Russia's foreign policy

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diplomatic ties between the states of the world and Russia
  • Russia
  • States with diplomatic representation of Russia
  • States without a diplomatic representation of Russia

    • The foreign policy of the Russian Federation is set by the Russian President and implemented by the Foreign Ministry . It is shaped by the legacy of the Soviet Union , as well as the role as an important supplier of energy to other countries. Relations with the former Soviet republics range between a managed partnership ( Belarus , Kazakhstan , Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan , Armenia , Azerbaijan , Kyrgyzstan ) and open armed conflict ( Georgia , Ukraine ).

    Ties to NATO and the G7 have hardened under Vladimir Putin . The former “partnership-based cooperation” has been replaced by open conflicts - especially since the occupation of Crimea and the beginning of the war in Ukraine in 2014. In March 2014, the Council of the European Union imposed economic sanctions on Russia that have been in place ever since. According to this, trade and capital movements with Russia are severely restricted. In return, Russia banned the import of western goods, especially agricultural products and food.

    Russia continues to have an enormous arsenal of nuclear weapons. The standing army has been significantly reduced in size in recent years and now has a size of around 1,000,000 soldiers.

    Memberships

    Russia is a member of all UN organizations and a permanent member of the UN Security Council . There it has a right of veto. It is also a member of the OSCE , the Council of Europe , the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the IMF and the World Bank . Russia is a member of the political and economic organization of the BRICS countries .

    Russia is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Georgia  (2008) and Ukraine (2018) ended their memberships with reference to Russian aggression. Here and in the Eurasian Economic Union , Russia plays a decisive role. Russia is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Collective Security Treaty Organization ( ODKB ).

    At the G8 summit in May 1998, Russia was formally accepted into what was then the Group of Seven ( G7 ); this became the G8. In March 2014, these seven excluded Russia from the G8 for "violating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine".

    Overall, Russia maintains a "rather instrumental relationship" with international organizations. In particular after the experience with UN mandates for Kosovo in 1999, Iraq in 2003 and Libya in 2011, the Russian government refuses to cooperate internationally (for example in the Security Council) and makes rather unilateral decisions. Russia consistently opposes all convictions of Syria for violations of international martial law , in particular the use of poison gas.

    Relationship to the states of the former Eastern Bloc

    Crisis meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France in October 2014

    The Russian government is anxious to contain the loss of influence in its immediate vicinity and to consolidate its strategic positions. This takes place vis-à-vis its neighbors from a supposed position of strength, from which Russia derives the right to impose requirements on other states for their international relations. There were several military interventions with a warlike character.

    In the current situation, the central theme of Russian foreign policy is the war in Ukraine . In this conflict, Russia is pursuing a strategy of division with the help of a Russian minority. This strategy has already been observed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and in Transnistria . All of these conflicts are still unsolved, which severely limits the political and economic options for the states concerned. The two loss-making Chechnya wars between 1994 and 2009 resulted in Chechnya being forced to remain as a republic of Russia.

    In its disputes, the Russian government is endeavoring to limit the loss of influence that went hand in hand with the collapse of the Soviet Union and to increase its influence again in the countries of the former Eastern Bloc, the Near Abroad . Several states that have successfully broken out of Russian influence have significant Russian minorities, particularly the Baltic states . This gives rise to the fear that here too the Russian government will find a pretext for occupying foreign territories.

    Meeting of the Eurasian Supreme Economic Council, 2013

    Putin's long-term goal is the development of the Eurasian Economic Union . These currently include Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan . Relations are better with these states. However, the ability to convert military power into political power is severely limited. There is a lack of reliable allies, as the non-recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by the rest of the CIS states shows. Unlike the Soviet Union, Russia does not have an attractive system of rule and culture. The Russian Orthodox Church is supposed to replace communism in this function.

    During the Yugoslav Wars , the Russian government supported Serbia, with which it maintains close political and cultural ties. Direct military support, however, was out of the question. Although Russia participated in the KFOR troop to pacify Kosovo , at the same time it tried to gain military influence here through secret operations against existing agreements (see advance to Pristina ).

    Foreign hostility is a key message of Russian propaganda ; Russia is depicted as being surrounded by enemies. The fear of war increased accordingly in Russia; only 39 percent believed in mid-December 2018 that Russia would not be threatened.

    Relationship to the West

    Relations with NATO

    The end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union are seen by large parts of the Russian government, as well as the population, as a depressing defeat. The expansion of NATO to include states of the former Warsaw Pact is interpreted as an intrusion into Russia's sphere of interest. At the end of 2014, the government under President Putin published a new military doctrine. According to this, NATO is the main threat to Russia. Nevertheless, the NATO-Russia Council still exists for joint consultations. As a result of the war in Ukraine, both sides intensified their military activities, particularly in the Baltic Sea region . This also affected Sweden and Finland, neither of which are members of NATO, but jointly carried out maneuvers with NATO to protect themselves against a Russian threat.

    Relations with the USA

    During the term of office of George W. Bush, the USA pushed plans to establish a NATO missile shield with the aim of repelling rocket attacks from Iran and North Korea . Bases for this should be set up in Poland and the Czech Republic, among others, against which Russia repeatedly protested and threatened. In Barack Obama's first term , these plans were halted.

    After Russia granted the whistleblower Edward Snowden a residence permit, the US canceled all bilateral consultations. Since then, Snowden has lived with his girlfriend near Moscow.

    There is also a close partnership in the maintenance and supply of the International Space Station ISS . A large part of the supply flights are carried out with Russian rockets and Soyuz capsules from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

    Relations with Great Britain

    Many Russian oligarchs and other Russians in exile reside in England, especially in London and the surrounding counties, where they hope to find refuge from access by the Russian state. As a result, there have been repeated court proceedings in Great Britain in the recent past, which are important for Russia. In addition to economic disputes ( Berezovsky versus Abramovich ) ( Baturina versus Tschistiakow ), there were also contract killings ( Alexander Litvinenko ), corruption and arbitrariness in the Russian judiciary. The Magnitsky case in particular put a heavy strain on bilateral relations, as did alleged intelligence attacks on Russian dissidents ( Skripal case ).

    Relationship with Germany

    After the German reunification , the intergovernmental relationship was in a phase of partnership cooperation with a regular cultural exchange.

    A number of treaties and agreements have regulated bilateral relations since 1990, including the Treaty on Good Neighborhood, Partnership and Cooperation and the Treaty on the Final Settlement with regard to Germany of 1990 and the Joint Declaration by the President of the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic and the Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1991.

    Until recently, a driving force was economic cooperation. German companies were among the most important investors and trading partners in Russia. This changed suddenly when economic sanctions were imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 . German-Russian trade collapsed by around a third within months. The sanctions were tightened again in the summer of 2017.

    After China, Germany is Russia's most important trading partner. Russia's most important exports are raw materials such as oil and natural gas. Germany mainly exports mechanical engineering products, vehicles and vehicle parts. Natural gas is sold to Germany a. a. supplied by the specially built Nordstream I pipeline . The supervisory board of the operator consortium is chaired by the former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder , who, according to mutual statements, maintains a trusting friendship with Vladimir Putin. The pipeline and Schröder's personnel repeatedly raised concerns internationally.

    Relationship with Turkey

    With the end of the Cold War, despite the existing distrust of the past, radical changes took place in Russian-Turkish relations. On the one hand, after almost 400 years (with a small exception from 1918 to 1921) the common border between the two countries disappeared. On the other hand, the change of attitude on the Turkish side took place in the course of the 1990s, with Russia no longer perceived as a danger but as a strategic partner. The increased economic cooperation provided the necessary impetus for a new beginning.

    The period between 2001 and 2010 is considered to be the most recent heyday in Russian-Turkish relations. In 2004, Vladimir Putin became the first Russian head of state to pay an official visit to Turkey after the end of the East-West conflict. The Turkish side tried to hold back as far as possible with its anti-Russia stance on controversial foreign policy issues. Moscow's critical attitude towards the so-called "color revolutions" in some post-communist countries was met with understanding in Ankara. During the war in Georgia in 2008, criticism from the ranks of the Turkish government against Russia's actions could hardly be heard. In 2010, the two countries sealed their "strategic partnership" with the conclusion of 17 cooperation agreements during Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Ankara.

    However, since 2011 bilateral relations between Russia and Turkey have experienced highly fluctuating phases, with areas of conflict coming to the fore more often. In the Syrian civil war , Moscow put differently Ankara for the regime Bashar al-Assad's one.

    On the Crimean question, Turkey sided with Ukraine right from the start. President Erdogan affirmed this position in August 2015 at the World Congress of Crimean Tatars in Ankara: "We will never recognize the annexation of Crimea". Turkey is home to the largest diaspora of the Crimean Tatars. Their number is estimated at 4 to 6 million people.

    In the South Caucasus, Russia's "natural zone of influence", the Turkish side is pushing the Ankara-Tbilisi-Baku economic integration model against the background of the rich energy resources of the Caspian Basin, which is viewed with suspicion in the Kremlin.

    Since 2013 at the latest, the Kurdish question has been driving a wedge between the already strained Russian-Turkish situation. In this context, the Turkish leadership accuses Russia of supporting the Kurdish Workers' Party PKK , which is classified as a terrorist organization in Turkey .

    With Russia's active military involvement in the Syrian civil war from September 2015, Russian-Turkish relations entered a tense phase. Another escalation occurred on November 24, 2015 when a Turkish F-16 shot down a Russian SU-24 near the Syrian-Turkish border . The incident sparked a seven-month crisis between Moscow and Ankara, with Russia imposing extensive economic sanctions on Turkey. The situation only eased again after the Turkish President apologized in June 2016.

    The fact that Turkey turned to Russia and not to NATO's partner countries to procure a system of surface-to-air missiles ( S-400 Triumf ) in 2017 was interpreted as a clear sign that Turkey is breaking away from NATO in terms of foreign policy and turns to Russia.

    Relationship with China

    Russia has been conducting military maneuvers together with China since 2005.

    Influence in Asia, Africa and Latin America

    The leaders of the BRICS countries at the G20 summit in Brisbane , 2014

    As the largest country in the world in terms of area, Russia has long borders with Mongolia and the People's Republic of China . Russian foreign policy therefore has a strong influence on the political situation in Central Asia and the Far East . On the other hand, Russia has almost completely lost its influence on India , as well as in the African and Latin American countries .

    Following Western sanctions, Russia demonstratively turned to China. In November 2014, Russia signed a supply contract with China for natural gas from Western Siberia. Most observers rated this business as economically unprofitable but strategically important. In November of the same year, the contractual delivery quantities were doubled. In August 2015 it became known that China and Russia wanted to expand their strategic ties. In addition to the economic development of Central Asia, it is also about the influence in the Pacific region.

    Overall, cooperation with the BRICS countries of Brazil , India , China and South Africa is to be intensified.

    Middle East influence

    In the Middle East , Russia continues to exert a certain amount of foreign policy impact. Russia plays an active role in the Syrian war and in the nuclear negotiations with Iran .

    Arctic

    Russia makes territorial claims over large parts of the Arctic Sea. There is an open conflict of interest here with various other countries, including the USA , Denmark , Canada and Norway .

    Military bases abroad

    see also: Russian military installations abroad

    Today Russia has military bases in Armenia, Georgia (Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova (Transnistria), Syria, Tajikistan, Ukraine (Crimea), Vietnam and Belarus.

    See also

    Individual evidence

    1. ^ Egbert Jahn , The Foreign Policy of Russia . In: Manfred Knapp and Gert Krell , Introduction to International Politics. Study book . 4th edition, Oldenbourg, Munich / Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-486-25968-1 , pp. 250–284, here pp. 268 ff.
    2. ↑ Ukraine Conflict: Berlin's Answer to Putin's Myths Spiegel Online, February 19, 2015.
    3. ^ Russia sanctions currently Germany Trade & Invest.
    4. ^ Report on Russia SIPRI, accessed August 6, 2015.
    5. ^ Reform of the Russian Armed Forces sputniknews.com, December 4, 2012.
    6. ↑ G7 / G8 Federal Foreign Office, June 10, 2015.
    7. ^ Andreas Heinemann-Grüder: Russia and the international organizations in the Federal Agency for Political Education, June 12, 2019.
    8. ↑ Susan Stewart: http://www.swp-berlin.org/fileadmin/contents/products/aktuell/2009A61_stw_ks.pdf Science and Politics Foundation, SWP Aktuell 61.
    9. ↑ Putin's great plan Die Zeit 48/2014.
    10. ^ Daniel Arkin: Baltic States Fear Putin Amid Escalation in Ukraine NBC, September 2, 2014.
    11. ^ Benjamin Triebe: The Kremlin gets Kyrgyzstan NZZ, 23 December 2014.
    12. ↑ Robert C. Blitt: Russia's 'Orthodox' Foreign Policy: The Growing Influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in shaping Russia's Policies Abroad May 2011.
    13. ^ Borisav Jović in The Death of Yugoslavia BBC2, 1195.
    14. ↑ More than half of Russians saw a real threat of war with other countries. , RBC, January 30, 2019
    15. ^ Heidi Reisinger: Dangers lurk everywhere Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 19, 2015.
    16. ↑ Silke Bigalke: Sweden and Finland are practicing the emergency Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 26, 2015.
    17. ↑ Bruno Waterfield: Russia threatens Nato with military strikes over missile defense system The Telegraph, May 3, 2012.
    18. ↑ Obama abandons missile defense shield in Europe The Guardian, September 17, 2009.
    19. ↑ The list of points of contention is getting longer ZEIT online, August 7, 2014.
    20. ↑ Faith Karimi and Amanda Barnett: Russian spacecraft filled with crew supplies docks at space station CNN, July 11, 2015.
    21. ↑ Oligarchs at war: Russian tycoons with homes in London in court clash over mining firm
    22. ↑ Baturina to proceed with € 97m action against Moscow businessman , June 10, 2015
    23. ↑ Leon Watson: Russia's richest woman wins key court decision in her battle with oil tycoon who she claims ripped her off by £ 80m Mail Online, August 5, 2014.
    24. ^ Luke Harding: Gordon Brown calls for full investigation into Magnitsky death The Guardian, December 17, 2009.
    25. ^ Relations between Russia and Germany, Federal Foreign Office, April 2015. ( Memento of March 4, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
    26. ^ Crimean crisis: German companies stop investing in Russia Spiegel Online, March 24, 2014.
    27. ↑ EU imposes new sanctions against Russia because of Crimea , Tagesanzeiger, August 4, 2017
    28. ↑ Foreign Office: Germany and the Russian Federation: bilateral relations. Retrieved June 28, 2020 .
    29. ↑ Michael Hanfeld: Nobody can separate male friends faz.net, October 2, 2014.
    30. ↑ Gerhard Gnauck: Poland is mobilizing against the construction of Nord Stream 2 welt.de, January 28, 2018.
    31. ^ Carsten Schmiester: Resistance in Denmark Deutschlandfunk, August 17, 2018.
    32. ↑ Aktürk, Sener: Russian – Turkish Relations in the 21st Century, 2000–2012. RUSSIAN ANALYTICAL DIGEST No. 125, March 25, 2013, accessed October 6, 2017 .
    33. ↑ Uwe Halbach: The conflict between Russia and Turkey - open ended . Ed .: SWP-Aktuell 32nd Berlin April 2016, p. 2 .
    34. ↑ Игорь Панкратенко: Россия-Турция: Сложные нюансы взаимоотношений . Ed .: Центр стратегических оценок и прогнозов. Moscow 2015, ISBN 978-5-906661-13-5 , pp. 28-44 .
    35. ^ Pavel K. Baev / Kemal Kirişci: An ambiguous partnership. The serpentine trajectory of Turkish-Russian relations in the era of Erdoğan and Putin. Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings, Policy Paper, Number 13, September 2017, accessed November 29, 2017 .
    36. ^ Carlotta Gall and Andrew Higgins: Turkey Signs Russian Missile Deal, Pivoting From NATO New York Times, September 12, 2017.
    37. ↑ A globe redrawn The Economist, November 5th of 2009.
    38. ↑ Benjamin Triebe: The gas supply contract with China hardly seems profitable faz.net, May 22, 2014.
    39. ↑ Russia is becoming more independent from the West faz.net, November 9, 2014.
    40. ↑ Shannon Tiezzi: China Seeks Joint Pacific Security Vision With Russia thediplomat.com, August 5, 2015.
    41. ↑ Russia classifies Ukraine and NATO as a "threat" Die Welt, December 26, 2014.
    42. ^ Saudi negotiation mission in Moscow failed FAZ, August 9, 2013.
    43. ↑ David E. Sanger: Role for Russia Gives Iran Talks a Possible Boost New York Times, November 3, 2014.
    44. ↑ Russia makes renewed bid for contentious Arctic regions BBC, August 4, 2015.