Who are Russia鈥檚 friends?
How Russia cultivates relationships around the globe.
In the wake of Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine 141 of the UN鈥檚 193 member states voted to condemn the action. But the Kremlin isn鈥檛 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鈥檚 largest democracy has not only failed to criticise the invasion but has also shied away from introducing sanctions. That鈥檚 prompted President Biden to describe Delhi鈥檚 response to the war raging in Europe as 鈥渟omewhat shaky鈥. But India isn鈥檛 alone. Israel too is hoping to stay neutral; it says so that it can facilitate talks between Moscow and Kyiv 鈥 with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid insisting 鈥渢he way to stop the war is to negotiate鈥. 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.
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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
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- Fri 25 Mar 2022 10:06GMT大象传媒 World Service
- Sat 26 Mar 2022 04:06GMT大象传媒 World Service
- Sat 26 Mar 2022 15:06GMT大象传媒 World Service News Internet
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The Real Story
Global experts and decision makers discuss, debate and analyse a key news story.