Putin describes Russia as ‘global development center’ as he approves new foreign policy concept

The Russian Kommersant newspaper published a brief description of the document.

Among other things, the document calls the Russian Federation a ‘civilization state’, a stronghold of the ‘Russian world’ and ‘one of the sovereign centers of global development’. The document suggests that Russia “does not consider itself an enemy of the West although cannot help but eliminate the vestiges of the dominance of the United States and other unfriendly states in world affairs.”

One of the key tasks is to “transform Eurasia into a single continental space of the world, stability, mutual trust, development and prosperity.”

During the presentation of the document, Putin said that a large-scale and painstaking effort had been made to update the concept and ‘bring it in line with current geopolitical realities.’ However, he could not explain the essence of the development and asked Lavrov to do it.

"The logic of the document reflects the changing geopolitical realities, in fact, revolutionary shifts on the external contour, which have been visibly accelerated with the start of the 'special military operation'. In particular, we note the unprecedented level of international tension in the last decade. It recognizes the existential nature of threats to the security and development of our country posed by the actions of unfriendly states. The United States of America is explicitly named as the main initiator and conductor of the anti-Russian line, and in general, the West's policy aimed at weakening Russia to the fullest extent possible is characterized as a new type of hybrid war," Lavrov said.

Instead, the concept describes China and India as "friendly sovereign global centers of power" with which it is planned to deepen ties and coordinate policies.

According to Sergey Lavrov, the concept outlines in detail Russia's "vision of the principles of a more balanced and fair world order," including "polycentricity, sovereign equality of states, ensuring their right to choose development models, and defending the cultural and civilizational diversity of the world."

The document also states that "the priorities of Russia's humanitarian policy abroad are to counteract the Russophobia campaign, protect the Russian language, Russian culture, sports, and the Russian Orthodox Church from discrimination, and fight for historical truth."

The publication notes that the concept of Russia's foreign policy was first approved in 1993. The main task was to "establish stable positive relations with neighboring countries in order to overcome destabilizing disintegration processes in the former Soviet Union." Putin approved the new concept on June 28, 2000. It called the primary task "strengthening the union of Russia and Belarus". In 2008, the concept was approved by President Medvedev. This document spoke of "the prospect of the West losing its monopoly on globalization processes," and called Russia "the largest Eurasian state." The 2013 concept also suggested that "the historical West's ability to dominate the world economy and politics is diminishing."

The previous version of the document was adopted in 2016. It listed 11 objectives of Russia's foreign policy, and the key among them was the protection of the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It also mentioned "preserving and strengthening strong positions in the international community," "building good neighborly relations with neighboring states," "helping to eliminate existing centers of conflict on their territory," and popularizing national culture.

• In January 2022, President Vladimir Putin ordered that this basic document be revised with new realities taken into account.