Russia » International Relations

The Russia's Relations with International Community

Russia has played an important role in helping mediate international conflicts and has been particularly actively engaged in trying to promote a peace following the Kosovo conflict. Russia is a co-sponsor of the Middle East peace process and supports UN and multilateral initiatives in the Persian Gulf, Cambodia, Angola, the former Yugoslavia, and Haiti. Russia is a founding member of the Contact Group and (since the Denver Summit in June 1997) a member of the G-8.

In November 1998, Russia joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). Russia has contributed troops to the NATO-led stabilisation force in Bosnia and has affirmed its respect for international law and OSCE principles. Russia has accepted UN and/or OSCE involvement in instances of regional conflict in neighbouring countries, including the dispatch of observers to Georgia, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Nagorno-Karabakh. It has attempted to strengthen defence and security ties within the CIS and maintains military bases in Armenia, Tajikistan, Georgia, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan.

Trade and Investment with UK

Relations between the UK and Russia (2003 was their 450th anniversary) have been transformed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. There are frequent contacts at all levels to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues and key foreign policy issues. The State visit by HM the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh to Russia in October 1994 was the first ever by a reigning British Monarch. The Prime Minister has invested considerable energy in developing good relations with President Putin, and they meet regularly. President Putin came to the UK on a State visit in summer 2003, the first by a Russian leader since 1874. President Putin also visited the UK in October 2005, during the UK Presidency of the European Union.