On March 31, 2021, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) held two online expert discussions within the framework of Russia-UK bilateral security project “A New Agenda for Russia–UK Relations”. Both Russian and British experts took part in the event.
On March 31, 2021, the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) held two online expert discussions within the framework of Russia-UK bilateral security project “A New Agenda for Russia–UK Relations”. Both Russian and British experts took part in the event.
The first panel discussion was attended by young researchers of Russia–UK security dialogue. The discussion focused on the political issues that inform the current European security landscape as well as on the parties’ perception of threats and the avenues for their reduction. The participants outlined and analyzed the strategic priorities of Russia and Great Britain and the prospects for the European security structure. The role of multilateral security institutions (NATO, the OSCE, the EU) was also discussed. Neil Melvin, Director International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, and Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, addressed the young researchers with welcoming remarks.
The second session featured a discussion of the joint RIAC-RUSI report “UK–Russia Security Dialogue is European Security”. Andrey Kortunov and Malcolm Chalmers wrote the report following the RIAC-RUSI workshop held in February 2021 to analyze the Russian and British perspectives on the current state of European security.
Over the past decade, Russia-UK relations have become extremely tense. Since 2014, there have been a number of attempts on the part of the Western European leaders, including the UK, to reset relations with Russia. Despite these efforts, the relations continue to deteriorate. Amid these conditions, the main attention of the two countries should be turned to the efforts to reduce the risk of an open military confrontation between NATO and Russia, especially in Europe, and to build mutual trust in those areas where it is absolutely necessary.
Alongside with the authors of the report, Neil Melvin, Director International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute, and Sergey Utkin, Head of the Group for Strategic Assessment and Leading Research Fellow at RAS Institute of World Economy and International Relations, joined the discussion.
The English and Russian versions of the report will be published on the RIAC website.
Video of the RIAC-RUSI discussion “UK–Russia Security Dialogue is European Security”