25/04/2018 Foreign relations of Russia - Wikipedia

Multilateral [ edit ]

NATO and the European Union [ edit ]

Russia is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Union of Russia and Belarus, Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Paris Club, and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC). It
signed the NATOPartnership for Peace initiative on 22 June 1994. On 20 May 1997, NATO and Russia signed
the NATO–Russia Founding Act, which the parties hoped would provide the basis for an enduring and robust
partnership between the Alliance and Russia—one that could make an important contribution to European security
architecture in the 21st century, though already at the time of its signing doubts were cast on whether this accord
could deliver on these ambitious goals.[207] This agreement was superseded by the NATO–Russia Council that was
agreed at the Reykjavik Ministerialand unveiled at the Rome NATO Summit in May 2002. On 24 June 1994, Russia
and the European Union(EU) signed a partnership and cooperation agreement. In recent years, tensions have
heightened, as NATO members in Eastern Europe, especially Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, feel threatened
by Russia.[citation needed] European Union imposed sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals in 2014,
regarding the annexation of Crimea and alleged support for separatists during Donbass War.[208]

Former Soviet Republics and Warsaw Pact [ edit ]

The non-Russian countries that were once part of the USSR have been termed the 'near abroad' by Russians. More
recently, Russian leaders have been referring to all 15 countries collectively as "Post-Soviet Space," while asserting
Russian foreign policy interest throughout the region.[209] After the USSR was dissolved by the presidents of
Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, Russia tried to regain some sort of influence over the post-Soviet space by creating, on
8 December 1991, a regional organization – the Commonwealth of Independent States. The following years, Russia
initiated a set of agreements with the Post-Soviet stateswhich were designed to institutionalize the relations inside
the CIS. However, most of these agreements were not fulfilled and the CIS republics began to drift away from
Russia, which at that time was attempting to stabilize its broken economy and ties with the West.[210]
One of the major issues which had an influence on the foreign relations of
Russia in FSU was the remaining large Russian minority populations in many
countries of the near abroad. This issue has been dealt with in various ways
by each individual country. They have posed a particular problem in countries
where they live close to the Russian border, such as
in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, with some of these Russians calling for these
areas to be absorbed into Russia. By and large, however, Russians in the
near-abroad do not favor active intervention of Russia into the domestic
affairs of neighboring countries, even in defense of the interests of ethnic
Russians.[211] Moreover, the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia,
and Lithuania) have clearly signaled their desire to be outside any claimed
Russian sphere of influence, as is reflected by their joining both Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian
the NATO alliance and the European Union in 2004. Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, 12
Close cultural, ethnic and historical links exist between Russia, Belarus and April 2011
Ukraine. The traditional Russian perspective is that they are one ethnic group,
with Russians called 'Great Russians', Belarusians 'White Russians'
and Ukrainians 'Little Russians'. This manifested itself in lower levels of nationalism in these areas, particularly
Belarus and Ukraine, during the disintegration of the Soviet Union. However, few Ukrainians accept a "younger
brother" status relative to Russia[citation needed], and Russia's efforts to insert itself into Ukrainian domestic politics,
such as Putin's endorsement of a candidate for the Ukrainian presidency in the last election, are contentious.
Russia maintains its military bases in Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, and Tajikistan.
Russia's relationships with Georgia are at their lowest point in modern history due to the Georgian-Russian
espionage controversy and due to the 2008 Russo-Georgian war, Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Russia
and has left the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Russia's relations with Ukraine, since 2013, are also at their lowest point in history as a result of the pro-
Western Euromaidan revolution in Ukraine, the 2014 Crimean Crisis and the pro-Russian insurgency in Ukraine's
Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Ukraine, like Georgia, has introduced a bill to the Verkhovna Rada to withdraw from
the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Kiev has begun the process of doing so.
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In addition, Russia also maintains relations with Bulgaria, Czech Republic, part of the former
EastGermany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, the countries that were once part of the former Warsaw
Pact, and furthermore, Albania. Russia also continues to maintain friendly relations
with Cuba, Mongolia and Vietnam as well as third world and non-aligned countries
of Afghanistan, Angola, Benin, Cambodia, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Grenada, Guinea-
Bissau, India, Iraq, Laos, Mozambique, Serbia, Syria and the former Southern part of Yemen.

International membership [ edit ]

Main article: Permanent Representatives of Russia to international organisations
Further information: Russia and the United Nations
Membership in International Organizations:[212]
Russia holds a permanent seat, which grants it veto power, on the Security Council of the United Nations(UN). Prior
to 1991, the Soviet Union held Russia's UN seat, but, after the breakup of the Soviet Union the Russian government
informed the United Nations that Russia will continue the Soviet Union's membership at the United Nations and all
other UN organs.

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