Hinting at a correction
Does Russia support the establishment of a new democratic order in the world?
Russia is hinting at a likely correction of its foreign policy. The Russian foreign ministry explains the need for corrections by negative trends that have emerged in the world arena in the last while. “There has been a string of changes in world developments over the past two years that call for a reconsideration, or possibly correction, of our foreign policy line in certain directions,” said Russian foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin. The Russian diplomat made this statement on the eve of a meeting of Russian ambassadors and international representatives scheduled for June 26-27 in Moscow. The Russian foreign ministry admits that Russia is worried that these conflicts are approaching the area of its interests. “The active restructuring of the world has given rise to many new problems that are less predictable and whose level of danger must still be fully assessed. In particular, there is an obvious tendency towards the expansion of the worldwide conflict space and its spread to the areas of Russia’s vital interests,” Interfax quotes Kamynin as saying.
One should note the Russian diplomat’s claim that Russia’s national interests include the founding of a new, more equitable, and democratic world order on a collective and legal basis, which would provide reliable security on the global and regional levels. The Western world began to speak about this when the USSR still existed. Perhaps these words were intended to be heard by the leaders of the G7, the world’s seven leading countries, who will attend their summit in Saint Petersburg. In the last while, Moscow has made a lot of statements aimed at conducting a successful summit on Russian territory.
Should we expect any changes in Russia’s foreign policy? How can they influence relations between Kyiv and Moscow? The Day asked some Russian and Ukrainian experts to comment.
COMMENTARY
Hryhoriy PEREPELYTSIA, director, Foreign Policy Institute:
“Russia is further hardening its course and positioning itself in the world as a great influential power that is not merely a formal member of the G8 but a power that wields real clout in all global processes.
“Russia will continue to try to reduce the pluralism that emerged in the post-Soviet space after the collapse of the USSR. It is about increasing its influence on this space and enabling the Russian Federation to oversee the foreign policies of CIS countries.
“The acquisition of this new status by Russia depends on the extent to which the outside world will recognize Moscow’s current foreign and domestic policies. This will be clear during the coming G8 summit that will take place in St. Petersburg in mid-July. If the world is prepared to deal with this kind of Russia, Ukraine will have no prospects in the international arena. Support for Ukraine and its democratic, independent course will diminish if the Russia-imposed model is accepted. This may constitute a major threat to the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine.
“However, the question is whether Moscow has sufficient resources to impose this model of Russia’s vision. We see that its main instrument is energy resources. Should the world give in to Russia’s gas blackmail, the conclusion is self-evident. If not, Moscow has very few other resources to make the world accept Russia’s ambitions. Russia’s resources are too scarce for this today, even spite of petrodollars and the feverish whirlwind of finances generated by high oil prices and gas exports.
