With the horrors of Moscow’s 2022 full scale invasion of Ukraine dominating Western policies toward Russia, it is easy to forget that, at the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that his country would “turn to the East”. Moscow’s desire to stake its claim as a third power in the Indo-Pacific reflected the region’s growing strategic and economic importance as well as Moscow’s unease in that it was being overshadowed as Beijing and Washington jostled for influence there. The Kremlin also likely saw an opportunity to gain traction with nonaligned countries in the region seeking alternative strategic partners. Russia’s pivot faltered from the start. It became increasingly impeded by domestic limitations and the repercussions of its fixation on Ukraine. But Moscow has not given up on the concept and continues to probe for opportunities, especially in defense cooperation. It cannot offer the region much of substance, but it can provoke periodic disruptions.
Russia’s Indo-Pacific Pivot: Patchy, Persistent, and Problematic (Robert McKinnon – German Marshall Fund of the United States)
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