Russian president Vladimir Putin has approved a decree outlining the new Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. The document represents the national interests of the Russian Federation in the foreign policy sphere, defines the main tasks and priority directions of the country's foreign policy.

In the decree Russia is called a "unique state-civilization" that "rallied the Russian people and other peoples who make up the cultural and civilizational community of the Russian world."

The document states that the Russian Federation "does not consider itself an enemy of the West," but cannot but be engaged in "eliminating the vestiges of the dominance of the United States and other unfriendly states in world affairs" and counts on the fact that Western countries realize the futility of the conflict with Moscow and accept the multipolarity of the world order.

"Russia, taking into account its decisive contribution to the victory in the Second World War, as well as its active role in the creation of a modern system of international relations and the elimination of the world system of colonialism, acts as one of the sovereign centers of world development and performs a historically unique mission to maintain the global balance of power and build a multipolar international system, ensuring conditions for peaceful, progressive development of mankind on the basis of a unifying and constructive agenda," the decree reads.

One of the key tasks is "the transformation of Eurasia into a single continent-wide space of peace, stability, mutual trust, development and prosperity."

The new Russian foreign policy concept also declares an independent and multi-vector foreign policy course of Russia, "dictated by its national interests and awareness of its special responsibility for maintaining peace and security at the global and regional levels."

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the document "reflects the changing geopolitical realities, in fact, revolutionary shifts on the external contour, which received a visible acceleration with the start of a special military operation."

"In particular, there has been an unprecedented level of international tension over the past decade. The existential nature of threats to the security and development of our country created by the actions of unfriendly states has been recognized," Lavrov said at a meeting of the Security Council of the Russian Federation.

According to him, the Concept sets out in detail the Russian "vision of the principles of a more balanced and just world order," among which are "polycentricity, sovereign equality of states, ensuring their right to choose development models, defending the cultural and civilizational diversity of the world."

The previous version of the document was adopted in 2016. It indicated 11 tasks of Russian foreign policy, among them - the protection of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, as well as the strengthening of strong positions in the world community, the formation of good-neighborly relations with neighboring states.

  Russia, Putin

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