Evolution of conceptual basics of Russian Federation’s foreign policy towards countries of Central Asia

Abstract

Relations between the Russian Federation and the Central Asian countries have alwaysbeen of strategic importance for both sides. The topic of the study is interesting because against thebackground of historical events, in the absence of experience in the conduct of foreign policy only bythe newly independent Central Asian countries and building their own ways of development, it is possibleto trace changes in the conceptual foundations of foreign policy and strategy of the Russian Federationin relation to this region. Despite the twenty-eight years since the collapse of the Soviet Union,there remains a high degree of interdependence between Russia and the Central Asian States. This isdue not only to the large extent of the common state borders, but also to the common economic policypromoted both within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and on a bilateral basis. Thus, theCentral Asian region is a major supplier of energy resources to Russia, through the territory of which rawmaterials are transported to the countries of the European Union, while Russia exports mineral products,machinery and equipment to the Central Asian countries. However, it is worth noting that, despite theefforts made by the Russian authorities to establish relations with the Central Asian States on a bilateraland multilateral basis, to this day there is no single separately developed concept that would determinethe long-term strategy of the Russian Federation in Central Asia. It is no secret that official conceptualsources are required for the study of relations between countries, but since there is no single documentof the strategy in relation to the Central Asian countries in the Russian Federation, it is necessary to turnto other concepts. Thus, in this article the authors examined the evolution of the conceptual basics offoreign policy and strategy of Russia towards Central Asian countries with which it is possible to identifystages of relationships, the strategic goals of the Russian Federation and the region’s place in Russianforeign policy.Key words: Russian Federation, Central Asia, foreign policy concept.