US, enemy number one, and more power to its Army to act
Russian President Vladimir Putin adopted this Friday Russia’s new foreign policy concept, leaving behind that of 2016 to take into account its confrontation with the West over the Russian military campaign in Ukraine. These are its main ones pillars:
Trends and priorities
- The US and its satellites aim to fully weaken Russia. This course has become all-encompassing and is enshrined at the doctrinal level.
- Russia does not consider itself an enemy of the West, does not isolate itself from it, has no hostile intentions toward it, and hopes that in the future Western states will realize the futility of their confrontational policy and hegemonic ambitions, take into account the complex realities of a multipolar world, and return to pragmatic interaction with Russia.
- Russia insists on indivisible security at the global and regional levels, the elimination of the vestiges of US and other unfriendly states’ domination in world affairs.
- Moscow wants to vindicate the role of the United Nations as the central coordinating mechanism for aligning the interests of member states and their actions.
- Russia intends to exclude from international relations the practice of imposing unilateral sanctions and to improve the mechanism of implementing international sanctions exclusively through the UN Security Council.
Security
- Russia advocates the indivisibility of international security and is open to joint action to build a renewed and more sustainable international security architecture with all interested states and interstate groupings.
- It aims to strengthen strategic stability, eliminate preconditions for outbreak of a world war and risks of the use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.
- The Armed Forces can be used, among other things, to repel and prevent an armed attack against Russia and/or its allies, resolve crises, maintain (restore) peace in accordance with a decision of the UN Security Council and other collective security structures in which Russia participates, and to protect its citizens abroad.
- Russia will take symmetric and asymmetric measures in response to hostile acts endangering its sovereignty and territorial integrity, including sanctions.
Nuclear weapons and arms race
- The country advocates the strengthening and development of a system of international treaties in the fields of strategic stability, arms control and prevention of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
- Moscow wants to prevent an arms race and create conditions for a further gradual reduction of nuclear capabilities, taking into account all factors affecting strategic stability.
- It aims to prevent an arms race in space, primarily by means of an international treaty.
Economy
- Russia wants to reduce the dependence of its economy on the actions of unfriendly states by developing a depoliticized, secure and independent international payments infrastructure, as well as with greater use of national currencies in payments.
- Moscow intends to strengthen Russia’s presence on world markets, increase exports other than raw materials and energy, and reorient its economic ties to states pursuing constructive and neutral policies, without ruling out pragmatic cooperation with business circles of hostile states.
United States and Europe, in the bull’s eye
- Russia will try to minimize threats and create conditions for European countries to abandon the anti-Russian course. He believes that peaceful coexistence with Russia has no alternative for Europe and understanding this approach will enable the Old Continent to take a worthy place in the multipolar world.
- Moscow directly identifies the US as the main driver of the West’s “anti-Russian line,” although it points out that it is interested in maintaining strategic parity, peaceful coexistence and a balance of interests, taking into account their status as nuclear powers and their special responsibility for ensuring strategic stability and global security.
- Russia intends to further strengthen relations of comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction with China and continue to develop its privileged strategic partnership with India.
- It also seeks to deepen mutually beneficial relations with Latin America and the Caribbean, including military cooperation, to help these countries cope with “US pressures.”
- One of Russia’s priorities is relations with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as other neighboring countries with close ties to Russia.
- Russia highlights the growing weight of countries friendly to the Islamic world and sets its interest in further developing ties with these states, among which it mentions Iran, Syria and Turkey.
- Moscow intends to promote ties with Africa through assistance in the field of security, including food and energy security, and military-technical cooperation.
