"Russia must protect and develop the ideals of the 'Russian World'": Putin approves new foreign policy doctrine

Reuters reports the story.

"The Russian Federation provides support to its compatriots living abroad in the fulfilment of their rights, to ensure the protection of their interests and the preservation of their Russian cultural identity," the policy states.

The 31-page "humanitarian policy" says Russia should "protect, safeguard and advance the traditions and ideals of the Russian World".

The doctrine is to be presented as a "soft power strategy", officially establishing the use of politics and religion to justify Russia's occupation of Ukraine and its "support" for separatist formations in Donbas.

The "strategy" states that Russia's ties with its compatriots abroad allow it to "strengthen on the international stage its image as a democratic country striving for the creation of a multi-polar world."

The new policy also says that Russia should expand cooperation with Slavic nations, China, and India, and further strengthen its ties to the Middle East, Latin America and Africa. 

It also notes that Moscow should further deepen its ties with Abkhazia and Ossetia, two Georgian regions recognised as independent by Russia after its war against Georgia in 2008, as well as the two breakaway entities in eastern Ukraine, the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" and the "Luhansk People's Republic" which remain part of Ukraine, temporarily occupied by Russia. 

In the future, it suggests that the Russian Federation will consider the entire former Soviet space as its legitimate sphere of influence.