By Joshua Kucera
The Diplomat
Russian President Putin (left), Chinese President Xi (right). Photo courtesy Presidential Press and Information Office, Kremlin
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy address last week drew headlines for being the most anti-American and anti-Western speech of his career. And while he signaled that Russia in the future would therefore depend more heavily on Asia, he did so delicately, seemingly trying to avoid giving the impression that Asia is a sort of rebound relationship after a bad breakup with the West.
“Asia is playing an ever greater role in the world, in the economy and in politics, and there is simply no way we can afford to overlook these developments,” Putin said at the annual gathering of the Valdai Club, a group of international Russia experts, October 24 in Sochi. “Everyone is doing this, and we will do so too, all the more so as a large part of our country is geographically in Asia. Why should we not make use of our competitive advantages in this area? It would be extremely shortsighted not to do so.”
Putin’s speech was previewed a few days earlier by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who spoke even more explicitly of China’s importance to Russia. “We have made a breakthrough in the development of our strategic partnership with China,” Lavrov said. “This cooperation is very important not only for promoting bilateral relations … but also for strengthening the stability of international relations.”
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