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Who are Russia’s friends?

How Russia cultivates relationships around the globe.

In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 141 of the UN’s 193 member states voted to condemn the action. But the Kremlin isn’t without its allies. Four nations voted with Russia against the resolution (Belarus, North Korea, Syria and Eritrea) and another 35 abstained. China is the most prominent of these, but India also sat out the vote. The world’s largest democracy has not only failed to criticise the invasion but has also shied away from introducing sanctions. That’s prompted President Biden to describe Delhi’s response to the war raging in Europe as “somewhat shaky”. But India isn’t alone. Israel too is hoping to stay neutral; it says so that it can facilitate talks between Moscow and Kyiv – with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid insisting “the way to stop the war is to negotiate”. So how much are current relationships based on ties dating back to the Cold War? How many countries still need Russia to maintain their own security and energy supplies? And can these partnerships survive in the face of harsh Western sanctions?

Ritula Shah is joined by a panel of experts.
Producers: Junaid Ahmed and Paul Schuster.

Available now

49 minutes

Last on

Sat 26 Mar 2022 15:06GMT

Contributors

Alexander Gabuev - Senior Fellow and Chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center

Anna Ohanyan - Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Stonehill College; author of the upcoming book The Neighborhood Effect: The Imperial Roots of Regional Fracture in Eurasia

Nataliya Bugayova - Non-resident National Security Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of War

Cinzia Bianco - Visiting Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations

Also featuring:

Siddharth Varadarajan - Journalist, academic and Founding Editor of the online news portal The Wire

Tal Schneider - Diplomatic and Political Correspondent for The Times of Israel

Photo

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears in front of a crowd at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium on the 18th of March 2022 - Credit: EPA / RAMIL SITDIKOV / SPUTNIK POOL

Broadcasts

  • Fri 25 Mar 2022 10:06GMT
  • Sat 26 Mar 2022 04:06GMT
  • Sat 26 Mar 2022 15:06GMT

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