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:
- Turn to the East 2.0, or the Siberization of Russia https://svop.ru/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/turn-to-the-east-2.0-or-the-siberization-of-russia.pdf PDF 48 pages - Report by Ilya Kozylov and Sergei Prosekov et al. - September 18, 2025
- A living idea is Russia’s dream, the Code of the Russian in the 21st century https://svop.ru/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/russias-living-idea-dream.pdf PDF 46 pages - Report by Sergey A. Karaganov et al. - September 10, 2025
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:
- Russia Update https://metagora.blogspot.com/2025/07/russia-update.html - July 25, 2025
- File: Russia https://metagora.blogspot.com/2024/03/file-russia.html - Dec 28, 2024
Additional information
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
