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France Gives Russia 'Last Chance' to Negotiate With West

08 December 2014
Accroche

The weekend meeting between the French and Russian presidents has given France a chance to become "the new Germany" for Russia, which lost its last Western ally after a falling-out with official Berlin, analysts say.

French mediation "is aimed at preventing Russia-EU relations from going to the dogs," said Tatiana Kastueva-Jean of the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) in Paris.

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France Suggests No Mistral Delivery – Yet

30 October 2014
Accroche

France's Finance Minister cast doubt Thursday on what Russia had said was the imminent delivery of the first of two Mistral helicopter carriers, feeding uncertainty that French political analysts view as authorities' reluctance to be seen as caving in to Russian pressure.

Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Thursday that the conditions set by French President Francois Hollande last month for delivering the first Mistral — i.e., upholding the tenuous cease-fire and reaching a political settlement in Ukraine — "had not been met at this time."

 

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Hollande's Government Reshuffle: Will Anything Change?

03 September 2014
Accroche

Just 147 days after Manuel Valls’ nomination as prime minister at Hôtel Matignon, the cabinet of ministers in Paris faced a new reshuffle. Some believe it will rejuvenate the French economy, which seems mired in stagnation, but most doubt that scenario is a real possibility. François Hollande is rapidly becoming one of the French fifth Republic’s most criticized and mocked presidents. RIAC asked Thomas Gomart, Senior Research Fellow, Vice President for Strategic Development at IFRI, about the nature of the recent government changes and what they will bring.

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France would support new sanctions on Russia

13 April 2014
Accroche

"It's clear that we will have to declare ourselves in favour of new sanctions in case of a military escalation," said state secretary for parliamentary relations Jean-Marie Le Guen to French media on Sunday. The junior minister’s comments came as unrest continued to spread in eastern Ukraine, leaving at least one Ukrainian officer and a pro-Russian activist dead in the eastern city of Slaviansk, about 150 km from the Russian border, on Sunday.

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Russia's diplomacy is more active than it was ten years ago

09 November 2012
Accroche

Since December 2011 there is a real convergence between the perception of President Vladimir Putin and the perception of Russia, especially, in the Western media.

That leads to several comments. The first is the feeling that there is now a new, much more concentrated power in the Kremlin, and that to some extent leads to the question about the very difficult challenge for Russia to build balanced institutions. And there is the perception that, on this particular point, Russia has not made progress. And this is the main area of concern as seen from outside.

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Russia: the bear's grip falters

29 June 2012
Accroche

We should all be able to agree on a fact: despite the growing international indignation toward it, Russia’s position on Syria has remained remarkably consistent throughout the crisis there. By blocking passage of any resolution at the UN Security Council, Russia has gained both an international visibility and influence that go far beyond its means. And it is precisely this on which the Kremlin seeks to capitalize.

Russia to Remain at Top of Political Agenda

03 March 2012
Accroche

Which country can Russia consider as a partner and a friend, if such country exists?

- It’s an uneasy question to be honest, given the fact that  the main driver of Russian foreign policy is to maintain its strategic solitude. I think that Russian diplomacy is very active in different parts of the world and try to set up some good relations with many countries.

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The "Arab Spring" has contributed to somewhat strain ties between Moscow and Ankara

01 March 2012
Accroche

Will there be a significant change of policy, in Russia itself and in its foreign affairs, during Putin's third term as president?

- For the past two months, Putin has published a series of seven pre-electoral articles in Russian newspapers. Each of these focus on a particular area of Russia's policy - its social, economic, defense policy, its external relations, etc.

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Russia Offers Up to $20 Billion to Help Shore Up Euro

15 December 2011
Accroche

BRUSSELS — Russia said Thursday that it might pledge up to $20 billion via the International Monetary Fund to help stabilize the euro, highlighting the effects of the sovereign debt crisis on Europe’s global influence.

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Russia and the New BRICS Countries: Potentials and Limitations of a Scientific and Technological Cooperation

Date de publication
23 September 2024
Accroche

At the fifteenth BRICS summit, held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from August 22 to 24, 2023, a resolution was adopted to extend an invitation to six new countries to join the organization: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). All of these countries except Argentina duly became members of BRICS in 2024, with the expanded group known as BRICS+. In addition to the political and economic advantages, it is assumed that the incorporation of these new countries could potentially facilitate their scientific and technological development.

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German-Russian Relations: Change of Paradigm versus 'Business as Usual'

Date de publication
19 February 2015
Accroche

In 2014, Germany’s relations with Russia markedly deteriorated. The decline was precipitous but it did not occur suddenly. It began some time before Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the Kremlin’s support for separatism and thinly concealed military intervention in eastern Ukraine.

Russia's Eastern Direction - Distinguishing the Real from the Virtual

Date de publication
01 January 2014
Accroche

The Asia-Pacific region has assumed primary importance as a center of global politics and economic dynamism. For Moscow, this development highlights a world in which many long-standing assumptions about international politics are being overturned. It speaks of “global power … shifting to the East,” and of Russia becoming involved in the “dynamic integration processes in the ‘new Asia".” But for all the rhetoric about a “turn to the East”, Russia’s commitment to serious engagement with the Asia-Pacific is uncertain. Its elite retains a strongly Western-centric world-view, even as it criticizes Western shortcomings.

Beyond the "Arab Spring": Russia's Security Interests in the Middle East

Date de publication
08 November 2012
Accroche

The reconfiguration of the regional system of international relations as a result of the Arab revolutions has engendered fresh challenges for Russia, related, amongst other things, to deteriorating relations with the USA and other Western powers. 

German-Russian Relations: Balance Sheet since 2000 and Perspectives until 2025

Date de publication
01 October 2012
Accroche

The relationship between Germany and Russia, according to official portrayals in Berlin, is one of ‘strategic partnership’ supplemented by ‘modernisation partnership’. The closeness and at times demonstrative cordiality of the relations have given rise to suspicion about Germany being an advocate of Russian interests in Europe for the benefit of its economy but at the expense of Europe’s trans-Atlantic links. 

The Religious Diplomacy of the Russian Federation

Date de publication
08 June 2012
Accroche

The Russian Federation is shaping its religious diplomacy (i.e., in brief, the use of the religious factor in foreign policy) and exercises it with a growing efficiency. This is, to a certain degree, a consequence of processes taking place in Russia, namely, first and foremost, the solving of the crisis of identity and values, and, closely connected with this, the renaissance of religion in Russian political and social life.

Russia's Nuclear Forces: Between Disarmament and Modernization

Date de publication
14 June 2011
Accroche

Nuclear weapons have traditionally occupied an important place in Russia’s national security strategy. As Russia and the United States have been reducing their nuclear arsenals since the end of the Cold War, their relationship has undergone a complex transformation. Russia, however, still considers strategic balance with the United States to be an important element of national security.

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