RUSSIA Burmese generals want Russian nukes

A first agreement was signed in July, but the previous dictatorship had already sought help from Moscow (and North Korea) to develop atomic energy between the 1990s and 2000. The document was signed in Vladivostok, where Mr. General Aung Min Hlaing. Myanmar will buy Russian oil in rubles.

Yangon ( / Agencies) – While public attention these days is focused on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) controls on the Ukrainian power plant in Zaporizhzhia, the Burmese coup junta and Rosatom, the Russian atomic energy company , have agreed on a roadmap for the development of nuclear energy in Myanmar after having signed a first memorandum of understanding in July.

The agreement was finalized on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, which concludes today in Vladivostok, and in the presence of the regime’s president, General Aung Min Hlaing, during his second visit to Russia in less than two months.

Rosatom reported that “the document includes the expansion of the bilateral legal framework, the possibility of carrying out a small modular reactor project in Myanmar, as well as staff training and guidance to improve public acceptance of nuclear energy in Myanmar” . Yesterday the Burmese regime press highlighted that cooperation with the Russian nuclear company will focus on the peaceful use of atomic energy for research and socioeconomic development, especially in some industrial sectors such as the production of medicines and electricity.

Nuclear cooperation with Russia – already Myanmar’s main arms supplier – dates back to the late 1990s. In 1999, when the previous regime led by General Than Shwe was in power, negotiations began to the design of a nuclear reactor, which advanced with an agreement in 2002 and another later in 2007 for the construction of a research center that would include, among other structures, a reactor that would work with 20% enriched uranium. In the same years, North Korea is suspected of collaborating with the Burmese army to develop a nuclear program: in 2008 Shwe Mann, one of the most powerful men in the Burmese army, traveled to Pyongyang to visit Korea’s military and missile facilities.

However, nuclear power production in Myanmar had never materialized. During the country’s democratic decade, Aung San Suu Kyi – former leader of the National League for Democracy, deposed with the 2021 military coup – had signed some agreements with the IAEA for the non-proliferation of nuclear energy, including the treaty on the total ban on conducting nuclear experiments.

On the other hand, the civil war continues. The anti-coup forces (made up of the People’s Defense Forces and the country’s ethnic militias) claimed that they had retaken the 70% from western Chin state. For several weeks, the former civilian government in exile, the Government of National Unity, has claimed that the resistance has recovered key territories in the country. However, the end of the conflict still seems to be a long way off. Myanmar has been excluded from the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) because it did not adhere to the peace plan proposed by the organization and, due to Western sanctions, it has moved closer to Russia. General Min Aung Hlaing declared yesterday that Myanmar will not only buy Russian oil, but will pay in rubles.