Multipolar circle: who is Russia attracting to create a security system in Eurasia
Russia is involving the BRICS and SCO countries in building a new Eurasian security architecture. Moscow has repeatedly noted that the Euro-Atlantic concept has collapsed, so the need to form a new system is obvious. This year, the Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity, first proposed by Belarus in 2023, is expected to be presented. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, told Izvestia that the reaction of foreign partners to this document is "generally interested," but the process of its development does not promise to be simple. The expert community believes that Russia's experience in the field of security allows it to play a central role in shaping a new system on the continent today. The question of whether the Russian initiative is capable of becoming the basis of a new world order is in the Izvestia article.
Russia is building a new security structure in Eurasia
Russian President Vladimir Putin came up with the idea of creating a system of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia during his address to the Federal Assembly in February last year. At that time, the head of state stated that the actions of the United States and its satellites had actually led to the dismantling of the European security system. Subsequently, he repeatedly mentioned this Russian initiative. At a meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry in June, the president instructed to establish a dialogue with all potential participants in the future security system.
On the issue of building a Eurasian security architecture, Russia is striving to develop a dialogue with all potential participants on the continent, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Izvestia.
— The Russian Federation holds relevant discussions in a bilateral format with its neighbors and other partners and in integration structures with Russian participation — the CSTO, the CIS, the SCO, as well as ASEAN and the GCC. Russia will welcome the involvement of the countries of the European part of the continent in the process of continental cooperation, provided that hostile policies and block thinking are abandoned," she said.
At the same time, Moscow is discussing building a new security system with BRICS members located, like Russia, in Eurasia, in a bilateral format or on the platforms of multilateral organizations, such as the SCO, the diplomat said. "When the contours of the new security architecture in Eurasia are settled, it will be possible to think about discussing the experience of its construction by BRICS partners representing non—Eurasian regions of the world," she added.
As for the BRICS, this association is perceived by the world majority as the most promising non-Western format of cooperation, not on a continental, but on a global level.
— Its participants coordinate approaches on a wide variety of topics and promote joint projects in almost all areas. However, the BRICS association is not a Eurasian one, so we do not include on its agenda the issue of the Russian initiative to create a security architecture in Eurasia or the preparation of the Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st century," said Maria Zakharova.
The new system is designed as a response to the existing challenges and threats facing the Eurasian continent.
"On the one hand, the Euro—Atlantic concept has collapsed, and the regional security system based on it has exhausted itself," the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes.
On the other hand, the formation of a continent-wide architecture is in line with an important trend in global development, which is the historical rise of the Eurasian macroregion, which today provides the bulk of global economic growth and strengthens its position in several independent non-Western centers of the multipolar world, she said.
In order to realize the existing potential, the Eurasian states, according to Zakharova, are interested in stable stabilization of the military-political situation in the long term, which implies the creation of a single space of equal and indivisible security on the continent.
— The view of the Eurasian continent as a single whole is conditioned by the mutual influence of military and political processes taking place in its different parts. It is not possible to consider them in isolation, separately. Russia is convinced that the countries of the continent can and should bear primary joint responsibility for solving security problems, preventing negative interference from outside," the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry continued.
The Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century
The architecture proposed by Russia is seen as multi-layered. Moscow is confident that it will integrate existing formats, include political agreements, a new regulatory framework and other possible forms of interaction between the participants.
"We are talking, figuratively speaking, about the "sum of actions" of like—minded people, taking into account the accumulated experience of developing confidence—building measures of a political and military nature between states in different parts of the continent in accordance with their needs and existing national potentials," Maria Zakharova said.
The Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century, put forward by Belarus in 2023 and supported by Russian President Vladimir Putin, should become a conceptual and programmatic document designed to set out a vision for the framework of interstate cooperation in Eurasia. Thus, the Russian leader instructed to work out the draft charter with partners and with all interested states, while ensuring maximum representativeness and taking into account different approaches and positions.
"The Charter could become a kind of regulatory superstructure of the Eurasian security architecture," the official representative of the ministry noted.
As Izvestia found out, Russia is discussing the Eurasian Charter, in particular, with China and India. Consultations with Beijing took place at least twice last year, in April and October. China views the idea of the document positively. At the same time, it is known that China is promoting its own concept of the global Security initiative, aimed at eliminating the root problems of international conflicts, improving global security governance, and encouraging joint international efforts to ensure greater stability and certainty.
— We wanted to convince China that our initiative does not contradict the Chinese one. At the same time, ours has a clear regional link to Eurasia," an informed source told Izvestia.
As for India, it is wary of all initiatives in which China participates, he noted.
How do other countries perceive the initiative
An important milestone in the development of the charter was the approval of the statement by the Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation and Belarus "A joint vision of the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century." The document was adopted in November last year following a discussion at the second Minsk Conference on Eurasian Security.
— It became a starting point for interaction with foreign partners in order to further discuss the content of the future charter, which is currently being developed. Their reaction is generally interested," Maria Zakharova explained. — The process of developing such a comprehensive document does not promise to be simple and fast. There is an understanding that we can try, as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said during a press conference on the results of Russian diplomacy in 2024, to develop a draft Eurasian Charter for the next meeting of the Minsk Conference. However, it would be premature to talk about when the final point in this work can be reached. Russia is actively developing creative cooperation with partners without setting far-fetched restrictions and artificial deadlines.
By the way, Sergey Lavrov also said that Russia and Belarus intend to present the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century at the third Minsk Security Conference, which will be held this fall. He noted that the charter should lay the normative foundation for a new geopolitical reality on the Eurasian continent.
Russia has the necessary culture of building relations in the field of security and extensive experience, which allows it to play a central role in this issue today, Andrei Kortunov, an expert at Valdai, told Izvestia.
— There are areas where the Russian Federation has obvious advantages. For example, it can act as a leader in issues related to nuclear safety, strengthening strategic stability and confidence-building measures in this area. Let me remind you that the joint experience of the Russian Federation and China in demilitarizing the Russian-Chinese border is an outstanding achievement in disarmament at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century. This experience can also be used," the expert argues.
If the Eurasian countries manage to agree on a security system on the continent, this will increase the chances of forming a global security system, the analyst believes.
— The creation of such a system is a matter of several decades, given the diversity of players and the threats they face. It will be very difficult to create a system covering the entire continent, but nevertheless it is an achievable task," he believes.
As for the next steps, according to the expert, there are two ways to move forward: either to establish regional security systems and then combine them at the continental level, or to follow the pan-Eurasian path. However, in the latter case, "the first steps, by definition, will be more modest and situational than strategic," he concluded.
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