... by about 140 experts, journalists, diplomats, public figures and businessmen from Italy and foreign countries. The main discussion topics included: the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border, the contradictions between Russia and NATO, the role of Russian foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the prospects for Russia-China cooperation. Russia was represented by the following speakers: Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, and Dmitry Suslov, RIAC Member, Deputy Director at the Centre for Comprehensive European and ...
... environment and its contradictions. The two leaders thus used several adjectives to illustrate the nature of the Sochi discussions—such as ‘productive’, ‘constructive’, ‘substantive’, ‘open’, ‘direct’, and ‘sincere’.
Andrey Kortunov:
Russia in the Eastern Mediterranean: The Art of Balancing
Greece’s membership in the EU and NATO—the cornerstone of its foreign policy—does not allow illusions about the future course of the Greek–Russian relations, which could deviate from the Western framework....
... amount, about US$25 billion, will be financed by a Russian loan. The first of four units
is expected
to be operational in 2026. Rosatom’s projects in Turkey and Egypt are implemented under the Built-Operate-Own system.
Russia and Projects in the Eastern Mediterranean
Russian oil and gas companies had an interest in the Eastern Mediterranean even before the Russian military operation in Syria. Several contracts from Russian oil and gas and construction companies signed before 2011 were disrupted in Libya and Syria ...
... inertia is still strong.
Andrey Kortunov:
Meeting Security Challenges in the Gulf: Ideal Solutions and Practical Steps
A Change of Mind
Now, if we put all this together as the basis for our analytical attempt, we might work out a better understanding of Russia’s foreign policy approach to Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean, which is a crucial part of the nation’s Southern track.
As mentioned before, Russia has lost interest in Libya for practical reasons. For some time, the country was considered a Western fiasco; and as such, it was apodictically ...
... the Eastern Mediterranean.
The conference was attended by about fifty experts from Germany, the United States, Russia, Turkey, Italy and other Mediterranean countries. Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, spoke at the conference on the evolution of Russia's strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean in 2015–2021. The conference was attended by Irina Zvyagelskaya, RIAC Member, Head of the Center for the Middle East Studies at RAS IMEMO, Professor of the Department of Oriental Studies at MGIMO MFA, Senior Researcher at the Center ...
... matters are only exacerbating the regional predicament. As they overlap with the traditional Israeli-Palestinian, Greek-Turkish and Cyprus questions, these developments are encouraging escalation and further competition.
The Global Dimension: The U.S. and Russia in the Eastern Mediterranean
A competitive foundation for international relations is currently solidifying in the Eastern Mediterranean. There are no expectations of a cooperative approach, since one party or another will always have greater ambitions and will ...
... between the two countries, the potential for lessening US influence in the region will be revealed, and it will see Russia, which is competent enough to undermine the status quo against the United States, which has dominated the region since the Cold War.
Russia's Eastern Mediterranean policies have become a reflection of Middle-Eastern policies. In addition to Moscow's military position on the region, air defense systems, special forces and, naval units stationed in Syria have a presence on the ground. Russia ...
... and potential source of insecurity emanating from state and non-state threats. It relies on transit to and from the Black Sea into the Eastern Med to access the Indian Ocean through the Suez Canal. This defensive threat perception extends across the Eastern Mediterranean, which Russia views as an extension of its Black Sea frontier. Although Russia had been absent from the region for many years, Russia’s 2015 intervention on behalf of Bashar al Assad, Russia’s last remaining ally in the region, was a return to historical ...
... truths about the bilateral relations being negatively affected. This question should be addressed not only because these relations have been special and mutually beneficial but especially because Russia and Cyprus will clearly need each other in the Eastern Mediterranean labyrinthine future.
Russian-Cypriot Mutual Benefits
Costas Melakopides:
How Rational Is President Erdogan’s Policy against Cyprus and Greece: a Case Study
With “pragmatic idealism” progressively established, one could identify numerous substantial benefits for both ...
... anti-money laundering measures and the financing of terrorism (MONEYVAL), was perceived to meet, with only minor deficiencies, all of the standards concerning anti-money laundering and the criminalisation of the financing of terrorism.
In intepretting Russia’s course towards the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, despite some opposite appearances, it seems that all of the countries in the region have been in general of secondary importance for Moscow. Only occasionally have some of them, such as Cyprus in the post-Cold War, acquired a high ...
