The new document shows deep Cold War-style rifts between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine. “The Russian Federation intends to prioritize the eradication of vestiges of domination by the United States and other unfriendly states,” the strategy document says.
President Vladimir Putin signed into law Russia's new foreign policy strategy on Friday, March 31, 2023. Photo: Sputnik
The term "unfriendly states" is used by Russia to refer to countries, especially in Europe and North America, that have condemned Russia's military campaign in Ukraine and imposed sanctions.
The 42-page document, published on the Kremlin's website, said Russia would aim to "create conditions for any country that rejects neocolonialism and hegemonic goals".
Unveiling the document at a security council meeting, Mr Putin said updating Russia's new strategy on the international stage was necessary due to "fundamental changes" in the world .
The strategy reflects the Russian leader's increasingly anti-Western stance in the face of Western sanctions and military aid to Ukraine, which was also expressed in his national address last month.
Russia is now looking to strengthen political and economic ties with countries in Africa and Asia such as China and India, which have taken a more neutral stance towards Russia's offensive in Ukraine.
Against "hybrid war"
In the new strategy, Russia pointed to relations with China and India, stressing the importance of "deepening relations and coordination with friendly sovereign global centers of power and development located on the Eurasian continent."
Mr Putin recently spoke of the special relationship with China during President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow earlier this month.
Russia has stepped up energy supplies to both China and India after being almost completely cut off from traditional European markets.
The new strategy also says Russia will defend "traditional spiritual and moral values" against "other pseudo-humanist and neo-liberal ideological attitudes".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the document recognized "the existential nature of threats to the security and development of our country, caused by the actions of unfriendly states".
“The United States of America is directly named as the instigator and promoter of anti-Russian sentiment. The Western policy aimed at weakening Russia by all possible means is considered a hybrid war of a new type,” he said.
Mai Anh (according to Sputnik, Reuters, TASS)
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