... transformation stage some 10 years ago, anticipating global changes in the overall international system. As a global leader in the number of conflicts and potential crises, nations of the Middle East know the price of the current changes and strive to use diplomacy, mediation, and pragmatism to mitigate crises, including in the conflict in Ukraine.
Mediators
Aleksandr Aksenenok:
U.S. Policy Case for Middle East under New Conditions
On September 21–22, Russia and Ukraine exchanged the largest number of POWs since the conflict’s escalation in February 2022, and the parties stroke a deal ...
... more sensitive and divisive.
First published in in
VIF's Journal, National Security, Vol. 5 Issue 3
(July-September 2022).
This is a new and expanded version of the article. For an earlier version see, Kortunov, Andrey. “India-Pakistan and Russia-Ukraine: What If We Compare the Two?” Modern Diplomacy, October 30, 2021.
https://moderndiplomacy.eu/2021/10/30/india-pakistan-and-russia-ukraine-what-if-we-compare-the-two/
.
... platform for geopolitical confrontation between Russia and the West, a “no man's land”, an eternal “Wild Field”, which possesses no destiny of its own and has neither national sovereignty nor national identity.
Hawk’s peck
The emphasis on diplomacy means Russia’s readiness to limit itself to the already well-known set of specific and generally negotiable demands on Kiev, including Ukraine’s abstention from attempts to join NATO, certain restrictions imposed on the offensive capabilities of the Ukrainian armed forces, legislative measures taken to counter radical ethnic nationalism and other forms of political extremism, ensuring ...
... is good. We see different things. Dr. Andrey Kortunov started a post-24-February debate with a very eloquent
piece
“End of Diplomacy? Seven Glimpses of the New Normal”. I glimpse a more positive new normal for Russia and should therefore like to address ... ... doubt, that Beijing has been deeply involved and consulted in Moscow’s planning of the “special military operation” in Ukraine. This level of coordination gives Kremlin the justified confidence that “the World is big” and no sanctions can tip ...
... CSTO. The West has established various formats and mechanisms of sanctions pressure, boosting NATO’s eastern flank and increasing policy coordination both within the Alliance and within the European Union as well as military-technical assistance to Ukraine, while consistently attacking Russia in a variety of international settings ranging from the UN General Assembly to OSCE and the Council of Europe ministerials.
Was another collision—of a larger scale—inevitable? During the eight years of ...
Interview for Going Underground / RT
Interview for Going Underground / RT
We speak to Director-General of the Russian International Affairs Council Andrey Kortunov. He discusses why Vladimir Putin is unlikely to invade Ukraine and how Putin would have conducted the invasion if he were to go through with it, whether the current crisis shows a failure in Russian diplomacy, alleged plans for a Russian puppet government to be installed in Kiev, contentions over the Minsk agreements between Kiev and Moscow, why Germany is likely to defend Nordstream 2 from threats of closure and much more.
Video
... specific ways to implement it. But for this we need Europe to abandon its position of providing total cover for everything that Ukraine does. I am hoping that the new leadership in Kiev will use the chance it has been given by Ukrainian voters that are tired ... ... at once. Regarding the JCPOA, I said in my opening remarks that this plan is a remarkable achievement when it comes to global diplomacy. It has not only helped us ease tension around a particular country, but it has also seriously strengthened the non-proliferation ...
... an external enemy—hence, the anti-Americanism; it cannot afford democracy approaching its borders—hence, the assault on Ukraine; and, when economic success fails as a source of popular support, its leadership resorts to crude nationalism, such as ... ... de-legitimize an election by hijacking voter registration lists and electronic poll books. This only has a chance if done through diplomacy, treating it as a question of national security—which it is—striving to agree on red lines, and ensuring that adequate ...
... understood his adversary, and unsurprisingly, Putin was emboldened on all these fronts.
Even during Kerry’s fastidious diplomacy, on September 19th Russia deliberately bombed a well-known UN aid convoy heading for an Aleppo, Syria, civilian population ... ... targeting of hospitals (today, Russia and Assad are, with impunity, threatening whole parts of Aleppo with mass slaughter); Ukraine also saw Russian escalation.
Kerry’s talks failed because the Russians were never serious about them, much like ...
New threads in the Team Trump/Team Putin tangled web show Manafort and Page linked to each other as part of a Russian plot to control Ukraine and also show a mutual Russian mafia godfather linking them with each other and Trump, providing even deeper and more fertile ground on which to question Trump’s pro-Russia, Pro-Putin positions and their origins. Author's note: this ...