Russia Morning Memo

Latest — 13 Nov 2025

0759GMT//Putin gives Kazakh president the 'red carpet' treatment; Lavrov is missing once again; the Kremlin will issue bonds in yuan to reassure investors

PUTIN-TOKAYEV TALKS: Vladimir Putin and Kassym Jomart Tokayev, the Kazakh president, concluded two days of talks on Wednesday, designed to bolster Kazakhstan-Russia relations. Putin gave Tokayev top-level treatment, escorting his plane in with fighter jets, taking him to the ballet and holding a dinner in his official residence. (COMMENT>

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0734GMT//Lukoil's problems mount; have Putin and Lavrov had a tiff?; the Kremlin tries to plug its labour gap

LUKOIL'S PROBLEMS: Gunvor, the Switzerland-based trading company, abandoned its $22 billion takeover of Lukoil's foreign assets after the US described it as "a Kremlin puppet". These sanctions come into force on Nov. 21. (COMMENT>> This scuppers the Kremlin's attempts to

0815GMT//Putin threatens nuclear tests; two Kremlin propagandists marry; Russia to train overseas students as prison guards

NUCLEAR TESTS: Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his military to draw up plans to test-fire Russia's nuclear weapons for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. He said that Russia's resumption of nuclear weapons testing was a response to a proposal

0749GMT//Putin brags about his missiles (again); China cancels Russian oil imports; Russian 'monogorods' given cheap loans

MISSILE FETISH: Vladimir Putin on Tuesday held a special ceremony in the Kremlin to praise the designers of two new missiles that he unveiled last month. Putin said that the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon torpedo would ensure "security and strategic parity" for Russia "for

0830GMT//Putin test-fires another missile; death toll from Russian weapons factory blast rises; protest banned in Vladivostok

ANOTHER NEW WEAPON: Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia had test-fired a nuclear-powered underwater drone that can be fitted with a nuclear warhead. This was Russia's second nuclear weapons test since Sunday, when it launched the Burevestnik cruise missile. (COMMENT: Once again, Putin said that Russia'

1315GMT//Lukoil to sell foreign assets off cheaply; visa deal with Myanmar; Russian reservists to deploy in anti-drone units

LUKOIL'S FOREIGN ASSETS TO BE SOLD CHEAPLY: Lukoil will sell off its foreign assets at a 50-70% discount because of Western sanctions, a Russian energy analyst told the Izvestia newspaper. Lukoil said at the end of last week that new US sanctions would force it to sell off

0735GMT//Putin cancels missile agreement with the US; Moscow Stock Exchange falls; Lukoil to sell overseas assets

PUTIN CANCELS MISSILE AGREEMENT: Vladimir Putin on Monday cancelled Russia's agreement with the US to dispose of Cold War-era stockpiles of nuclear missiles. The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement was signed in 2000, although Putin suspended Russia's participation in the agreement in 2016 when relations soured

0715GMT//Russia lowers interest rates; new missile tested; top North Korean official visits

INTEREST RATE CUT: Russia's Central Bank cut its core interest rate on Friday to 16.5% from 17%. This was broadly in line with expectations. (COMMENT: This is the fourth consecutive cut since June. Russian business wants a harder cut. The Central Bank still says that there are

0625GMT//Putin-Trump meeting cancelled; former deputy mayor of Russian city killed in Ukriane; Russian credit cards in Afghanistan

PUTIN-TRUMP MEETING CANCELLED: A planned meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in Budapest has been cancelled. Trump said that it would have been a "waste of time" as there was too much of a gap between the two men's positions. (COMMENT: This was always likely.

0752GMT//Trump says he's "interested" in US-Russia tunnel; Putin proposes ceding captured regions of southern Ukraine; blast at Russian gunpowder factory kills three people

US-RUSSIA TUNNEL: Russia has suggested building a 'Putin-Trump' tunnel under the Bering Strait from Alaska to Chukotka. Kirill Dmitriev, Putin's envoy for talks with the US, said that research on the project has been ongoing for six months. On Friday, media reported that Donald Trump had

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