Foreign relations of Russia

This article covers the foreign relations of Russia since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

UN membership, NATO/EU partnership

On December 27, 1991, the Russian Federation assumed the seat formerly held by the Soviet Union in the UN Security Council. Russia also is a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Union of Russia and Belarus, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC). It signed the NATO Partnership for Peace initiative on June 22, 1994. On May 27, 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 [cite paper
last =
first =
author = Berlin Information-centre for Transatlantic Security
authorlink =
coauthors = British American Security Information Council, Centre for European Security and Disarmament, Centro de Investigación para la Paz
title = The NATO-Russia "Founding Act": Stepping Stone or Stumbling Block for a European Security Architecture?
version =
pages =
publisher = Berlin Information-centre for Transatlantic Security
date = July 4, 1997
doi =
doi_brokendate =
id =
url = http://www.bits.de/public/briefingpaper/bp97-1.htm
format = Summit briefing
accessdate = 2008-08-23] . This agreement was superseded by the NATO-Russia Council that was agreed at the Reykjavik Ministerial and unveiled at the Rome NATO Summit in May 2002. On June 24, 1994, Russia and the European Union (EU) signed a partnership and cooperation agreement.

Countries formerly part of the Soviet Union

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. [See Vladimir Socor, "Kremlin Refining Policy in 'Post-Soviet Space'," "Eurasia Daily Monitor" (February 8, 2005) at http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2369222.] There remain large Russian minority populations in many countries of the near abroad, an issue that 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. [Lowell W. Barrington, Erik S. Herron, and Brian D. Silver, "The Motherland Is Calling: Views of Homeland among Russians in the Near Abroad," "World Politics" 55, No. 2 (2003) : 290-313.] 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 the NATO alliance and the European Union in 2004.

Close cultural, ethnic and historical links exist between Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. Traditionally, at least from a Russian perspective, they have been treated as 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 RussiaFact|date=August 2008, 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, Tajikistan, Georgia, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.

Mediation in foreign international conflicts

Russia has played an important role in helping mediate international conflicts and has been particularly actively engaged in trying to promote a peace following the Kosovo conflict. Russia's foreign minister claimed on February 25 2008 that NATO and the European Union have been considering using force to keep Serbs from leaving Kosovo following the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence. [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/02/25/serbia.kosovo.ap/index.html Russia warns EU over Serbs in Kosovo] ]

Russia is a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process and supports UN and multilateral initiatives in the Persian Gulf, Cambodia, Myanmar (Burma), Angola, the former Yugoslavia, and Haiti. Russia is a founding member of the Contact Group and (since the Denver Summit in June 1997) a member of the G8. In November 1998, Russia joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). Russia has contributed troops to the NATO-led stabilization force in Bosnia and has affirmed its respect for international law and OSCE principles. Russia has accepted UN and/or OSCE involvement in instances of regional conflict in neighboring countries, including the dispatch of observers to Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Russia supported, on May 16 2007, the set up of the international tribunal to try the suspects in the murder of the Lebanese Prime Minister, Rafiq Hariri. [http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1744893&Language=en]

Territorial disputes

Russian foreign relations were and continue to be plagued by a number of territorial disputes with the neighbouring nations, including China, Japan, Norway and other counties. Because of unresolved disputes with Japan over the Southern Kurils, Russia is still technically at war with Japan following the 1945 Soviet invasion of Manchuria. [CIA World Factbook: "Russia"]

In August 2007, the Arktika 2007 expedition in Arctic waters culminated in the planting of a Russian flag on the ocean floor at the North Pole. Many countries claim that the Arctic is their territory, including the United States, Denmark and Canada. The region is believed to hold vast quantities of oil underneath the seabed.

Illicit drugs

Limited cultivation of illicit cannabis and opium poppy and producer of amphetamines, mostly for domestic consumption; government has active eradication program; increasingly used as transshipment point for Southwest and Southeast Asian opiates and cannabis and Latin American cocaine to Western Europe, possibly to the United States, and growing domestic market; major source of heroin precursor chemicals.

Participation in international organizations

APEC, BIS, BSEC, CBSS, CE, CERN (observer), CIS, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, ESCAP, G8, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NSG, OAS (observer), OIC (observer), OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SCO, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMIBH, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNOMIG, UNTAET, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, EFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (applicant), Zangger Committee

Visa requirements

Of course there are many countries where there is a visa required for a Russian citizen. These countries are mainly the ones that have established friendly relationships with Russia or had a history of relations. The countries where the visa is not required for them is [ [http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%98%D0%B7%D0%BE%D0%B1%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B6%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5:Russia_besvizi.png] ] :
*flag|Antigua and Barbuda (until 30 days)
*flag|Armenia
*flag|Azerbaijan
*flag|Belarus
*flag|Bolivia
*flag|Bosnia and Herzegovina
*flag|Colombia
*flag|Costa Rica
*flag|Croatia
*flag|Cuba (until 30 days)
*flag|Ecuador
*flag|Fiji (until 4 months)
*flag|Grenada (until 90 days)
*flag|Israel
*flag|Kazakhstan
*flag|Kyrgyzstan
*flag|Malaysia (until 30 days)
*flag|Moldova
*flag|Montenegro
*flag|Morocco (until 90 days)
*flag|Nicaragua
*flag|Peru (until 90 days)
*flag|Philippines
*flag|Serbia
*flag|Swaziland
*flag|Thailand
*flag|Tajikistan

Foreign policy under Putin's presidency

Vladimir Putin's presidency lasted from January 2000 until May 2008. In international affairs, Putin was publicly increasingly critical of the foreign policies of the US and other Western countries. In February 2007, at the annual Munich Conference on Security Policy, he criticised what he called the United States' monopolistic dominance in global relations, and pointed out that the United States displayed an "almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations". He said the result of it is that "no one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them. Of course such a policy stimulates an arms race."43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy. [http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/02/10/0138_type82912type82914type82917type84779_118123.shtml Putin's speech in English] , February 10, 2007.] Some commentators have linked this increase in hostility towards the West with the global rise in oil prices. Liquid Courage, "The American". By Charlie Szrom and Thomas Brugato. [http://www.american.com/archive/2008/february-02-08/liquid-courage] , February 22, 2008.]

Putin called for a "fair and democratic world order that would ensure security and prosperity not only for a select few, but for all"fact|date=August 2008. He proposed certain initiatives such as establishing international centres for the enrichment of uranium and prevention of deploying weapons in outer space. In a January 2007 interview Putin said Russia is in favour of a democratic multipolar world and of strengthening the system of international law. [ [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/01/18/0726_type82916_117121.shtml Interview] for Indian Television Channel Doordarshan and Press Trust of India News Agency, January 18, 2007. ]

While Putin is often characterised as an autocrat by the Western media and some politicians [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21853-2004Sep14.html "Stand Up to Putin." by Robert Kagan] The Washington Post September 15, 2004] [ [http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/13/opinion/mcfaul.php "The myth of Putin's success". By Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss] IHT December 13, 2007] , his relationship with US President George W. Bush, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, former French President Jacques Chirac, and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are reported to be personally friendly. Putin's relationship with Germany's new Chancellor, Angela Merkel, is reported to be "cooler" and "more business-like" than his partnership with Gerhard Schröder. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4618860.stm Merkel cools Berlin Moscow ties] BBC News 16 January 2006]

In the wake of the September 11 attacks on the United States, he agreed to the establishment of coalition military bases in Central Asia before and during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Russian nationalists objected to the establishment of any US military presence on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and had expected Putin to keep the US out of the Central Asian republics, or at the very least extract a commitment from Washington to withdraw from these bases as soon as the immediate military necessity had passed.

During the Iraq disarmament crisis 2002-2003, Putin opposed Washington's move to invade Iraq without the benefit of a United Nations Security Council resolution explicitly authorizing the use of military force. After the official end of the war was announced, American president George W. Bush asked the United Nations to lift sanctions on Iraq. Putin supported lifting of the sanctions in due course, arguing that the UN commission first be given a chance to complete its work on the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.fact|date=August 2008

In 2005, Putin and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder negotiated the construction of a major gas pipeline over the Baltic exclusively between Russia and Germany. Schröder also attended Putin's 53rd birthday in Saint Petersburg the same year.

The CIS, seen in Moscow as its traditional sphere of influence, became one of the foreign policy priorities under Putin, as the EU and NATO have grown to encompass much of Central Europe and, more recently, the Baltic states. During the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election, Putin twice visited Ukraine before the election to show his support for Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who was widely seen as a pro-Kremlin candidate, and he congratulated him on his anticipated victory before the official election returns had been in. Putin's personal support for Yanukovych was criticized as unwarranted interference in the affairs of a sovereign state ("See also The Orange revolution"). Crises also developed in Russia's relations with Georgia and Moldova, both former Soviet republics accusing Moscow of supporting separatist entities in their territories. Moscow's policies under Putin towards these states are viewed by politicians in the West as "efforts to bully democratic neighbors". [cite web
title = An Enduring Peace Built on Freedom // Revitalizing the Transatlantic Partnership
publisher = Council on Foreign Relations
date= November/December 2007, Vol 86, Number 6
url = http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20071101faessay86602-p30/john-mccain/an-enduring-peace-built-on-freedom.html
accessdate = 2007-12-13]

Russia's relations with the Baltic states also remain tense. In 2007, Russo-Estonian relations deteriorated further as a result of the Bronze Soldier controversy. [In this connection it is worth of mention that Putin's father, an NKVD officer, was nearly killed in Estonia, while on a sabotage mission during World War Two. The fact may have had some influence on Vladimir Putin's attitudes, as suggested by Lynn Berry in the article “Behind Putin's Estonia Complex” (in Moscow Times, May 25, 2007).]

Putin took an active personal part in promoting the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate signed 17 May 2007 that restored relations between the Moscow-based Russian Orthodox Church and Russian Orthodox Church outside Russia after the 80-year schism cite news|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/4815010.html|date=2007-05-17|title=Russian Orthodox Church ends 80-year split|author=David Holley|publisher=Los Angeles TimesDead link|date=December 2007] .

In his annual address to the Federal Assembly on April 26, 2007, Putin announced plans to declare a moratorium on the observance of the CFE Treaty by Russia until all NATO members ratified it and started observing its provisions, as Russia had been doing on a unilateral basis. Putin argues that as new NATO members have not even signed the treaty so far, an imbalance in the presence of NATO and Russian armed forces in Europe creates a real threat and an unpredictable situation for Russia. [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/04/26/1209_type70029type82912_125670.shtml Annual Address to the Federal Assembly] , April 26, 2007, Kremlin, Moscow] NATO members said they would refuse to ratify the treaty until Russia complied with its 1999 commitments made in Istanbul whereby Russia should remove troops and military equipment from Moldova and Georgia. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted as saying in response that "Russia has long since fulfilled all its Istanbul obligations relevant to CFE". [ [http://www.izvestia.ru/news/news156321 Lavrov Announced Conditions of Resuming CFE Observance] , December 3, 2007, Izvestia.ru] Russia has suspended its participation in the CFE as of midnight Moscow time on December 11, 2007. [cite web
title = Russia walks away from CFE arms treaty
publisher = AFP via Yahoo! News
date= 2007-12-12
url = http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071212/ts_afp/russiausnatomilitarycfe_071212075936
accessdate = 2007-12-13] [cite web
title = Russia Suspends Participation In CFE Treaty
publisher = Radio Liberty
date= 2007-12-12
url = http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/12/b1d3648d-7728-4fbb-8c52-0d2d2ee65453.html
accessdate = 2007-12-13] On December 12, 2007, the United States officially said it "deeply regretted the Russian Federation's decision to 'suspend' implementation of its obligations under the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE)." State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, in a written statement, added that "Russia's conventional forces are the largest on the European continent, and its unilateral action damages this successful arms control regime." [cite web
title = US 'deeply regrets' Russia's 'wrong' decision on CFE
publisher = AFP
date= 2007-12-12
url = http://www.spacewar.com/reports/US_deeply_regrets_Russias_wrong_decision_on_CFE_999.html
accessdate = 2007-12-13] NATO's primary concern arising from Russia's suspension is that Moscow could now accelerate its military presence in the Northern Caucasus. [cite web
title = Putin poised to freeze arms pact as assertiveness grows
publisher = Financial Times
date= 2007-12-12
url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bf64d30e-a855-11dc-9485-0000779fd2ac.html
accessdate = 2007-12-13]

The months following Putin's Munich speech were marked by tension and a surge in rhetorics on both sides of the Atlantic. So, Vladimir Putin said at the anniversary of the Victory Day, "these threats are not becoming fewer but are only transforming and changing their appearance. These new threats, just as under the Third Reich, show the same contempt for human life and the same aspiration to establish an exclusive dictate over the world." [ [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/05/09/1432_type82912type127286_127675.shtml Speech at the Military Parade Celebrating the 62nd Anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War] , Red Square, Moscow, May 9, 2007] This was interpreted by some Russian and Western commentators as comparing the U.S. to Nazi Germany. On the eve of the 33rd Summit of the G8 in Heiligendamm, American journalist Anne Applebaum, who is married to a Polish politician, wrote that "Whether by waging cyberwarfare on Estonia, threatening the gas supplies of Lithuania, or boycotting Georgian wine and Polish meat, he [Putin] has, over the past few years, made it clear that he intends to reassert Russian influence in the former communist states of Europe, whether those states want Russian influence or not. At the same time, he has also made it clear that he no longer sees Western nations as mere benign trading partners, but rather as Cold War-style threats." [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/06/05/do0502.xml Putin is playing a dangerous game] By Anne Applebaum, 05/06/2007 ]

British historian Max Hastings described Putin as "Stalin's spiritual heir" in his article "Will we have to fight Russia in this Century?". British academic Norman Stone in his article "No wonder they like Putin" compared Putin to General Charles de Gaulle. [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article2994651.ece No wonder they like Putin.] by Norman Stone The Times December 4, 2007.] Adi Ignatius argues that "Putin... is not a Stalin. There are no mass purges in Russia today, no broad climate of terror. But Putin is reconstituting a strong state, and anyone who stands in his way will pay for it." [ [http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1690766-6,00.html Person of the Year 2007: A Tsar Is Born] by Adi Ignatius, Retrieved on December 19, 2007, Time.com] In the same article, Hastings continues that although "a return to the direct military confrontation of the Cold War is unlikely", "the notion of Western friendship with Russia is a dead letter" [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=459919&in_page_id=1770 A blundering Bush, Tsar Putin, and the question: will we, in this century, have to fight Russia?] by Max Hastings, June 5, 2007, Daily Mail] Both Russian and American officials always denied the idea of a new Cold War. So, the US defence secretary Robert Gates said yet on the Munich Conference: "We all face many common problems and challenges that must be addressed in partnership with other countries, including Russia. ... One Cold War was quite enough." [ [http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/speech.aspx?speechid=1123 DefenseLink Speech: ] ] Vladimir Putin said prior to 33rd G8 Summit, on June 4: "we do not want confrontation; we want to engage in dialogue. However, we want a dialogue that acknowledges the equality of both parties’ interests." cite news|title=Interview with Newspaper Journalists from G8 Member Countries|author=the Internet Department of the Presidential Press and Information Office|url=http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/06/04/2149_type82916_132716.shtml|publisher=The Presidential Press and Information Office|date=2007-06-04]

Putin publicly opposed to a U.S. missile shield in Europe, presented President George W. Bush with a counterproposal on June 7 2007 of sharing the use of the Soviet-era radar system in Azerbaijan rather than building a new system in the Czech Republic. Putin expressed readiness to modernize the Gabala radar station, which has been in operation since 1986. Putin proposed it would not be necessary to place interceptor missiles in Poland then, but interceptors could be placed in NATO member Turkey or Iraq. Putin suggested also equal involvement of interested European countries in the project. [ [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/06/08/2251_type82914type82915_133552.shtml Press Conference following the end of the G8 Summit] , June 8, 2007]

In a June 4, 2007, interview to journalists of G8 countries, when answering the question of whether Russian nuclear forces may be focused on European targets in case "the United States continues building a strategic shield in Poland and the Czech Republic", Putin admitted that "if part of the United States’ nuclear capability is situated in Europe and that our military experts consider that they represent a potential threat then we will have to take appropriate retaliatory steps. What steps? Of course we must have new targets in Europe." [Doug Sanders, [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070602.wputin01/BNStory/International/home "Putin threatens to target Europe with missiles"] , "The Globe and Mail", June 2, 2007] [ [http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20071115/88281798.html Asymmetrical Iskander missile systems] , RIA Novosti, November 15, 2007]

The end of 2006 brought strained relations between Russia and Britain in the wake of the death of a former FSB officer in London by poisoning. On July 20, 2007 UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown expelled "four Russian envoys over Putin's refusal to extradite ex-KGB agent Andrei Lugovoi, wanted in the UK for the murder of fellow former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London."cite news|title=Brown Defends Russian Expulsions, Decries Killings|author=Gonzalo Vina and Sebastian Alison|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601102&sid=ajvS9NfMW2EE&refer=uk|publisher=Bloomberg News|date=2007-07-20] The Russian constitution prohibits the extradition of Russian nationals to third countries. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that "this situation is not unique, and other countries have amended their constitutions, for example to give effect to the European Arrest Warrant". [ [http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391629&a=KArticle&aid=1183544695364 David Miliband's oral statement to the Commons on the Litvinenko case] , July 16, 2007]

Miliband's statement was widely publicized by Russian media as a British proposal to change the Russian constitution. [ [http://www.vz.ru/politics/2007/8/29/104843.html Lugovoi Has Disclosed Next Martyr] , August 29, 2007] [ [http://www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article.shtml?2007/07/17/129351 London Proposes to Moscow Changing Constitution] , July 17, 2007] [http://www.vzglyad.ru/columns/2007/8/17/101515.html John Lennon on Russian Constitution] , August 17, 2007] According to VCIOM, 62% of Russians are against changing the Constitution in this respect. [ [http://top.rbc.ru/politics/21/08/2007/114260.shtml VCIOM: Russians Oppose Lugovoi Extradition to Brits] Dead link|date=December 2007, Rbc.ru, August 21, 2007] The British Ambassador in Moscow Tony Brenton said that the UK is not asking Russia to break its Constitution, but rather interpret it in such a way that would make Lugovoi's extradition possible. [ [http://www.gorod.lv/novosti/54959/britanskiy_posol_predlozhil_rossii_po_novomu_interpretirovat_svoyu_konstitutsiyu British Ambassador Suggests Russia Interprets Its Constitution In New Ways] , Gorod.lv, July 23, 2007] Putin, in response, advised British officials to "fix their heads" rather than propose changing the Russian constitution [ [http://www.kremlin.ru/text/appears/2007/07/138523.shtml Excerpts from Transcript of Meeting with Members of Russian Youth Organisations] , July 24, 2007, In Russian] and said that the British proposals were "a relic of a colonial-era mindset". [ [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/07/24/1048_type82917type84779_138687.shtml Excerpts from Transcript of Meeting with Members of Russian Youth Organisations] , July 24, 2007, In English]

When Litvinenko was dying from radiation poisoning, he allegedly accused Putin of directing the assassination in a statement which was released shortly after his death by his friend Alex Goldfarb. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6180262.stm In full: Litvinenko statement] , BBC News, November 24, 2006] Critics have doubted that Litvinenko is the true author of the released statement. [ [http://www.izvestia.ru/investigation/article3098756/?print Soviet Moonwalker is Guilty for Litvinenko Death? Strange Litvinenko Last Will] , Izvestia, November 27, 2006] [ [http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2006/11/27/is_putin_being_set_up Is Putin being set up?] , Townhall.com, November 27, 2006] When asked about the Litvinenko accusations, Putin said that a statement released after death of its author "naturally deserves no comment". [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2006/11/24/2355_type82914type82915_114506.shtml Joint Press Conference after Russia-EU Summit] , Helsinki, Finland, November 24, 2006]

The expulsions were seen as "the biggest rift since the countries expelled each other's diplomats in 1996 after a spying dispute." In response to the situation, Putin stated "I think we will overcome this mini-crisis. Russian-British relations will develop normally. On both the Russian side and the British side, we are interested in the development of those relations." Despite this, British Ambassador Tony Brenton was told by the Russian Foreign Ministry that UK diplomats would be given 10 days before they were expelled in response. The Russian government also announced that it would suspend issuing visas to UK officials and froze cooperation on counterterrorism in response to Britain suspending contacts with their Federal Security Service.

Alexander Shokhin, president of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs warned that British investors in Russia will "face greater scrutiny from tax and regulatory authorities. [And] They could also lose out in government tenders". Some see the crisis as originating with Britain's decision to grant Putin's former patron, Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky, political asylum in 2003. Earlier in 2007, Berezovsky had called for the overthrow of Putin.

On 10 December, 2007, Russia ordered the British Council to halt work at its regional offices in what was seen as the latest round of a dispute over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko; Britain said Russia's move was illegal. [cite web
title = Russia suspends British Council regional offices
publisher = Reuters
date= December 10, 2007
url = http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1288433020071212?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&rpc=22&sp=true
accessdate = 2007-12-12]

Following the Peace Mission 2007 military exercises jointly conducted by the SCO member states, Putin announced on August 17, 2007 the resumption on a permanent basis of long-distance patrol flights of Russia's strategic bombers that were suspended in 1992. [http://www.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/08/17/2033_type82915_141812.shtml Press Statement following the Peace Mission 2007 Counterterrorism Exercises and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit] , August 17, 2007, Chelyabinsk Region] [http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070817/72189719.html Russia restores Soviet-era strategic bomber patrols] , August 17, 2007, RIA Novosti, Russia] US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack was quoted as saying in response that "if Russia feels as though they want to take some of these old aircraft out of mothballs and get them flying again, that's their decision." The announcement made during the SCO summit in the light of joint Russian-Chinese military exercises, first-ever in history to be held on Russian territory, [http://student.km.ru/view.asp?id=4BD4CBA669F042EAB8331FB653FC38FE&idrubr=5D21D4E03EB74A98AAA30F8F45C5E31E SCO Scares NATO] , August 8, 2007, KM.ru] makes some believe that Putin is inclined to set up an anti-NATO bloc or the Asian version of OPEC. [ [http://www.chas-daily.com/win/2007/08/20/v_034.html?r=3 Russia Over Three Oceans] , August 20, 2007, "Chas", Latvia] When presented with the suggestion that "Western observers are already likening the SCO to a military organisation that would stand in opposition to NATO", Putin answered that "this kind of comparison is inappropriate in both form and substance". Russian Chief of the General Staff Yury Baluyevsky was quoted as saying that "there should be no talk of creating a military or political alliance or union of any kind, because this would contradict the founding principles of SCO".

The resumption of long-distance flights of Russia's strategic bombers was followed by the announcement by Russian Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov during his meeting with Putin on Decemer 5, 2007, that 11 ships, including the aircraft carrier "Kuznetsov", would take part in the first major navy sortie into the Mediterranean since Soviet times. [ [http://president.kremlin.ru/appears/2007/12/05/1940_type63378_153373.shtml Beginning of Meeting with Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov] , December 5, 2007, Kremlin.ru] The sortie was to be backed up by 47 aircraft, including strategic bombers. [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071205/wl_nm/russia_navy_dc_3 Guy Faulconbridge. "Russian navy to start sorties in Mediterranean"] Reuters Dec 5, 2007.] According to Serdyukov, this is an effort to resume regular Russian naval patrols on the world's oceans, [ [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071205/ap_on_re_eu/russia_navy_1 Mike Eckel. "Russian navy group goes to Mediterranean "] Dead link|date=December 2007 Associated Press Dec 5, 2007.] the view that is also supported by Russian media. [ [http://www.vz.ru/news/2007/12/5/129713.html "Russia's Navy Has Resumed Presence in World Ocean] Vzglyad.ru (Russian) Dec 5, 2007.] The military analyst from "Novaya Gazeta" Pavel Felgenhauer believes that the accident-prone "Kuznetsov" is scarcely seaworthy and is more of a menace to her crew than any putative enemy [ [http://novayagazeta.ru/data/2007/95/17.html Павел Фельгенгауэр. "Семь честных слов под килем"] "Novaya Gazeta" № 95 Dec 13, 2007.] .

In September 2007, Putin visited Indonesia and in doing so became the first Russian leader to visit the country in more than 50 years. [ [http://www.brtsis.com/rrubb.htm Russia Courts Indonesia ] ] In the same month, Putin also attended the APEC meeting held in Sydney, Australia where he met with Australian Prime Minister John Howard and signed a uranium trade deal. This was the first visit of a Russian president to Australia.

On October 16, 2007 Putin visited Tehran, Iran to participate in the Second Caspian Summit, [http://top.rbc.ru/politics/16/10/2007/122607.shtml Putin: Iran Has Right to Develop Peaceful Nuclear Programme] Dead link|date=December 2007, October 16, 2007, Rbc.ru] where he met with Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [ [http://president.kremlin.ru/text/news/2007/10/148432.shtml Putin Positive on Second Caspian Summit Results, Meets With Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad] , October 16, 2007, Kremlin.ru] . Other participants were leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. [ [http://president.kremlin.ru/events/chron/2007/10/148247.shtml Visit to Iran. Second Caspian Summit] , October 15-16, 2007, Kremlin.ru] This is the first visit of a Russian leader to Iran since Joseph Stalin's participation in the Tehran Conference in 1943. [ [http://www.inosmi.ru/translation/237237.html Vladimir Putin defies assassination threats to make historic visit to Tehran] , October 16, 2007, The Times (In Russian)] [ [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2666142.ece Vladimir Putin defies assassination threats to make historic visit to Tehran] , October 16, 2007, The Times (In English)] At a press conference after the summit Putin said that "all our (Caspian) states have the right to develop their peaceful nuclear programmes without any restrictions". [ [http://president.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/10/16/2020_type82914type82915_148460.shtml Answer to a Question at the Joint Press Conference Following the Second Caspian Summit] , October 16, 2007, Tehran, Kremlin.ru] During the summit it was also agreed that its participants, under no circumstances, would let any third-party state use their territory as a base for aggression or military action against any other participant.

On October 26, 2007, at a press conference following the 20th Russia-EU Summit in Portugal, Putin proposed to create a Russian-European Institute for Freedom and Democracy headquartered either in Brussels or in one of the European capitals, and added that "we are ready to supply funds for financing it, just as Europe covers the costs of projects in Russia". [ [http://kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2007/10/26/1918_type82914type82915_149706.shtml Press Statement and Answers to Questions following the 20th Russia-European Union Summit] , October 26, 2007, Mafra, Portugal, Kremlin.ru] This newly proposed institution is expected to monitor human rights violations in Europe and contribute to development of European democracy. [ [http://www.izvestia.ru/politic/article3109784/ Russia Will Finance European Democracy] , October 29, 2007, Izvestia.ru]

Robert Kagan, reflecting on what underlay the fundamental rift between Putin's Russia and the EU wrote in February 2008: " Europe's nightmares are the 1930s; Russia's nightmares are the 1990s. Europe sees the answer to its problems in transcending the nation-state and power. For Russians, the solution is in restoring them. So what happens when a 21st-century entity faces the challenge of a 19th-century power? The contours of the conflict are already emerging -- in diplomatic stand-offs over Kosovo, Ukraine, Georgia and Estonia; in conflicts over gas and oil pipelines; in nasty diplomatic exchanges between Russia and Britain; and in a return to Russian military exercises of a kind not seen since the Cold War. Europeans are apprehensive, with good reason." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/05/AR2008020502879.html New Europe, Old Russia.] By Robert Kagan The Washington Post February 6, 2008.]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush failed to resolve their differences over U.S. plans for the planned missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic, on their meeting in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi on April 6 2008. Putin made clear that he does not agree with the decision to establish sites in the Eastern European countries, but said they had agreed a "strategic framework" to guide future U.S.-Russian relations, in which Russia and the U.S. said they recognized that the era in which each had considered the other to be a "strategic threat or enemy" was over. Putin expressed cautious optimism that the two sides could find a way to cooperate over missile defense and described his eight-year relationship as Russian president with Bush as "mostly positive". The summit was the final meeting between Bush and Putin as presidents and follows both leaders' attendance at last the NATO summit in Romania April 2 2008- April 4 2008. That summit also highlighted differences between Washington and Moscow over U.S.-backed proposals to extend the military alliance to include the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Georgia. Russia opposes the proposed expansion, fearing it will reduce its own influence over its neighbours. [cite web
url = http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/06/bush.putin/index.html
title = Bush, Putin disagree on missile defense
accessdate = 2008-04-06
date= 2008-04-01
publisher = CNN]
Fareed Zakaria suggests that the 2008 South Ossetia War turned out to be a diplomatic disaster for Russia. He suggests that it was a major stragetic blunder, turning neighboring nations such as Ukraine to embrace the United States and other Western nations more. [http://fareedzakaria.com/articles/articles.html] George Friedman, founder and CEO of private intelligence agency Stratfor, takes an opposite view, arguing that both the war and Russian foreign policy have been successful in expanding Russia's influence.cite journal |last=Friedman |first=George |date=September 25, 2008 |title=Georgia and the Balance of Power |journal=The New York Review of Books |volume=55 |issue=14 |pages= |url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21772 |accessdate=2008-09-13 ]

Relations with Asia

Russia has strong relations with many Asian countries in the economic, diplomatic, military and trading fields. Among the most notable are the relations with:
*flag|India (see Indo-Russian relations)
*flag|Japan (see Japan-Russia relations)
*flag|North Korea (see Russia-North Korea relations)
*flag|South Korea (see Russia-South Korea relations)
*flag|People's Republic of China (see China–Russia relations)
*flag|Philippines The strengthening of these relations is based on Russia's interests in regional defense. The military relations are sustained by joint exercises with several Asian countries including India, China, Japan and Philippines. China is the largest market for Russian arms followed by India. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20061031/ai_n16830425]

References

ee also

*Foreign relations of the Soviet Union
*Russian diplomatic missions
*Human rights in Russia
*List of diplomatic missions in Russia
*Foreign Policy of Vladimir Putin

External links

* [http://countrystudies.us/russia/76.htm Foreign relations of Russia]
* [http://www.mid.ru/brp_4.nsf/e78a48070f128a7b43256999005bcbb3/8f8005f0c5ca3710c325731d0022e227?OpenDocument Containing Russia: Back to the Future?] , July 2007 article by Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov.
* [http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2008/02/22/002.html In Like a Dove, Out Like a Hawk.] By Nikolaus von Twickel "The Moscow Times" February 22, 2008. Issue 3848. Page 1.