President Vladimir Putin on Monday adopted a new foreign policy doctrine based on the concept of a "Russian World," a notion that hard-line conservatives have used to justify intervention abroad in support of all Russian-speaking countries. .
The 31-page "humanitarian policy", published more than six months after the war in Ukraine, cites that Russia must "defend, protect and promote the traditions and ideals of the Russian world".
Although presented as a kind of soft power strategy, it is rooted in official ideas about Russian politics and religion, which some extremists have used to justify Moscow's occupation of parts of Ukraine and support for pro-Russian separatist units. in the east of the Country.
"The Russian Federation provides support to its compatriots living abroad to fulfill their rights, to ensure the protection of their interests and the preservation of their Russian cultural identity," it is officially quoted.
The head of the Kremlin said that Russia's ties with its compatriots abroad allowed it to "strengthen its image on the international stage as a democratic country that strives to create a multipolar world."
Russia has continued to regard the former Soviet space, from the Baltics to Central Asia, as its legitimate sphere of influence – a notion that many of these countries, as well as the West, have resisted. The new doctrine says Russia should increase cooperation with Slavic nations, China and India and further strengthen its ties with the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.
Moscow needs to further deepen its ties with Abkhazia and Ossetia, two Georgian regions recognized as independent by Moscow after the 2008 war against Georgia, as well as the two breakaway entities in eastern Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk and Luhansk.