Rethinking Europe’s Security – Key Elements of a New Russia Strategy
International Expert Network Russia
16 October 2025 (Thursday)
Reinhardtstraßenhöfe, (Reinhardtstraße 12–16, 10117 Berlin) & Online
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has shaken the post-war order in Europe to its very foundations. Now in its fourth year, the full-scale war has exposed significant differences within the EU and NATO, in particular with regard to the outcome of the war and how to deal with Russia. The new Trump administration has, at best, a transactional relationship with Europe. We can no longer hide behind the US as a guarantor of European security. At the same time, Russia will remain a persistent threat to European peace for the foreseeable future – and even more so if the Kremlin achieves its aims in Ukraine.
The drastic change of the geopolitical environment poses enormous challenges for Europe. First of all, it is important to support Ukraine so much more that it can defend itself successfully. At the same time, Europe needs to significantly strengthen its defence capacities and security cooperation. In the face of Russia’s neo-imperialism it needs to develop a long-term European security strategy – one that is viable even without US military engagement. The political and military integration of Ukraine must be a core element of this. It should protect Europe against a bellicose Russia and foster political change in Russia instead of fearing it.
Against this background, our 2025 conference will
- take stock of current developments on Russia’s war against Ukraine and the prospects to end it in a sustainable way;
- discuss the cornerstones of a consistent European policy towards Russia in the context of a new European security policy;
- examine the political, economic, and social developments within Russia, providing a nuanced understanding of internal dynamics.
Conference languages are English, German and Russian with simultaneous interpretation throughout.
Please note that CHATHAM HOUSE RULES will apply to all conference panels!
This event is held in the framework of the Center for Liberal Modernity’s Expert Network Russia. For more information about the network, click here!
EXPERT CONFERENCE
Programme as of 27 August 2025
09:30 — 10:00 Registration. Welcome coffee.
10:00 — 10:15 Opening: Ralf Fücks & Marieluise Beck, Center for Liberal Modernity
10:15 — 11:45 Session One: Strategic stocktaking: Russia’s war against Ukraine and the prospects for ending it: where are we now and where to go?
Claudia Maior, Senior Vice President, Transatlantic Security, German Marshall Fund (tbc)
Orysia Lutsevych, Deputy Director, Russia and Eurasia Programme, Head of the Ukraine Forum, Chatham House
Kristi Raik, Director, International Centre for Defense and Security, Tallinn, Estonia
Commentary: Dr Florian Hahn – Member of the Bundestag, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office (tbc)
Moderation: Marieluise Beck, Center for Liberal Modernity
11:45 — 12:15 Coffee Break
12:15 — 13:45 Session Two: Inside Russia, Year Four of the War: Regime, Economy, Society
In cooperation with the New Eurasian Strategies Centre (NEST)
Ella Paneyakh, Senior Research Fellow, Head of Sociology, New Eurasian Strategies Centre
Janis Kluge, Deputy Head of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Research Group, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), Berlin
Nikolai Petrov, Senior Research Fellow, Head of Analysis of Transformation Processes, New Eurasian Strategies Centre, London
Maria Snegovaya, Senior Fellow, Europe, Russia and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Adjunct Professor Georgetown University (online)
Commentary: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Co-Founder of the Russian Anti-War Committee (tbc)
Moderation: John Lough, Senior Research Fellow, Head of International Partnership, New Eurasian Strategies Centre
13:45 — 14:45 Lunch Break
14:45 — 16:15 Session Three: A New European Russia Policy & The Future of European Security
Fredrik Löjdquist, Director, Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS), Utrikespolitiska institutet (UI), Sweden
Maria Domańska, Senior Fellow, Russian Department, Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW), Warsaw, Poland
Commentary:
Michael Nowak, Head of Division for Russia and Belarus, Federal Foreign Office
NN – NATO Russia Policy Coordination Section (tbc)
Moderation: Maria Sannikova-Franck, Center for Liberal Modernity
16:15 — 16:30 Coffee Break
16:30 — 17:00 Closing Discussion and Takeaways
Public Discussion
19:00 — 19:15 Welcome
19:15 – 20:00 Session one: Rethinking European security – Key elements for a new Russia Strategy – Perspectives from Germany
Norbert Röttgen, MP – Deputy Chairman of the Bundestag CDU/CSU Party Group for Foreign Affairs, Defence, Interparliamentary Conference on the CFSP and GSVP, Council of Europe, Human Rights
Siemtje Möller, MP – Deputy Chairman of the Bundestag SPD Party Group for foreign and defence policy, economic cooperation and development, human rights and European policy
Agnieszka Brugger, MP – Deputy Chairwoman of the Bundestag Green Party Group,
Commentary: Oleksii Makeiev, Ukrainian Ambassador to Berlin (tbc)
20:00 — 21:45 Session two: Rethinking European security – Key elements for a new Russia Strategy – Perspectives from Europe
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Co-founder of the Russian anti-War Committee (tbc)
Natalia Pouzyreff, Member of the Assemblée Nationale, Secretary of the National Defence and Armed Forces Committee (tbc)
Alda Vanaga, Ambassador of the Republic of Latvia to the Federal Republic of Germany (tbc)
Anna Kostrzewa-Misztal, Deputy Director, Eastern Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland (tbc)
Commentary: Michael Siebert, Managing Director Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, OSCE at European External Action Service, European External Action Service (tbc)
20:45–21:30 Reception
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