imminent end of the last international accord directly limiting nuclear
missile capabilities. A complete renunciation of this treaty’s legacy
would, from many points, be a grave and short-sighted mistake. It would
also have adverse implications for the objectives of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
In order to prevent the emergence of a new strategic arms race and to
preserve an acceptable degree of predictability and restraint, we
consider it reasonable to maintain at this turbulent time the status quo
established under New START. Accordingly, Russia is prepared to
continue observing the treaty’s central quantitative restrictions for
one year after February 5, 2026.
Following that date, based on a careful assessment of the situation,
we will make a definite decision on whether to uphold these voluntary
self-limitations. We believe that this measure is only feasible if the
United States acts in a similar spirit and refrains from steps that
would undermine or disrupt the existing balance of deterrence.
Dmitry Medvedev
The New Finnish Doctrine: Stupidity, Lies, Ingratitude https://tass.com/politics/2014115 by Dmitry Medvedev,
Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council - TASS - Sep 8, 2025 -
Archive https://archive.ph/6Oojr
Deputy Chairman of Russia’s Security Council Dmitry Medvedev finds
historical parallels in the behavior of the current leaders of Finland
and their predecessors from almost a century ago and recalls the
aftermath of their aggressive attacks on Russia.
Sergei Karaganov
Reports just published on two themes Karaganov has been working on
for some time:
Recent articles on the same topics:
Eastern Turn 2.0 https://karaganov.ru/en/eastern-turn-2-0/ by Sergei
Karaganov - July 21, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/aDHVg
The previously prevalent development model – globalist
imperial-liberal capitalism, has almost exhausted itself. This model,
based on the endless growth of consumption, leads to the degradation of
humans and humanity, and is beginning to jeopardize the planet upon
which human existence depends. …
We are witnessing the birth of a new world. In many ways, we have
become its midwife by ending the West’s military superiority that
underpinned its 500-year-long hegemony. We are repelling what is
hopefully the declining West’s final attack, an effort to strategically
defeat our country in Ukraine and to reverse history. We must win this
fight, even by threatening the most severe measures and, if necessary,
using them. This is necessary not only for our victory, but also to
prevent the world from slipping towards the Third World War.
But, I repeat, the fight with the West should not distract us from
the most important constructive tasks. These include the new development
of the entire east of the country. Geoeconomics, geopolitics, and the
inevitable climate change of the coming decades necessitate, but also
facilitate, a Siberian turn that shifts Russia’s spiritual, human, and
economic center eastward.
Siberia’s lands, forests, minerals, and freshwater should become,
with modern technologies and Siberians’ energy and intelligence, a
driver of Eurasia’s development. So, our duty is to hold Siberia firmly,
developing it for the benefit of our citizens, the country, and all
humankind. At present, we mainly supply low-value-added products. The
task is to create, under state regulation, nationwide full-cycle
production complexes (Kryukov, 2023), and to use defense contracts to
rebuild state-of-the-art Siberian manufacturing.
Federal administrative centers should also go east: ministries,
legislative bodies, the headquarters of large corporations, to be
followed by patriotic and, in the best sense of the word, ambitious
young people. If Peter the Great lived today, he would have certainly
found a new capital in Siberia and greatly expand the “window to Asia.”
Apart from Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia absolutely needs a third,
Siberian, capital, not least because of the military-strategic situation
of the coming decades.
Europe: A Bitter Parting https://karaganov.ru/en/europe-a-bitter-parting/ by
Sergei Karaganov - July 28, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/wip/Rnpss
Our relations with Europe are the worst they have been in history.
The level of Russophobia and anti-Russian sentiment is unprecedented not
only among European elites but also among a growing share of the masses,
stupefied by all-encompassing wartime propaganda. Europe has not yet
openly declared war, but participates indirectly by arming enthralled
and Nazism-indoctrinated Ukrainians to fight against Russia. …
And yet the unprecedented hostility’s main reason lies deeper: the
multi-spectral failure of the European elites and the impasse of the
European project. Its problems began as early as the 1970s–1980s, but
were temporarily obscured by the unexpected, internally triggered
collapse of the USSR and socialist camp, which freed up several hundred
million cheap workers and hungry consumers. China’s markets opened at
the same time. But Europe’s external injection of economic and moral
adrenaline began to wear off in the late 2000s. And now the bill has
come due for the greedy European bourgeoisie’s admission of millions of
migrants, since the 1960s, in order to lower the cost of labor and
weaken trade unions. The result is a mounting and so far irresolvable
migration crisis.
Energy and Rosatom
Could Small Modular Reactors Soon Power Data Centers? https://russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/interview/could-small-modular-reactors-soon-power-data-centers/
by Alexander Volgin and Maria Bazlutskaya - RIAC - August 25, 2025 -
Archive https://archive.ph/HCQNO
Data centers rank among the most energy-intensive facilities in
today’s infrastructure. In 2024, they accounted for 1.5% of global
electricity consumption, driven by the rapid growth of artificial
intelligence (AI) and cloud computing. Data center electricity
consumption has grown by around 12% per year since 2017, more than four
times faster than the rate of total electricity consumption. This
massive energy demand exposes some shortcomings of traditional energy
sources such as coal, gas and large nuclear power plants (NPPs), which
often struggle to deliver what modern data centers need the most:
flexibility, fast scalability and environmental sustainability. Could
small modular reactors (SMRs), with their fundamentally new approach to
powering data centers, become a solution to this trilemma? We discussed
this with Alexander Volgin, Project Director at Rosatom Energy Projects
JSC.
The following is not about Russia but covers the same topic and
mentions Rosatom:
Transcript of Henry Tillman: China’s Thorium Revolution – 60.000
Years of Cheap Energy https://singjupost.com/transcript-of-henry-tillman-chinas-thorium-revolution-60-000-years-of-cheap-energy/
by S. Pangambam - April 24, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/6gHAO
Henry Tillman: I think the world underestimates the power needed just
to run data centers. I’ve read a piece someplace where the Amazon data
center just outside of Washington D.C. would require the same amount of
power as the city of Chicago—just one data center. So you’re going to
have to have adequate power to run all this. …
Glenn Diesen: Well China will obviously already taking the lead. But
you mentioned Rosatom, the Russian nuclear company. Russia tends to have
a very leading position on nuclear energy, having a lot of the
construction of new nuclear power plants around the world on their
books. They have nuclear turnkey solutions—they can build the nuclear
power plants, they can operate them, they can provide the fuel, they can
dispose of the waste. Do you think the Russians will be able to benefit
greatly from this? Are they able to transition into it or will this be a
rival to their existing industries?
Henry Tillman: I think as I said before, people look at multiple
different ways of approaching this. Thorium might be a piece of it,
uranium might be a piece of it. But I’ll pick up your point which is an
excellent one. In Zimbabwe in the last year, Rosatom made a proposal to
mine uranium, build the power plant, work on the data center, deal with
all the mining and also deal with the manufacturing. Comprehensive list
of what it can do for the government. Turnkey list of what it can do.
And that’s the skill set Rosatom has built. Very powerful for many
countries across Africa.
In fact, they’re talking about now building a manufacturing plant in
Guinea. So I think Russia is doing quite well. That’s a commercial
business with, as I say, I think it’s $20 billion market cap with the
markets today, who knows. But a sizable company and profitable. So
they’re doing quite well. So I think it’s complementary because a lot of
that’s going to be offshore and a lot of that’s diversified revenues
across businesses is where Rosatom’s built.
Reactor for Scientific Breakthroughs https://rosatomnewsletter.com/2025/09/22/reactor-for-scientific-breakthroughs/
Rosatom newsletter #293 September 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/qhWSK
An unparalleled multi-purpose fast-neutron research reactor
(abbreviated MBIR) is under construction in Russia. Its experimental and
technological capabilities will expand research into closed nuclear fuel
cycle technology, enable material studies and other tests. An
international consortium is being established, whose members will gain
access to experiments on MBIR. China is considering the possibility of
joining the consortium.
MBIR is the largest research reactor currently under construction in
the world. It is being built in Dimitrovgrad at the site of the Research
Institute of Atomic Reactors (RIAR, part of Rosatom’s research
division). MBIR has 150 MW of thermal power and 55 MW of electric
power—exceptionally high figures for a research reactor.
Russia and Ethiopia Sign Action Plan to Advance Nuclear Power Plant
Project https://rosatomafrica.com/en/press-centre/news/russia-and-ethiopia-sign-action-plan-to-advance-nuclear-power-plant-project/
Rosatom Africa - 25 September, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/BMinL
Building Africa’s Nuclear Energy Network: Rosatom’s Expanding
Footprint https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2025/06/20/building-africas-nuclear-energy-network-rosatoms-expanding-footprint/
By Kester Kenn Klomegah - Modern Diplomacy - June 20, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/sS45H
- In this interview, Ryan Collyer, CEO of Rosatom Central and Southern
Africa, explains significant aspects of adopting and step-by-step
procedures for building nuclear power plants.
Previously:
Explainer: What is Putin proposing to Trump on nuclear weapons? https://www.reuters.com/world/why-is-putin-talking-about-new-nuclear-weapons-treaty-with-us-2025-09-22/
By Mark Trevelyan - Reuters - September 22, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/wdJgk
Thirsty for power and water, AI-crunching data centers sprout across
the West: With promises of jobs and hopes for tax breaks, server farms
are reshaping local grids, plumbing, and politics. Are they a boon for
communities, or a burden? https://andthewest.stanford.edu/2025/thirsty-for-power-and-water-ai-crunching-data-centers-sprout-across-the-west/
By Felicity Barringer - Stanford University - April 8, 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/oBIIo
Ethiopia, Niger plan to build nuclear plants with Russia’s Rosatom https://www.africanews.com/2025/09/26/ethiopia-niger-plan-to-build-nuclear-plants-with-russias-rosatom//
Africa News 25 September 2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/LSpXf
The importance of Iran in the new Asian energy architecture https://strategic-culture.su/news/2025/09/23/the-importance-of-iran-in-the-new-asian-energy-architecture/
by Lorenzo Maria Pacini - Strategic Culture Foundation - September 23,
2025 - Archive https://archive.ph/QZAfi
The agreement calls for Rosatom to build at least eight new nuclear
reactors in Iran, with a project largely based on the 25-year
Russian-Iranian Strategic Pact approved by the Tehran parliament on May
21, to be financed by Moscow and providing over 10 gigawatts of energy.
According to current plans, Iran aims to increase its nuclear capacity
to 20,000 megawatts (or 20 GW) by 2041.
Started: Fri, Sep 19, 2025
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