The impact of the special military operation conducted in Ukraine on Russia's relations with East Asian countries

Abstract

The article considers the infl uence of the Special Military Operation in Ukrain on the relations of Russia with the countries of East Asia (China, Mongolia, Japan, Korean Republic and the DPRK). The uthors investigated the actions of these states in relation to Russia and their motives. It is stated that, having expressed concern and having called for the cessation of hostilities, the East Asian countries set emphasis in their assessments and calls diff erently from each other and took essentially opposite positions on the issue of joining the sanctions of the West against Russia. While Japan and the Korean Republic condemned Russia and became participants in these sanctions, China and Mongolia, taking carefully “neutral” position, found the opportunity to indicate that they take into account sanctions as part of the new realities of international life with the PRC unequivocally putting the blame for the complication of the international situation on the United States and the NATO acting as directed by it on, and the DPRK supported Russia’s actions and condemned the introduction of sanctions. It is concluded that China considers relations with Russia extremely important for achieving the national goals it set to be implemented in multipolar world order. In Japan, the ruling elite decided that supporting the US in preserving the unipolar world would enable it to drastically strengthen the country's position by weakening neighboring Russia and then China and to realize its ambitions. South Korea and North Korea are driven mainly by their interests of using the US confrontation with Russia and China in promoting their solutions to the problem of the split of the country. Mongolia proceeds from the advantages of maximum non-involvement in confl icts. At the same time, most East Asian countries showed pragmatism from the standpoint of national interests in applying selective approach to joining the economic sanctions introduced by the West against Russia. The authors believe that this not only adds to the picture of the overall failure of the attempt to crush Russia through sanctions, but also confi rms the gradual emergence of the prerequisites for the formation of a multipolar world order based on the growing aspiration of states, primarily “non-west” ones, to defend their sovereign rights, while finding mutually acceptable balance of their national interests.