Foreign relations of Russia

The foreign relations of the Russian Federation is the policy arm of the government of Russia which guides its interactions with other nations, their citizens, and foreign organizations. This article covers the foreign policy of the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991.

Kremlin's foreign policy debates show a conflict among three rival schools: Atlanticists, seeking a closer relationship with the United States and the Western World in general; Imperialists, seeking a recovery of the semi-hegemonic status lost during the previous decade; and Neo-Slavophiles, promoting the isolation of Russia within its own cultural sphere. While Atlanticism was the dominant ideology during the first years of the new Russian Federation, under Andrei Kozyrev, it came under attack for its failure to defend Russian pre-eminence in the former USSR. The promotion of Yevgeny Primakov to Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1996 marked the beginning of a more nationalistic approach to foreign policy.

Another major trend has been Eurasianism, a school of thought that emerged during the early 20th century. Eurasianists assert that Russia is composed of Slavic, Turkic and Asiatic cultures and equates Liberalism with Eurocentricimperialism. One of the earliest ideologues of Eurasianism was the Russian historian Nikolai Trubetzkoy, who denounced the EurophilicCzar Peter I and advocated Russian embrace of the Asiatic "legacy of Chinggis Khan" to establish a trans-continental Eurasian state. Following the collapse of Soviet Union, Eurasianism gained public ascendency through the writings of philosopher Aleksandr Dugin and has become the official ideological policy under the government of Vladimir Putin.

Vladimir Putin held the presidency from January 2000 to May 2008, and again from May 2012 to the present. Under Putin, Russia has engaged in several notable conflicts, including against the neighboring country of Ukraine. He recognized the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk within that country. Relations with the United States in particular have sharply deteriorated between 2001 and 2022, with the Kremlin blaming US involvement in the Middle East and countries bordering Russia. Relations with the European Union became hostile after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, prompting the imposition of substantial economic and political sanctions by the western bloc, led by the EU, UK & USA. The Russian government now has a specified "Unfriendly Countries List" which indicates countries with which relations are now strained (or non-existent). At present, Russia has no diplomatic relations with Ukraine (since 2022) due to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. Russia also has no diplomatic relations with Georgia (since 2008), Bhutan, the Federated States of Micronesia (since 2022) and the Solomon Islands.

Since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Russian relations with the western camp (the United States & its allies) have significantly deteriorated. Russia's relations with the European Union, Japan, USA, Canada, UK & Australia have been the most impacted since 2014. In recent years, formerly strong relations with Armenia, Montenegro, Azerbaijan, South Korea, Israel, Bulgaria & Moldova have worsened. On the other hand, Russia still maintains strong friendly relations with nations from the Global South, especially those from Asia & Africa. Russia tends to have strong ties with countries that stand against US-led positions, although India, Kazakhstan, Brazil & Vietnam are major exceptions.

Key Russian allies/partners include Belarus, China, India, Mongolia, DPRK, Kazakhstan, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Tajikistan, Brazil, Myanmar, Cuba, Mali & Nicaragua. The Houthis in Yemen also have strong ties with the Russian Federation. Other nations such as Egypt, Syria, Serbia, Uzbekistan,Bahrain, Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Honduras, Turkmenistan, Laos & Algeria also hold friendly relations with Russia.