President Putin’s Valdai Club speech provides a significant insight into Moscow’s thinking right now – with sobering assessments of the current state of global affairs – and warnings that things could go rapidly wrong in a speech that referenced multipolarity, the need for reform at the United Nations, the concept of sovereignty, BRICS, international law, Ukraine, the USSR, Artificial Intelligence, and the Greater Eurasian Partnership. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Russia’s views and perspectives on global affairs. Elsewhere we have energy updates from Mali, Mozambique and Namibia in Africa, increasing trade with Afghanistan and Myanmar, the commencement of a Free Trade Agreement with the United Arab Emirates, an overview of the EAEU’s 2026 mutual trade to date, an overview of Russia’s bilateral trade with Brazil, and an analysis of the impact on Russia’s exports should the planned Trans-Afghan railway materialize – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and UAE having signed an agreement to evaluate the potential of building it this week. We also look at Russia-China logistics flows, examine why Murmansk Port freight has increased, potential Russian investment into Tajikistan, Chinese investment into Russia, and comment on Russian businesses facing cyberattacks.