Record agreements and calls for multipolar cooperation mark SPIEF 2025: As it happened

21 June 2025

Trade between China and Russia is growing steadily, with both countries increasingly using their national currencies instead of the US dollar, Professor Zhang Weiwei, head of the China Institute at Fudan University, has told RT.

“It’s in their common interest to vigorously develop these bilateral economic relations. Sky’s the limit – so many opportunities,” he said on the sidelines of the forum. “Most of our trade already uses our own currencies. I think more countries will follow the China-Russia example and rely less on the US dollar.”

Zhang added that Washington will ultimately “lose the trade war” launched under President Donald Trump, noting the US now depends more on China than the other way around.

Saudi Arabia will be a guest country at SPIEF 2026, organizing committee executive and presidential aide Anton Kobyakov announced. Registration for next year’s event will open this fall.

The EU will eventually resume cooperation with Russia, though the process will be slow and challenging, Federation Council Chairwoman Valentina Matvienko said on the sidelines of the forum.

“I’m sure this fever will pass, the Russophobic times will pass in European countries,” the top senator stated. “We live on the same continent — you don’t choose your neighbors. Europe’s security cannot be ensured without Russia, and a strong European economy is impossible without Russian scientific achievements.”

Matvienko added that restoring peace and stability in Europe and Eurasia is “inevitable,” as economic growth and peaceful life depend on it.

AI will “inevitably” replace workers and lead to unemployment, Sber CEO Herman Gref told RT at SPIEF 2025.

He added that society must “live with it” as “no one will be able to stop the development of these technologies anymore.”

Gref admitted he would welcome a pause in AI development, saying it brings rapid changes that people “can’t adapt to quickly enough.”

A total of 1,060 agreements worth 6.3 trillion rubles ($80 billion) have been signed at SPIEF 2025, executive secretary of the organizing committee and presidential aide Anton Kobyakov announced.

It “makes sense” for EU countries to maintain economic ties with Russia, Austrian film producer Thomas Ebner told RT.

“We’re on the same continent. We should trade and exchange with each other,” he said on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025. “One shouldn’t be afraid, but instead look to the future with confidence. Above all, we should just talk.”

Ebner added that cooperation between Russia and the EU will resume eventually, as “we would otherwise have to split the continent apart.” He urged Europeans not to be “intimidated by the news,” which often promotes an anti-Russia narrative.

“The global economy is at a turning point where no single country, regardless of its size, can control it alone,” former Indonesian Senator Dr. Zurainah Musa has told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“You need ASEAN. Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines – we are gateways. We want to be heard, treated fairly, and seen,” she said, praising the forum for offering a platform for collaboration and shared progress.

Moscow and the world expect the new leadership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to lift the sanctions on Russian athletes and end the “perverted experiments” in sports, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

“It can’t go on like this,” Zakharova stated at the forum. “Some say world sport is orphaned without Russian athletes – I’d say it’s poorer and, most importantly, degraded due to repeated political and even senile blows, including gender perversions.”

She added that the issue goes beyond Russia. “Many now see this isn’t about Russia, but about the destruction of global sport. People around the world hope it won’t be turned into a field for political battles or twisted experiments.”

Kirsty Coventry is set to take office as the new IOC president on June 23.

Russia is placing its hopes on the youth as its “most valuable resource,” and will shield them from Western “liberal experiments,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said at the forum.

Speaking at a youth-focused session, Zakharova stressed that while Russia possesses vast natural, strategic, and geopolitical assets, the younger generation is the most important.

“In Russia, we bet on youth,” she said. “It’s our most valuable resource. We must not force anything on them, but explain the core moral and ethical principles – because we see what happens when a liberal dictatorship wipes out ideas of ethics, morality, and traditional values.”

The relationship between Pakistan and Russia “has moved in the right direction” over the past two decades, Pakistani Energy Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik has told RT on the sidelines of the forum, highlighting growing cooperation in the energy sector.

“There are various areas we’re working in — we’ve explored hydrocarbons potential together, and we’re looking at opportunities in mining. We’re also in talks with Gazprom and other major Russian gas exporters because of their sector expertise,” he said, adding that Islamabad is keen to involve Russia in exploring both offshore and onshore gas reserves in Pakistan.

Malik described his meeting with Gazprom and Russia’s Energy Ministry at the forum as “very fruitful,” noting that several projects are under discussion.

Russia ranked as the world’s fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity in 2024, but sustaining and building on that success will require steady growth through 2030, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at SPIEF 2025.

“To achieve this, we must adopt modern technologies, produce advanced machinery domestically, and implement cross-cutting and platform-based digital solutions,” Novak stated. He stressed that broad application of such innovations is essential for improving efficiency and labor productivity across all sectors, which in turn will boost investment and economic expansion.

Russia is one of Türkiye’s top energy suppliers, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said at SPIEF 2025, highlighting strong bilateral cooperation.

“We have long-standing energy ties with Russia – in oil, natural gas, coal, LNG, and oil products,” Bayraktar said, adding that new initiatives to boost collaboration were discussed with Russian officials during the forum.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has signed agreements with Chinese companies CNPC and PipeChina on the Far Eastern route for gas supplies to China at SPIEF 2025. The deals outline cooperation on operating the cross-border section of the pipeline across the Ussuri River.

CNPC is Gazprom’s main Chinese partner. A long-term supply contract for this route was signed in February 2022, with plans to deliver an additional 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually once fully operational.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has slammed Brussels’ push to eliminate Russian energy from the region’s mix, calling the move ideological and a violation of national sovereignty. Speaking to reporters at SPIEF 2025, Szijjarto said, “I really do love the fact that here, when we speak about energy, everybody speaks about it as something with physical nature… the big problem is that in Europe, the issue of energy is being considered as if it was an issue of ideology and politics.”

“When I look for an expression to describe properly what I think about this proposal of the European Union to cut ourselves from Russian energy sources, all the expressions I think about are very impolite,” he said, adding that mandating changes to national energy strategies undermines the sovereignty of member states.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, and Uzbekistan’s Uzatom have signed an agreement at SPIEF 2025 to explore building a 2GW nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan.

The plan includes two VVER-1000 reactors, with the option to expand to four units. This reactor type is already in operation in Russia, China (Tianwan NPP), and India (Kudankulam NPP).

The EU should revive ties with Russia and abandon efforts to cut Russian energy from its mix, Gerald Sakuler, the chairman of the Austrian Business Club in Russia, has told RT on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“It’s always best to source goods from nearby, not distant, corners of the world. Proximity makes transport easier, more efficient, and cost-effective,” he said. “Since the EU and Russia are neighbors, cooperation should absolutely resume.”

Sakuler argued that Brussels’ push for more sanctions on Russian energy will ultimately fail, as it harms EU economies.

“Decisions at the EU level may not be as permanent as they seem. Reality always catches up. In the long run, policies that hurt the economy won’t last. Profit and prosperity must remain central to politics,” he said.

Russian oil giant Rosneft has signed cooperation agreements with the Indian Institute of Management Development and St. Petersburg State University to support personnel training.

The deal includes joint training programs for Rosneft employees through the Higher School of Management at St. Petersburg State University and the Institute of Management Development in Gurgaon, as well as knowledge exchange in oil and gas technology development.

During his SPIEF 2025 broadcast, RT’s Rick Sanchez highlighted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments on Ukrainian sovereignty in the forum’s plenary session. Putin stated that “we have never questioned the right of the Ukrainian people to independence and sovereignty,” but stressed that Russia and Ukraine are “one people,” and that the current realities prevent Moscow from relinquishing the former Ukrainian territories that voted to join Russia.

Sanchez supported Putin’s remarks, arguing that the Kiev regime had effectively handed over Ukraine’s sovereignty to the West. “Putin says, ‘we don’t deny anybody their sovereignty.’ But they’re not sovereign,” Sanchez said. “They’ve essentially sold their country. They’re not in charge.”

President Vladimir Putin warned during the SPIEF 2025 plenary session that any attempt by the Kiev regime to use a dirty bomb against Russia would be a “colossal mistake.”

“It could perhaps be their last mistake, because our nuclear doctrine – and common sense – dictate that we always respond to threats in kind,” Putin said. “Our response would be extremely harsh and likely catastrophic, both for the neo-Nazi regime and unfortunately for Ukraine itself.” He added that he hopes this never happens.

RT’s Rick Sanchez noted that the statement signals that while Putin has exercised restraint so far, he has clearly outlined red lines that must not be crossed.

SPIEF 2025 has been defined by world leaders “reasserting themselves publicly as friends of Russia,” RT’s Rick Sanchez said in an episode of Sanchez Effect, reflecting on Friday’s plenary session.

The event featured speeches from Russian President Vladimir Putin and top foreign guests. According to Sanchez, many leaders expressed their commitment to continued ties with Moscow, even at the risk of secondary sanctions from the West. Asked about the threat of sanctions for doing business with Russia, foreign officials say they are willing to take that risk if it means preserving relations, he said.

“We were watching here Bahrain, Indonesia, China, and South Africa stake their reputations on the ground, that they were going to be standing by and doing this,” Sanchez stated.

20 June 2025

The Russian president praised OPEC for its constructive and depoliticized approach to global energy policy during talks with Secretary General Haitham al-Ghais at SPIEF 2025.

Putin said the group’s work supports not only producers but also the stability of global markets, calling OPEC’s contribution under its current leadership “a major factor in global economic stability.”

Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang that Russia-China relations have reached “an unprecedented level” and are a powerful factor in global stability. The Russian leader attributed this to joint efforts and extended personal birthday wishes to President Xi Jinping, calling him “a great friend.”

Rumors about the “death” of Russia’s economy due to the Ukraine conflict "are greatly exaggerated," Putin said, citing a quote attributed to author Mark Twain. He added that the progress of Russia’s economy is “obvious,” and that it continues to grow and develop despite external pressure.

Russia confidently holds the top spot in global wheat exports, Putin said, noting that many countries, including in the Arab world, “are highly interested.”

Putin said Western attempts to harm Russia have backfired, with the EU losing €200 billion after cutting off Russian gas imports.

“Our ill-wishers keep trying to hurt us, but they are harming themselves,” he said, adding that Russia will always find new markets.

Commenting on Western companies that want to return to Russia, Putin said Moscow did not force anyone to leave its market and would make decisions based on national interests.

He added that Western firms that left due to political pressure have proven to be “unreliable partners,” stressing that Russian businesses have filled the void they left behind, which in turn has boosted domestic economic growth.

Private investment is essential for Russia’s economic development, Putin said.

“We certainly always welcome any foreign investment – and not only welcome it, but will create conditions to attract it,” he added.

Asked about the risk of secondary Western sanctions for continuing trade with Russia, Mashatile said South Africa already faces tariffs and is prepared to stand by its partners.

“Friends must stand together. We will face the challenges together – and I’m sure we’ll succeed,” he stressed.

“Avoiding escalation is the key word of today,” Bahrain’s national security adviser has said, stressing the need for restraint amid global tensions.

Subianto said Jakarta proposed an immediate ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict two years ago and received a positive response from Russia – but was harshly criticized by Western media.

“We always promote peaceful solutions to conflict, just to save people’s lives,” he said.

Putin said Russia has repeatedly proposed negotiations to settle the Ukraine conflict, but has been met with rejection.

“They still believe they can crush Russia using old and neocolonial logic,” he said, referring to Western countries. He mentioned former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s role in sabotaging peace efforts such as the Minsk agreements.

Putin added that the Russian army continues to advance and called Ukrainian losses “catastrophic.”

Russia’s actions in Ukraine followed a violent coup and were aimed at protecting the Russian-speaking population, Putin has said.

“Our ideological opponents armed Ukraine instead of seeking peace,” he said, adding that those who rejected the coup’s outcome became targets.

Putin blamed the rise of neo-Nazi and ultranationalist forces in Ukraine on those “unwilling” to face today’s global realities.

Russia and China are not creating a new world order, but giving shape to what is already emerging, Putin has said. “It’s like the sunrise – you can’t stop it,” he remarked.

Indonesia’s domestic policies are guided by the spirit of reconciliation, inspired by Nelson Mandela, President Subianto has said.

“As a former soldier, I truly understand the value of peace,” he stated. “Former enemies can come together — it’s always better to talk than to kill each other. This is my position.”

Bahrain is committed to peace and supports efforts to settle the Ukraine conflict, its national security adviser has said. “We are only looking for de-escalation.”

Bahrain’s national security adviser, Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, told SPIEF 2025 that the kingdom’s geography leaves it no choice but to serve as a link between East and West. “What matters is how we maintain our relations,” he said.

Mashatile said African nations should not be “queuing for aid” but are growing stronger and more self-reliant, while thanking Russia for the support. He praised the SPIEF as a vital platform and thanked Vladimir Putin for his leadership, declaring: “We are with you.”

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said relations between Moscow and Beijing are built on deep historical ties and mutual respect. “Our cooperation is based on friendship and is immune to any external influence,” he stated at SPIEF 2025.

He welcomed the warming of US-Russia ties, calling it “normal and beneficial for the whole world” and a step toward rebuilding the global economy.

Indonesia is committed to cooperation and mutual respect among nations, President Prabowo Subianto said at SPIEF 2025. “The only way to prosperity is cooperation and peaceful coexistence.”

New economic centers are emerging as the G7’s global share continues to shrink – a trend unfolding for decades, President Vladimir Putin has said at SPIEF 2025.

“Our task is to make this inevitable process shaped and balanced,” he stressed, referring to the growing role of BRICS in the global economy.

Russia aims to bring together countries that are ready to cooperate, President Vladimir Putin said at SPIEF 2025.

“We seek to build a multipolar world order,” he told a plenary session.

South Africa is committed to strengthening bilateral cooperation with Russia, the African state’s Deputy President Paul Mashatile has told SPIEF 2025.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a “crucial” platform for Africa’s cooperation with Russia, the South African Deputy President has said.

Russia has long been a “strategic player” in ensuring global food security, particularly in Africa, Mashatile has said.

Russia has shown “deep resilience” in light of Western sanctions, South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile told SPIEF 2025.

South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile has praised SPIEF 2025 as a platform for global cooperation, noting that “dialogue and respect” is vital.

“China has always spoken in favour of conflict resolution and working with every nation that is in favour of peace and development,” Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang has said. “We have to pass down this legacy from one generation to another,” he told the plenary session.

China is working to address global imbalances and inequalities, Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said at SPIEF 2025.

He called for avoiding a new Cold War and rejecting ideological confrontation “in all its manifestations,” stressing the need for cooperation over division.

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang told SPIEF 2025 that the world must return to universal values – peace, justice, development, and freedom – first outlined by President Xi Jinping at the UN a decade ago.

Given the growing global challenges and the dominance of power politics, Ding urged a renewed commitment to multilateralism and equal rights for all nations.

“Eighty years ago, China, the USSR, and the anti-Hitler coalition overcame Nazism. Today, we must reaffirm the UN Charter and work toward a more just and rational system of global governance,” he said.

A country’s vast natural resources can become a curse if not managed wisely, Indonesian President Subianto has warned.

“Indonesia is fortunate,” as it has immense natural wealth, according to Subianto. “But if we fail to use these resources wisely and responsibly, they could become a curse for our people,” he said at a plenary session of SPIEF 2025.

He stressed the need for sovereign economic policy and cautioned Southeast Asian nations against blindly following the Western powers.

“I was asked why I didn’t attend the G7 but came to SPIEF – it’s not because I don’t respect the G7, but because I had already committed to SPIEF before receiving their invitation,” the Indonesian leader explained during SPIEF 2025 plenary session.

Indonesia is open for business cooperation and welcomes Russian companies as partners, President Subianto told the plenary session.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, one of the key guests and headline speakers at SPIEF 2025, said during a plenary session that Jakarta views its participation as an “opportunity to earn trust” and strike agreements amid a worsening global geopolitical climate.

The global economy is undergoing its biggest transformation in decades, with the balance of power shifting and BRICS emerging as a leading force, Vladimir Putin has said.

“BRICS now accounts for 40% of the global economy, and that share will continue to grow. It’s a fact, there is no alternative. This is driven by the rise of the Global South,” he stated.

Putin called for expanding this growth to more countries through a new development model. “It should not be based on neo-colonial rules that extract resources for elite interests, but on improving the quality of life in developing nations,” the Russian president said, concluding his speech.

Russia will equip its army with the latest technologies and with models that have proven themselves in practice, the Russian president has stated.

“UAVs have become an effective way of hitting armored vehicles. We have learned from our experience,” he stated.

Putin has advocated dual-use economic development that can boost and support the Russian defense sector.

“In defense and security we need faster times-to-market, more effective distribution of best practices,” he stated.

“We will promote the creation of modern, high-productivity jobs that align with the new technological order,” Putin said, noting that this will require updates to labor legislation. He added that the government has drafted a package of reforms and urged the State Duma to adopt them promptly. “High-quality, structurally new employment is key to raising household incomes and reducing social inequality,” the Russian president stated.

Putin noted that in 2024 Russia’s poverty rate dropped to 7.2%, recalling that it stood at a staggering 29% in 2000. He noted, however, that the goal is to bring it down even lower.

Last year, Russian businesses registered 77,000 new brands, a 12% increase from the previous year, Putin said.

“SMEs are especially in need of promotion in external markets. Businesses from smaller towns are often more successful in finding their audience and customers. Global platforms can make this possible. Russia also has these global platforms and that is something we can be proud of,” the Russian president has said.

Putin has backed a “new legal framework for the platform economy” that will overcome issues of fraud and transparency online.

“We must admit the commercialization level is not high for innovative solutions. There are many research organizations in universities that only have one product in the market. We must have closer integration between businesses, researchers and tech developers,” Putin has said.

By 2030, Russia should rank among the world’s top 20 countries for business climate and conditions, President Vladimir Putin has said.

Putin emphasized that the Russian economy cannot be allowed to plunge into recession, commenting on the risks highlighted by several experts recently.

The contribution of the oil and gas industry to the Russian economy is “no longer decisive,” the idea of the Russian economy as one based on the export of resources is “outdated,” Putin has said.

Putin noted that it is important to constantly reinforce Russia’s status as one of the largest global economies by creating comfortable conditions for domestic businesses and those from friendly countries, so that they would invest resources, modernize, and expand production in Russia.

The Russian president has instructed the government and regions to prepare long-term strategies for developing the “creative economy” and, potentially, launching a separate federal project.

Annual inflation in Russia has fallen below 10%, and on July 1 stood at 9.6%, Putin said.

Putin has advocated Russia’s technological independence. “We must develop the technologies that form the basis of our economy, start a new stage of development.”

“R&D must account for 2% of GDP by 2030,” he proposed.

The current task is the transition of the Russian economy toward “balanced growth,” Putin has said.

Putin says Russia’s GDP has increased by more than 4% annually in the last two years, meaning it has grown at a rate higher than the world average. The growth of non-oil and gas GDP in 2023 was 7.2%, in 2024 almost 4.9%.

Putin has said it is important to make sure that positive technological changes are widespread, accessible, and allow countries to reach a new level of progress, and that the effect of technological breakthroughs benefits everyone.

President Vladimir Putin has welcomed participants and guests of the SPIEF 2025, noting the forum’s traditional focus on substantive global discussions.

“This year, the agenda includes the quality of growth in a multipolar world amid major challenges — tectonic shifts in demography and the economy, social and geopolitical tensions reflected in crises and regional conflicts, serious environmental issues, and the transition to a new technological era driven by artificial intelligence and autonomous systems,” he stated.

The SPIEF 2025 plenary session, the forum’s main event, has begun. Key speakers include Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, Bahrain’s National Security Adviser Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, and South African Vice President Paul Mashatile.

The European Commission and most EU member states view energy as “an ideological topic” and are “obsessed” with a “pathological hatred” toward Russian commodities, former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl has told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“This isn’t about physics or chemistry. It’s not a technical issue, though it should be. It’s old ideology,” she said. Kneissl added that dissent against Brussels’ anti-Russia stance is growing, arguing that forcing member states to alter their energy mix by cutting off Russian supplies amounts to “a breach of treaties.” She warned that EU industries and households will face increasing difficulty in the long term without access to affordable Russian energy.

A surprise sensation at SPIEF 2025 is the long line for quote T-shirts – now stretching into the forum’s third day.

The most popular prints include Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s blunt remarks: “Why the hell did I come here?” and “I don’t get paid to be an optimist,” as well as President Vladimir Putin’s “Luck is for fools, we work from morning till night,” “We won’t interfere, but we won’t give up our own,” and “Together we will overcome everything.”

Over 5,000 shirts featuring quotes from Putin, Lavrov, and other top Russian figures will be distributed during the event, the organizers have said.

Putin has held talks with Bahrain’s National Security Adviser Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The Russian president noted that 2025 marks 35 years of diplomatic ties between the two nations and called Al Khalifa’s visit, amid Middle East tensions, “the best confirmation of Bahrain’s attention to relations with Russia.”

Al Khalifa praised the forum and reaffirmed Bahrain’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the SPIEF 2025 venue and begun a series of meetings with the forum’s international guests.

Moldova would benefit from the removal of barriers on agricultural exports to Russia, former President Igor Dodon has said on Telegram after meeting Russian Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrey Razin on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

Dodon noted that Moldovan agricultural exports to Russia have sharply declined over the past four years, hitting farmer incomes and the sector overall. He blamed the drop in part on sanctions imposed by the pro-Western government of Maia Sandu, which restricted imports of Russian fertilizers.

The Moscow Region stand at SPIEF 2025 has drawn attention with its AI-powered robot Sofia, which greets visitors in Russian and Chinese, shares economic updates, and answers questions.

“Sofia is a voice assistant developed for entrepreneurs and potential investors,” the regional government has said in a statement. “She can explain how to start a business in Moscow Region, what support is available, where to find production sites, and much more.” The stand also features online tools for business, all accessible via Moscow Region’s investment portal. These include an interactive map for selecting land and a support measure calculator to identify incentives for specific projects.

The recent slowdown in Russia’s economy has been intentional, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, addressing concerns raised earlier by Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov that the country may be on the brink of recession.

“The slowdown was entirely planned by the central bank. What we are seeing now is the economy reacting to those measures,” Peskov told reporters at SPIEF 2025.

He noted there are ongoing debates within the government’s economic team about whether it’s time to accelerate growth. He explained that if acceleration doesn’t begin soon, earlier central bank policies could significantly restrain economic activity, increasing the risk of recession. However, he stressed that “a range of tools” is available to ease the slowdown and shift toward growth, calling the process “routine work” for Russia’s economic team.

Russia is ready to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Mexico and share technologies across the entire fuel and energy sector, Energy Minister Sergey Tsivilev has said on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“We are already working with Mexico. We have excellent LNG technologies. We are ready to share them and supply LNG to the Latin American country,” Tsivilev told reporters.

He added that Russia is also prepared to offer technology for oil production in challenging geological conditions, as well as solutions to improve refining efficiency and power generation.

Security measures at SPIEF 2025 are at their highest due to threats from the Kiev regime, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, addressing mobile connection disruptions in the forum area.

“As for security measures – of course, they are at their maximum. We know who we are dealing with: A regime that derails civilian trains with passengers on board,” Peskov told reporters.

“If we need to cut the connections, then we will. The priority is people’s safety,” he added.

The SPIEF 2025 plenary session, the forum’s main event, will be moderated by UAE journalist and General Manager of Sky News Arabia Nadim Koteich, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced. Russian President Vladimir Putin and top foreign guests are set to speak at the session, scheduled for later on Friday.

The Trans-Arctic transport corridor project, which includes the Northern Sea Route, is emerging as a key transport artery linking Russia with the Global South, Russian Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic Aleksey Chekunkov has said at SPIEF 2025.

Chekunkov highlighted Moscow’s goal of attracting people and businesses to the remote northern regions to boost development.

“More than a thousand projects have been launched, totaling around 2 trillion rubles [$25 billion] in investments. Of that, 800 billion rubles have already been invested,” he said. “Three advanced development territories have been established, and several proven tools from the Far East have been extended to the Arctic. Chief among them is the Arctic mortgage program, which has helped restart construction in cities that hadn’t seen development in decades.”

Russia and Myanmar have signed an agreement on the promotion and protection of investments on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

The agreement establishes a legal framework for expanding and simplifying bilateral investment cooperation. It is expected to accelerate the implementation of joint projects, including in the Dawei special economic zone, where a 660MW coal-fired power plant is under construction.

“This agreement opens up new prospects for Russian business in Myanmar,” Russian Minister of Economic Development Maksim Reshetnikov has said after the signing ceremony. “We especially welcome Myanmar’s readiness to invite Russian companies to develop offshore oil and gas fields. Russian technologies and expertise can play a key role in advancing Myanmar’s energy sector.”

Rosatom and Kazakhstan’s Atomic Energy Agency have signed agreements at SPIEF 2025 to build the republic’s first nuclear power plant, including a road map for 2025-27.

Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev says the facility will be based on the advanced VVER-1200 water-cooled power reactor model, adding that the project will operate as an international consortium, combining leading Russian nuclear technology, global suppliers of electronics and microelectronics, and Kazakhstani personnel.

“We have completed the most difficult and lengthy first stage of negotiations, having already agreed on specific technical parameters and timelines. This is a very important first legally binding step,” Likhachev says.

Relations between Russia and France are currently “paradoxical,” CIFAL Group CEO Gilles Remy has said at the ‘Russia-France’ panel at SPIEF 2025. Despite being in rival blocs during Soviet times, the two countries cooperated, but today, ties have been nearly severed, he added.

Remy says this rupture stems from France’s diminished sovereignty, which he blames on its integration into the EU. However, political disagreements, he argues, should not have resulted in a full break in relations. “A war on the European continent, no matter how difficult, cannot justify a rupture in French ties with the Russian Federation.”

Remy predicts that a time will come to rebuild relations, adding that French society and businesses will eventually drive the process. He urged the creation of a new framework for cooperation. “We need a new ecosystem for interaction to renew relations – even if it won’t be easy.”

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Vietnamese investment firm SHINEC have signed a partnership agreement at SPIEF 2025. The deal focuses on joint investments and spans several sectors, including logistics, port infrastructure, mineral processing, and industrial real estate in both Russia and Vietnam.

“This agreement contributes to strengthening bilateral economic ties and increasing mutual investment between Russia and Vietnam,” the RDIF said in a statement.

SHINEC is a leading developer and operator of industrial parks in Vietnam, known for its use of modern, eco-friendly technologies in line with ESG principles, the RDIF added.

The ‘economy’ was the most frequently mentioned word on day two of SPIEF 2025, according to the organizers who cited AI-generated data from the forum’s June 19 ‘cloud of meanings’.

Other top terms included ‘peace’, ‘cooperation’, ‘technology’, ‘leadership’, and ‘energy’.

19 June 2025

If European buyers show interest, Russia is ready to begin delivering gas through the intact line of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has said.

“Obviously, it is up to Germany and European consumers to decide whether or not to purchase gas through the existing infrastructure. For our part, Russia is ready to supply gas if there is interest from European buyers. We will be prepared to deliver gas through the available infrastructure,” he stated.

Novak noted that one of Nord Stream 2’s lines is still capable of supplying gas to Europe. The other three were damaged in 2022 in a sabotage attack.

Speaking to RT at SPIEF 2025, the chairman of the Russian Orthodox Church’s Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and Media, Vladimir Legoyda, has asserted that Orthodox Christianity is seeing positive growth in Africa.

“There is colossal interest in Orthodoxy,” Legoyda said, noting that the Church’s congregations are expanding across the continent.

Africa is a particularly dynamic region where many people are still seeking spiritual direction, he added. “It is certainly a big field for the service of the Orthodox Church, and I believe it will only grow.”

Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted without delay to restore global trade, former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray told RIA Novosti at SPIEF 2025.

“The removal of sanctions should happen as soon as possible, because the world needs normal trade relations,” he said, commenting on prospects for US-Russia dialogue.

Murray cited encouraging signals from US President Donald Trump’s administration but emphasized that the ongoing Ukraine conflict remains a major obstacle to progress.

Kenyan MP Catherine Omanyo told RT at SPIEF 2025 that her first visit to Russia changed her perspective.

“What we read about Russia is negative throughout – but the fear I had is gone,” she said, urging more Africans to travel, build dialogue, and expand trade ties.

“Russia is opening up for everyone…” she added.

The outcome of the Russia-Ukraine conflict could prove decisive for the EU, German entrepreneur Hansjorg Muller told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“The EU is aggravating this conflict for its pure existence, but it can turn out the other way around, in that losing this conflict, the European Union can be dismantled,” he warned, calling it the “last chance” for member states to remain sovereign.

Muller pointed out that bloc’s surging energy prices and plummeting exports to Russia are hurting the EU more than Moscow.

Russia can replace European goods with imports from Asia, he said, noting that the EU has no such alternative because “other markets are already saturated.”

More than 9,000 Chinese companies are officially registered in Russia, the chairman of the Chinese Entrepreneurs’ Union in Russia, Zhou Liqun, revealed. Speaking at the Russia–China business dialogue during SPIEF 2025, Zhou pointed out that these firms are now fully integrated into the Russian economy.

Some African nations remain under the sway of former colonial powers despite having achieved formal independence, John Aggrey, founder and CEO of the Ghana-Russia Center for Commerce and Relations, told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“Our eyes are no longer blind,” he said. “We’ve seen the true nature of our supposed colonial masters. We can’t have such resources and still be begging on the streets.”

Aggrey voiced support for the Sahel Alliance countries, saying Mali and Niger are “standing up for what they own.”

Western sanctions have failed to put the brakes on Russia’s development and have only succeeded in strengthening its self-reliance, Far East and Arctic Development Minister Aleksey Chekunkov has said.

“Not a single one of our 3,700 major projects has been brought to a halt,” he told RT at SPIEF 2025, noting that Russia has replaced Western technology with domestic or Eastern alternatives.

Chekunkov also pointed to rising global interest in the Northern Sea Route – a vital shipping corridor that drastically reduces transportation times compared to traditional overland routes between Europe and Asia, and one that relies on close cooperation with Russia due to its exclusive icebreaker support.

The global economy is becoming increasingly polarized and fragmented, Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Reshetnikov told RT on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

He warned that some Western powers are trying to impose their “vision of economic development,” placing themselves at the center of global value chains, while pushing others to the margins.

What were once “small cracks” in the global system are now “splitting its very foundation,” Reshetnikov said.

Moscow and Washington remain in contact despite the US canceling a round of talks scheduled to address the Ukraine conflict, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said.

“We have a good ongoing dialogue with President Trump’s team,” he told RT at SPIEF 2025, citing recent calls between Russian and US leaders.

The head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Dmitriev, said that US sanctions have cost American companies an estimated $300 billion in lost profits and opportunities. He also welcomed Trump’s recent statement that Russia should not have been excluded from the G8.

Relations between Russia and South Africa are developing successfully on the basis of strategic partnership, equality, and mutual respect, Vladimir Putin said at SPIEF 2025 during talks with South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

The Russian leader noted that bilateral trade grew by around 2% in 2024 and affirmed Russia’s intention to expand and diversify trade and investment with the African country.

Russia views closer ties with African nations as a key priority, President Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile at SPIEF 2025. 

The Russian leader noted shared positions on global issues and coordination at international platforms, adding that the 2023 Russia–Africa summit produced a solid package of joint agreements.

Hungary supports peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and is ready to host them, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said at SPIEF 2025.

He praised efforts by US President Donald Trump to resolve the conflict, calling a Russia-US deal “perhaps the only path to peace.”

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has warned the country would face a shortfall in gas and oil supplies if the EU bans Russian energy imports.

“The remaining capacity won’t be enough to meet the country’s needs,” he told reporters at SPIEF 2025.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has approved a plan to all bloc members’ contracts for imports of Russian fossil fuels by 2028.

Szijjarto said Budapest opposes the plan and is coordinating closely with Slovakia, adding that discussions are underway with Russia’s Gazprom on securing supplies.

In the modern era, many countries have chosen to survive by abandoning their own identity, Li Shimo, founder of China’s Guancha Media, has said.

“Losing themselves means giving up their values, cultural heritage, and political systems,” he told a SPIEF 2025 panel on Eurasian values. “Many even copied other countries’ constitutions,” Li added.

Putin has described ties with Indonesia as mutually beneficial and steadily advancing, calling Jakarta one of Moscow’s key partners in the Asia-Pacific. He welcomed Indonesia’s accession to BRICS, calling it a valuable addition to the bloc’s development.

The two leaders discussed a wide range of bilateral and international issues.

Putin said bilateral trade rose 40% in the first four months of 2025, with increased shipments of Russian wheat and Indonesian agricultural raw materials. He expressed hope that a free trade deal between the EAEU and Indonesia would be signed soon.

Putin also said Russia is ready to enter into new projects on the Indonesian continental shelf and help modernize the country’s existing oil infrastructure, as well as working with Jakarta on peaceful nuclear energy, space, AI, and digitalization.

Both Putin and his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, reaffirmed their support for sovereignty, international law, and peaceful development in the Asia-Pacific.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, held talks in St. Petersburg on Wednesday. The two leaders signed a declaration on strategic partnership, marking a new stage in bilateral ties.

The West buys values and ideals from poor countries “for chewing gum,” turning their citizens into vassals and slaves, Ilan Shor, exiled Israeli-Moldovan businessman and leader of the Victorie opposition bloc, has said at a SPIEF 2025 panel on Eurasian values moderated by RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan.

“This is very convenient for the West, because they need vassals, slaves who will do exactly what they say,” Shor says. “They come, see an impoverished country… and then they begin to buy values, ideals from it – everything the country is built on – and remove faith from under the foundation.”

“They don’t need any values, they don’t need ordinary human feelings… everything our society was built on in Soviet times, they begin to simply buy it for chewing gum,” he added. “And then countries like Moldova end up, as they do today, as vassals and slaves of Western regimes… [which] need hands that are not their own to fight against those they deem undesirable. They absolutely don’t care who dies – only that it isn’t them.”

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan is moderating a panel titled ‘The Cultural Code and Eurasian Values: What Will We Leave to the Continent?’ at SPIEF 2025.

“The future depends on our interaction with each other, the convergence of our cultures, our languages, our visions of the future,” Simonyan said at the start of the session.

She added that this will determine “whether that future will be like what is happening in Ukraine now, or whether it will be, as our great poetess of the Silver Age wrote, ‘peace and quiet and God’s grace,’” referencing Anna Akhmatova.

“The best solution to potential conflicts is business,” Robert Agee, head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, has told reporters following the Russia-US business dialogue at SPIEF 2025.

“When people do business, they call it an opportunity for both America and Russia. And it is beneficial for everyone. So the more business, the better for everyone,” he stated, describing the meeting as “very productive.”

Svetlana Chupsheva, CEO of the Russian Agency for Strategic Initiatives, who took part in the talks, said the two sides discussed cooperation in areas such as space exploration, IT, Arctic development, and agriculture.

“There is a fairly wide range of areas where both Russian and American businesses are interested in mutually beneficial cooperation. We agreed that such meetings will be held regularly,” she said.

Russia and Belarus have completed the shift from the dollar and euro to national currencies in trade settlements, with the share reaching 98.8% in the first quarter of 2025, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Overchuk has said at SPIEF 2025.

“We can say that we have completely switched to settlements in national currencies,” he stated.

The ‘Soul of Russia’ stand at SPIEF 2025 has showcased top social initiatives and achievements in the country’s creative industries. The pavilion features projects by modern Russian artists and brands promoting traditional crafts.

Hungary is not prepared to give up oil supplies from Russia via the Druzhba pipeline, despite pressure from its EU peers, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has told reporters at SPIEF 2025.

“The Druzhba pipeline is the main supply route to Hungary. We do not want to give it up, because if we do, the pipeline from Croatia does not have enough capacity to supply Hungary,” he stated.

“We truly value our cooperation [with Russia]; it is reliable, and Russian companies always fulfill their delivery obligations, so there is no reason to stop this,” the minister added.

Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto have held a meeting at SPIEF 2025 to discuss current and future gas supplies, the Russian energy giant said in a statement.

Gazprom noted that Moscow and Budapest maintain a longstanding, reliable, and mutually beneficial partnership in the energy sector, which both sides intend to continue. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Russian gas deliveries to Hungary.

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, has arrived at SPIEF 2025 and has been seen looking over the exhibitions along with Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and presidential envoy.

Russia is ready to send its delegation to Istanbul after June 22 to resume conflict resolution talks with Ukraine, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said at a press briefing on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

Specific dates for the next round will be confirmed soon, she says, adding that Moscow plans to exchange comments on the memoranda submitted by both parties on May 28 and June 2, which include settlement proposals.

Russia has nearly completed the humanitarian measures agreed to during the June 2 talks, including the exchange of severely wounded troops and servicemen under 25, as well as the bodies of deceased soldiers, Zakharova said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun talks with his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025 in St. Petersburg. Putin said he expects Indonesia to play a key role in advancing BRICS cooperation.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak has told the SPIEF 2025 grand opening “This is truly a global platform where pressing global economic challenges are addressed and new partnerships and joint investment projects are forged.”

“I’m confident this forum will provide fresh momentum and new opportunities for expanding cooperation and investment,” he added.

Russian space agency Roscosmos is in talks with two Asia-Pacific nations to jointly build cosmodromes on their territories, the agency’s chief Dmitry Bakanov has said at SPIEF 2025.

“I won’t name the countries yet, as the negotiations haven’t reached the handshake stage,” Bakanov stated. “But both are considering building two launch pads and two cosmodromes in cooperation with Russia.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming address at the SPIEF 2025 plenary session will cover a broad range of topics, including an assessment of the Russian economy and the key directions for how it will develop, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

“This will be a comprehensive speech,” Peskov told reporters. “It will also, of course, include assessments of the entire international context in which our economy operates and evolves.”

The plenary session is scheduled for Friday.

The grand opening of SPIEF 2025 is set to begin in St. Petersburg. Footage from the venue shows the plenary session hall filling with participants, with massive multimedia screens lighting up the space.

Russia and Burkina Faso have signed an agreement on peaceful use of nuclear energy.

The document was signed by Rosatom Director General Alexey Likhachev and Burkina Faso’s Minister of Energy, Mines and Quarries Yacoub Zabre Guba at SPIEF 2025. The deal covers the development of Burkina Faso’s nuclear infrastructure in line with international standards, nuclear and radiation safety regulation, and the use of radioisotopes in industry, medicine, and agriculture. It also includes joint projects in nuclear medicine and radiation technology, as well as training programs for local specialists.

Russia offers strong investment potential due to the exit of Western corporations owing to sanctions, Satya Karm Punia, president of Rus Biopharm Group, has told RT on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“That is actually a good opportunity for Indian companies which have ignored this market for a long time,” he said, pointing to sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, and IT.

Punia also praised the rapid progress in Russia’s pharmaceutical industry. While acknowledging that Western pharmaceutical firms remain ahead, he expressed confidence that Russia could catch up with enough investment in innovation and continued state backing. 

“It is just going to take some time, maybe seven years, ten years down the line. I’m sure there will be good innovative products from the Russian market, and Russian companies are already learning how to market their products outside the country. So it’s only a question of time,” Punia said. “In a horizon of seven to ten years, the Russian pharmaceutical market will rise to a global level.”

“I don’t think Russia is isolated… it’s certainly dealing with many parts of the world, with the BRICS community, amongst others, and Russia’s connection will keep growing,” Sri Lanka’s former President Ranil Wickremesinghe has told RT on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

Reducing supplies of Russian gas has cost the EU €1 trillion, Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) head Kirill Dmitriev has told TASS on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“It is definitely more than a trillion; it is important that we have a figure for the EU,” he said. Dmitriev also cited Russian estimates of US losses from sanctions at over $300 billion.

“It is very significant that President Trump mentioned this a couple of days ago – this is the first admission by the US that sanctions are harming American business,” he added.

US oil and gas companies are likely to be among the first to return to Russia, with talks already underway, according to Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and presidential envoy for international investment cooperation.

“We believe that from the point of view of American companies, oil and gas companies will be among the first to return,” Dmitriev told reporters on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

He noted that some of the largest US companies are interested in working with Russian partners to develop oil and gas fields, including in the Arctic.

“The US is trying to inherit the colonial past of Britain… The West seems to value the perception of freedom more than freedom itself,” Gamal Abdel Nasser, the grandson of the late Egyptian president and founding member of the African Legacy Forum, has said at a panel on media freedom moderated by RT’s Rick Sanchez at SPIEF 2025.

“This policy is not new,” Nasser says, adding that even after Egypt gained independence, both the US and UK continued to try to impose their narratives on the country and the African continent, primarily in pursuit of resources.

Nasser argues that the colonial and authoritarian global political system is outdated and that many nations in the Global South recognize this shift.

“In BRICS, we have a new idea, because we now understand that colonial countries are trying to dictate their policies to third world nations – and we realize that this model does not work anymore,” he says. “We’re looking for a new model.”

“Freedom of speech in the West is a myth,” former Biden aide and RT contributor Tara Reade has said at a panel on media freedom moderated by RT’s Rick Sanchez at SPIEF 2025.

“In America I was speaking out publicly and was threatened with my life… I came to Russia and I have more freedom,” Reade says, adding that many others face similar threats when they challenge the dominant Western narrative.

“That’s part of America’s colonization aspect of it… They have former intelligence and military-industrial complex agenda infiltrated to the mass media to shape their message. Anyone who deviates from that message is suppressed.”

Reade argues that the BRICS group remains largely unknown to many people in the US and the West because it challenges the unipolar world order promoted by Washington.

“The group is talking about the multipolar world,” she says. “The US wants to remain empowered and doesn’t want to admit that the multipolar world is the future.”

BRICS has unveiled a symbolic banknote of 200 rubles at SPIEF 2025. It features symbols of birdlife and flags from member states and partner nations.

BRICS nations need a unified media infrastructure and communication platform to counter dominant Western narratives, Irada Zeynalova, Russia’s ambassador to Mauritius, said at a panel on media freedom at SPIEF 2025.

Zeynalova noted that Western countries, particularly the US, have long refined the tools to steer global public opinion. As an example, she cited US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks at the G7 summit in Italy, where he called Russia’s exclusion from the group “a mistake.”

“A bright, clear picture that will spread throughout the world, though he said nothing unusual. Yet… this is an information agenda of statements, and it is not new – it is a technique invented by the Americans years ago,” she said.

“These guys set the agenda, know how to do it and have made it a global habit,” Zeynalova continued, emphasizing that BRICS media remains too fragmented and must evolve to become more coordinated and effective.

“There is no such thing as mainstream anymore,” NTV Television Company Chief Editor Alexandra Kosharnitskaya has said at a media freedom panel moderated by RT’s Rick Sanchez at SPIEF 2025.

“We have to look at ourselves and our cooperation with each other, rather than always looking at them [in the West] and what they’re going to say or think,” she says, referring to efforts by Russian media, including RT, to work with broadcasters from other BRICS nations.

“This is our normality. We don’t have to go against the stream or with the stream – we just have to go where we need to go.”

“BRICS represents 40% of the global population – we are already a major global force in both economic power and cultural diversity,” Wang Bin, the director of the Eurasian Bureau of China Media Group, has said at a panel on media freedom at SPIEF 2025.

He has called for unity in promoting the bloc’s shared progress and goals.

“We must join forces to tell the story of our modernization, our pursuit of a better life, and our common goal of improving living standards and advancing development across BRICS nations,” he says.

African nations have succeeded in preserving their native languages and cultural identities despite more than 400 years of colonial rule, Ayanda Hollow, the general director of TV BRICS Africa, has said at a media freedom panel at SPIEF 2025.

“We are the countries and nations that have been on Earth the longest. Apartheid is not new, colonization is old,” Hollow says. “Yet one way we’ve kept our communication is because we have the infrastructure for people to speak our own languages… Most people on Earth cannot speak or relate to the language they were born with.”

He stresses that while African voices are being heard – often on platforms like YouTube – the continent still lacks sufficient infrastructure to consistently broadcast its perspective to the world.

“Our audiences come from America on YouTube, so it’s not a question of them not wanting to listen to us,” he says. “It’s a question of having opportunities to be heard – if we have the infrastructure, communication infrastructure, television channels.”

Hollow adds that African nations must invest in their own media infrastructure “to lead others to transform the communication spaces so that people can understand not only about the declarations of BRICS, but the people behind the BRICS formations.”

Western societies are showing signs of “deep mistrust” in their own media, with people increasingly turning to alternative sources of information, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a media freedom panel moderated by RT’s Rick Sanchez at SPIEF 2025.

“By what criteria does Western media content that represents the opinion of 10% of the world’s population turn out to be mainstream, and the opinion of billions of BRICS citizens becomes an alternative? Maybe it should be the other way around, as it really is,” Zakharova said.

She argued that Western media has become increasingly ideological and radical, while BRICS outlets aim to uphold objectivity, balance, and respect for national identity.

“BRICS is the core of a new global picture of the world where each culture is not seen as an addition but as a value, each voice is not secondary but equal, each information system is not a threat but a source of a new perspective.”

She added that the BRICS approach sees freedom of speech not as a tool for manipulation, but as a platform for mutual respect and dialogue. “This is real freedom… This is the new mainstream, the mainstream of a multipolar world.”

RT’s Rick Sanchez is moderating a panel on media freedom titled ‘BRICS Media: Defending Free Speech and Promoting an Alternative Cultural and Information Agenda’.

He is joined by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, former Biden aide and RT contributor Tara Reade, and Gamal Abdel Nasser, the grandson of the late Egyptian president and founding member of the African Legacy Forum, among others.

The memoirs of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto have been published in Russian for the first time, ahead of his visit to St. Petersburg for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The two-volume work, ‘On the Art of Military Leadership’, was written during Subianto’s time as Indonesia’s defense minister and offers personal reflections on military service, leadership, and national identity.

Putin and Subianto are scheduled to meet on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025 later on Thursday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin touched upon a wide range of topics – from Europe’s military posture and the conflict in Ukraine to the Middle East crisis and global diplomacy – in an unscripted Q&A session with international media leaders.

Here are the key takeaways from President Putin’s meeting with journalists from Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Spain, Türkiye, Belarus, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives of AFP, AP, and Reuters, which began shortly before midnight and dragged into early Thursday morning.

18 June 2025

Germany risks irreversibly derailing its relations with Russia by providing military assistance to Kiev, which would be pointless in the end, President Putin has warned. Supplying long-range Taurus missiles would “drag Germany directly into the military conflict” between Moscow and Kiev, Putin said, arguing that deploing the weapons is impossible without the involvement of German military specialists.

Such a move would “deal a tremendous blow” to bilateral relations between Moscow and Berlin, Putin warned. German-made missiles would still have “no serious effect on the situation on the frontlines, where the Russian military holds the “strategic initiative, according to Putin. “There will be no result on the battlefield,” the president said.

US businesses have shown interest in returning to the Russian market, President Putin has said. According to him, contacts between Russian and American companies are being renewed, giving reason for “cautious optimism.” Putin added that he believes US President Donald Trump would rationally assess the costs of various US policies “not just as a politician but as a businessman” as well.

A meeting with US President Donald Trump “would be most helpful,” Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists at SPIEF. Such a meeting should still be properly prepared first for it to have “some positive results,” he added.

Tehran has not asked Moscow for military assistance, President Vladimir Putin has said in response to a question about whether Russia is ready to send arms to Iran. Moscow has previously offered Tehran cooperation in air defense systems but the Iranian side “showed little interest,” according to Putin. An agreement between Moscow and Tehran on strategic partnership does not involve military cooperation, he added.

President Vladimir Putin has refused to answer a question about a potential assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “I don’t want to even discuss it,” he told the late-night Q&A.

Putin has said that he is ready to meet with Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky, however, Moscow still wants any agreements with Kiev to be signed by “legitimate authorities” from the Ukrainian side. If the Ukrainian leader is illegitimate, it makes his whole system of governance illegitimate, the president added.

Moscow does not care, who leads Ukraine at the negotiating table, Putin has told journalists. What matters is that the final documents bear a “signature of legitimate authorities.”

US President Donald Trump is right when he says the Ukraine conflict would have never started, had he been the president at the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin has told the gathered journalists. Now, the conflict needs a solution that would not just stop the hostilities but would prevent violence from breaking out again in the future, he added.

Putin dismissed Western rhetoric about an alleged threat posed by Moscow to NATO as an “inconceivable lie.” The West uses such claims to justify its domestic policies, the president claimed. A so-called “Russian threat” could be used to raise taxes and divert funds to the military industrial complex, he told journalists at the late-night Q&A.

Moscow does not consider any NATO rearmament to be a threat to Russia, Putin has told the journalists. Certain threats could arise from the US-led military bloc’s actions but Russia would be ready to address any threats to its security, he stated, adding that any increase in defense spending by NATO would not make any difference.

Putin has hailed Indonesia as one of the most rapidly developing nations and one of the most populous countries in the world. The Asian nation is experiencing a major economic transformation and Moscow is willing to contribute to Jakarta’s integration into BRICS that would benefit both Indonesia and the group, he said, adding that “Russia has a plenty to offer in the field of high technologies.”

Russia could “work together” with Iran to “ensure its interests” in peaceful nuclear energy, Putin has told journalists in a Q&A on the sidelines of SPIEF. Moscow and Tehran have “close” and “trusted” relations, the president noted, adding that over 200 Russian specialists are currently working in Iran at a nuclear power plant construction site. “We have reached an agreement with Israel on their [Russian specialists] security,” Putin said.

The world needs to seek a way to stop the ongoing hostilities between Israel and Iran that would allow both sides to reach an agreement, Putin has said. Iran’s interests in peaceful nuclear energy development should be respected as well as Israel's in security, he suggested.

Russia has contacted the US, Israel and Iran and offered its services as a mediator, the president said. “There are ways to ensure Iran’s interests in peaceful atomic energy and alleviate Israel’s security concerns,” he said, adding that Russia is not imposing its vision on anyone but only offers its aid in mitigating the crisis.

A potential supply of German-made long-range Taurus missiles to Kiev “would not affect the dynamics [of the conflict] but will spoil relations between Germany and Russia,” the Russian president warned.

Russia is not against contacts with Western countries, President Vladimir Putin has told a German journalist on the sidelines of SPIEF. If Chancellor Friedrich Merz wants to have dialogue with Russia, he is welcome to call, the Russian leader has said.

Russia views Germany and some other Western nations not as neutral states, but as Kiev’s backers and possibly even co-participants in the Ukraine conflict, Putin explained.

”They have stopped those contacts, let them renew [the dialogue],” the president said.

Interest in the Chinese language is growing in Russia, Vladimir Putin has said, linking the development to increasing trade and economic ties as well as “contacts in all fields” between the two nations. Over 50,000 Chinese students are studying in Russia and more than 21,000 Russian students are studying in China, the Russian president has said, adding that universities of the two nations enjoy direct contacts.

Russia has become a “significant economic partner” for China, President Vladimir Putin has said. Joint Russian-Chinese investment projects currently amount to $200 billion, according to the Russian leader.

Journalists from the US, the UK, Germany, France, China, and Turkiye attended President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with the press, according to RIA Novosti.

“We are advocating a just world order without trade wars and restrictions,” President Vladimir Putin has said.

SPIEF aims to provide its participants with a venue to jointly seek ways to overcome modern obstacles to global trade, President Vladimir Putin told a press conference on the sidelines of the forum. Armed conflicts and trade restrictions have an impact on the global economy, he said, adding that forecasts predict international trade will slow in the near future.

Western efforts to isolate Russia have only succeeded in deepening its cooperation with BRICS partners and nations across South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, Rishabh Sethi, President of the Indian Centre for Promotion of International Initiatives, told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“Sanctions on Russia over the past three years have created a golden opportunity for (Indian) local companies and entrepreneurs to build strong business ties,” said Sethi, a BRICS expert.

The two countries’ trade has reached “new heights,” he said, with India ramping up imports of Russian oil, gas, and fertilizers. Tech collaboration is also expanding. “We are always open to Russia and supporting in this sphere of technology sharing,” the expert stressed.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak and OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al Ghais held the 10th high-level OPEC–Russia Energy Dialogue on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025 on Wednesday, according to a press release from the organization.

The talks covered developments in the global oil markets, energy security, the risks of underinvestment, and the need for market stability to support global economic growth.

The sides also discussed cooperation under the OPEC+ framework, as well as the impact of the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran in the Middle East, which has sent oil prices soaring in recent days. It was agreed that the next meeting will take place in Vienna, Austria, in 2026.

China and Russia’s economic partnership is growing rapidly, Feng Wei, Vice Chairman of the China Institute for Innovation and Development Strategy, told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“Our two economies are highly complementary,” he said, citing Russia’s “vast energy and mineral resources and strong industrial base,” alongside China’s “huge market” and world-leading manufacturing capabilities.

Feng noted that greater use of local currencies has boosted bilateral trade, while calling for more political support and business initiatives to unlock further potential.

Russian state corporation Roscosmos is actively exploring avenues for potential cooperation with tech billionaire Elon Musk’s team, Kremlin investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev has said.

“We see opportunities… including in the space sector,” Dmitriev told reporters at SPIEF 2025.

Dmitriev described the SpaceX and Tesla CEO as a leading entrepreneur, noting that his direct communication style appeals to many. He also pointed to Musk’s ventures like the Boring Company as examples of innovative, cost-efficient technology that Russia is open to collaborating on.

There is great potential for Russia and India to collaborate in cybersecurity and emerging technologies, Vineet Kumar, founder of the CyberPeace Foundation, told RT on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“Cyberspace has no boundaries, so we shouldn’t limit ourselves to national borders – that’s the kind of cooperation we’re aiming to build,” he said.

Kumar pointed to opportunities for joint research, academic partnerships, and dual-degree programs to help both countries tackle global digital challenges.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with Dilma Rousseff, head of the BRICS New Development Bank, ahead of a series of international talks at SPIEF 2025.

The two talked about strengthening the bank’s role in the Global South and East, as well as in Russia, while discussing joint efforts to create a BRICS digital platform for payments and investments. “We very much hope to work together in these areas,” Putin said.

The Russian leader emphasized the need to expand settlements in national currencies and praised Rousseff on her reappointment, noting that the bank has approved 120 international projects worth $39 billion.

Russia sought to build a business-based relationship with the West, but it ended with the Nord Stream gas pipelines being blown up, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told RT’s Rick Sanchez at SPIEF 2025. She said Moscow learned a hard lesson: defending one’s own “national interest” will always come first.

The Nord Stream pipelines were severely damaged in a series of underwater explosions in the Baltic Sea in September 2022 in an act of sabotage that Moscow believes was orchestrated by Western intelligence agencies. The pipelines have since been out of service.

Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller met with Vojtech Ferencz, the head of Slovakia’s state-owned importer, SPP, on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025 on Wednesday to discuss gas deliveries, the Russian company said on Telegram.

SPP has a contract with Gazprom until 2034, but the agreement could be affected by EU plans to phase out Russian fossil fuels by 2028. Brussels aims to ban new gas contracts with Russia from 2026 and end long-term contracts by 2027 under legislation backed by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

American companies are showing greater interest in Russia following the resumption of dialogue between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, RDIF head Kirill Dmitriev has said.

“There’s more openness, more willingness to engage,” he told RIA Novosti at SPIEF 2025, noting that many US investors are attending the forum.

“Our most important task is to improve the quality of life, enhance city and town infrastructure, and develop healthcare and education, as well as solve environmental challenges,” Russian President Vladimir Putin has said during an economic meeting on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“To achieve maximum effectiveness, we must constantly assess the situation, track macroeconomic trends, and account for external challenges and global market conditions,” he added. “Based on this, I propose we discuss our next steps, including possible legislative changes to refine and expand efforts in economic and social development across Russia.”

Putin said he also plans to address these issues during the forum’s plenary session later in the week.

Media representatives from “unfriendly” countries will take part in a press meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has announced. He did not specify which outlets would attend.

Putin traditionally meets with heads of international news agencies during the forum. The conversation is typically held in a Q&A format and focused on current Russian domestic and foreign policy, as well as major global developments.

Last year, attendees included representatives from Reuters, Kyodo, DPA, EFE, AFP and other Western media organizations. This year’s meeting is scheduled to take place later on Wednesday.

Russian hockey legend Alexander Ovechkin, of the Washington Capitals, has invited SPIEF 2025 participants to test their fitness by taking the GTO challenge at the Ministry of Sports stand.

“I invite you to accept the challenge and pass the GTO standards,” Ovechkin says in a video message on the media screen.

GTO, short for “Ready for Labor and Defense,” is a Soviet-era physical fitness program that sets performance benchmarks for participants.

The global economy’s center of gravity has shifted from the West to the Global South, represented by the BRICS nations and their partners, Daniel Hugo Santos of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute has told RT at SPIEF 2025.

“There’s a lot of conflicts happening in the world, unfortunately. But I think that middle powers like Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and countless more have the role to mediate these relations through economy, business, commerce,” he says. “That’s what we’re doing now. And that’s what BRICS countries do…You have to do trade, commerce, instead of these conflicts… We should work together, trade, make money, and everyone will be prosperous.”

Santos added that regional cooperation and economic partnerships are becoming more relevant than political blocs like the G7. He pointed to Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s decision to attend the SPIEF rather than the G7 summit in Italy as a sign of shifting priorities in the Global South. Subianto is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and take part in the forum’s plenary session.

Russia “highly values” its bilateral ties with Brazil, a key ally in Latin America and globally, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said, on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“We are linked by time-tested relations of strategic partnership. We are countries, civilizations with large territories, huge reserves of resources, significant economic potential... Our relations are relations of complementarity,” Ryabkov stated.

He noted that both nations are committed to promoting fair conditions in global trade, lifting illegal unilateral sanctions, and reforming the international financial system. Ryabkov added that Russia and Brazil see BRICS as a major platform to coordinate and advance shared positions on global challenges.

“Russia and the US working together is important for resolving geopolitical issues,” Robert Agee, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, said on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025. He emphasized that business representatives from both countries “are working together on a daily basis” to improve ties that were strained under the previous administration of Joe Biden.

“Many companies remained in Russia and many are thinking about when to return,” Agee said, referring to the departure of international firms in the wake of Western sanctions. He noted that around 150 US companies remain active in Russia and view it as a strategically important market.

Agee added that his chamber has submitted a white paper to Washington outlining how the sanctions have hurt US businesses. While he expects some restrictions to be lifted, he acknowledged the process will take time due to the legal hurdles.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for us and Russia to work together. It’s not a short-term issue – it’s a long-term issue in terms of huge opportunities. That’s the way we should be going,” he said. “We are confident that economic cooperation will continue, and we’ll see big, significant joint projects between the US and Russia this year.”

The Association of Data Processing Centers has surprised SPIEF 2025 visitors with an unusual attraction – an anthropomorphic robot named Volodya, which is seen walking around the exhibition area greeting guests in English and carrying a fashionable handbag. Volodya was introduced as an agency “employee” capable of analyzing data flows, providing analytics, and assisting with various tasks.

Most foreign companies that stayed in Russia despite Western sanctions are acting “correctly,” First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said at SPIEF 2025. He noted these firms are investing in scientific and technical development, and, in general, acting in a way that will allow them to retain their market share.

Manturov emphasized that Russia is not rejecting foreign investment, but stressed that the country is capable of operating under sanctions and managing complex import substitution. He added that Moscow must be selective with investment partners and focus on fostering technological capabilities.

“In the future, we must establish clear principles for doing business with foreign investors. We’re not turning them away, but investment must be smart — not just about building capacity, but about developing new technological competencies where additional growth is needed,” Manturov stated.

Small and medium-sized businesses are best positioned to operate under Western sanctions, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said at SPIEF 2025. These businesses make up 21.7% of the national economy and employ more than 29 million people, he noted.

“In the context of sanctions and today’s global challenges, small and medium-sized businesses are more capable of adapting to form new transport and logistics chains, supply export and import goods, and produce essential items under import substitution goals aligned with our economic restructuring,” Novak said.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s T&T Group and announced partnerships with pharmaceutical and medical equipment suppliers GDP and EOC to boost collaboration between Russian and Vietnamese companies.

“Our countries have significant potential for growth in trade volumes, and many Russian and Vietnamese companies are seeking to enter the markets of both countries,” RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said. “RDIF is focused on investing in innovative projects in pharmaceuticals and healthcare, and the agreement we are announcing today will facilitate the development of technological innovations in this area both in Russia and Vietnam.” 

As part of the deal, Vietnam plans to simplify certification procedures for Russian medicines, including cancer treatments, to be sold in the country.

Russia’s Federal Medical and Biological Agency (FMBA) has offered SPIEF 2025 participants a chance to test their focus with an interactive device: if your concentration holds, a flower blooms; if your mind drifts, it doesn’t. The creators say the tool helps monitor brain function.

Russian and US business representatives have held a “very successful” discussion on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025, RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev has announced. The talks focused on economic and technical cooperation, as well as the possible removal of restrictions hampering bilateral business ties.

“The US-Russia dialogue is going very positively. People are becoming more realistic and understand Russia’s position very well,” Dmitriev said. He noted that both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump “support active dialogue” to “correct the mistakes” of the previous US administration, which he said had “effectively destroyed” relations between the two countries.

“The Russian market remains extremely attractive to American companies. Many of those attending the forum are committed to sharing positive impressions of Russia to counter the negative image created by the previous administration,” Dmitriev stated.
While no joint US-Russia projects are expected to be announced at SPIEF, he said several are underway – including initiatives on rare earths, Arctic cooperation, and infrastructure – which may be unveiled in the coming months.

SPIEF 2025 has opened on a grand scale, drawing over 20,000 participants from 140 countries and territories. The forum spans 201,000 square meters of exhibitions and includes 20 business dialogues, along with SCO, BRICS, and EAEU business forums.

The program also features the SME Forum, Creative Industries Forum, Drug Safety Forum, Business Twenty Forum, and the International Youth Economic Forum “Day of the Future,” among others.

The world is poised for dramatic change over the next 25 years, with Global South nations leading the transformation, participants at the ‘Forming a New Platform for Global Growth’ panel at SPIEF 2025 have said.

“If we look at the economic history of the last hundred years, everything that served as a platform for growth came from Western countries – Europe, the USA. Technological solutions, trade, finance – everything went through them,” Maksim Oreshkin, deputy head of President Vladimir Putin’s administration and session moderator has stated.

“Now everything is changing. Technological competencies are emerging in Russia, China, India, and other countries,” he continued. “New trade and logistics corridors are being created that connect these countries directly, along with systems of added value that bypass Western economies.”

Western sanctions have created “golden opportunities” for Russian businesses to deepen ties with friendly nations, including India and other BRICS members, Rishabh Sethi, president of the Indian Centre for Promotion of International Initiatives, has told RT on the sidelines of SPIEF 2025.

“When the [Ukraine] special military operation started, Russia and India reached new heights in business cooperation,” he said. “Every problem gives you new opportunities, and such problems [as sanctions] have created golden opportunities for both Russia and India.” Sethi noted that sanctions have backfired on Western countries, which now face problems with natural resources and have limited space for growth.

Russia, India, and their partners play a “major role” in shaping a new multipolar world, he said, including through supporting countries that have been pressured or neglected by the West.

SPIEF 2025 is “absolutely insane, it’s huge,” RT correspondent Chay Bowes reported from St. Petersburg as the forum kicked off on Wednesday. He highlighted the impressive scale of the event, saying it remains “absolutely remarkable” despite three years of Western sanctions on Russia.

“The idea that this country is isolated is probably one of the most retarded things,” Bowes said in a video posted on X, adding that the forum is “all about cooperation.”

“It’s all about sharing and building economic ties with the Global South,” he added. “And when you look at the G7... they always seem focused on how to oppress and prevent partnership. But what Russia’s focused on, and all its partner countries here… is a push for collaboration, not isolation.”

The G7 nations are no longer the engines of global growth, with new centers emerging, Maksim Oreshkin, the deputy head of President Vladimir Putin’s administration, has said at SPIEF 2025.

“The shifts we see today are the result of structural changes in the global economy,” he stated. “Power centers are changing. The so-called ‘Big Seven’, which hasn’t been ‘big’ for a long time, is being replaced by new growth hubs,” he added, pointing to the rise of countries in the Global South and East.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) plans to sign over ten agreements with foreign partners from the UAE, China, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and other countries at SPIEF 2025, CEO Kirill Dmitriev has announced on Telegram. The deals will span transport, medicine, technology, e-commerce, food production, pharmaceuticals, and education.

A number of Russian regions are showcasing innovative projects at SPIEF 2025. Chelyabinsk is featuring two robots poised for a chess match, while Bashkortostan’s stand includes a 6.5-meter-tall beekeeper bear clad in honey armor.