Russia

For the latest from Brookings experts on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, click here

Op-Ed

Russian nukes in Belarus — much ado about little?

Steven Pifer

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Yars ICBM launched in strategic deterrence forces exercises on Wednesday Oct 26, 2022. Russia President Vladimir Putin has watched military forces carry out nuclear exercises in Russia amid growing fears Moscow may trigger a major escalation in the Ukraine war. The Russian president oversaw the tests, which had been planned for some time, via video link from an office. During the exercises, the country's nuclear forces carried out multiple practice launches of ballistic and cruise missiles. The manoeuvres followed Mr Putin's warning about his readiness to use all means available to fend off attacks on Russia's territory, in a clear reference to the country's nuclear arsenals. The drills saw the test-firing of a Yars land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the launch of a Sineva ICBM by a Russian nuclear submarine and the Tu-95 strategic bombers set off cruise missiles at practice targets. (Russia MOD via EYEPRESS)

Op-Ed

Three ways the US should respond to Russia’s suspension of New START

Steven Pifer

Friday, March 24, 2023

Arms Control

The nuclear education of Vladimir Putin

Amy J. Nelson

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a reception at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia March 21, 2023. Sputnik/Pavel Byrkin/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

China

Xi Jinping goes to Moscow

Ryan Hass and Philipp Ivanov

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Reports

Passers-by walk past tank barriers in front of an entrance to the metro in the Ukrainian capital in the morning. Feb. 24, 2023, marks the first anniversary of Russia's war of aggression on Ukraine.

Essay

Lessons from Ukraine

Constanze Stelzenmüller, Fiona Hill, Steven Pifer, James Goldgeier, Tara Varma, Aslı Aydıntaşbaş, Patricia M. Kim, Suzanne Maloney, Tanvi Madan, Bruce Jones, Caitlin Talmadge, Melanie W. Sisson, Michael E. O’Hanlon, David Wessel, Samantha Gross, Sophie Roehse, and Kemal Kirişci

Friday, February 24, 2023

A navy soldier (L) of People's Liberation Army (PLA) stands guard as Chinese citizens board the naval ship "Linyi" at a port in Aden, March 29, 2015. China's Defence Ministry said on Tuesday its warships had completed an evacuation of Chinese nationals from Yemen, with more than 570 people safely transported across the Red Sea to Djibouti to be flown home. The Chinese characters on the banner read, welcome Chinese compatriots on board. Picture taken March 29, 2015. REUTERS/Stringer CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA

Sub-Saharan Africa

Strategic competition for overseas basing in sub-Saharan Africa

Dawn C. Murphy

February 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a welcoming ceremony as he inspects the Vice-Admiral Kulakov anti-submarine warfare ship in Novorossiysk, September 23, 2014. Russia will increase its Black Sea fleet by 2020 with more than 80 new warships and will complete a second naval base for the fleet near the city of Novorossiysk by 2016, its commander said on Tuesday. In comments made to Putin as he visited the port city, Vice Admiral Alexander Vitko said a second Black Sea base was needed in addition to the main base on the Crimea peninsula annexed from Ukraine because of NATO expansion. REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY MARITIME) ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Europe

Europe’s new maritime security reality: Chinese ports, Russian bases, and the rise of subsea warfare

Geoffrey F. Gresh

February 2023

Image released by the Russia Ministry of Defense on Wednesday May 4, 2022 shows Russian soldiers conduct self-propelled artillery installations Malka in counter-battery combat against Ukraine. May 4 marks the 70th day of Russia invasion of Ukraine. The total amount of direct infrastructure damage has reached $92bn since the invasion in February at a cost of $4.5bn (£3.6bn) a week as bombs tear through thousands of buildings and public utilities, and miles of road, according to the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE). More than 33,000 sq metres of residential buildings have been hit by missiles, bombs and suffered other damage during the war, worth almost $30bn in total. More than 23,000km of road have been ripped up or pockmarked by shelling, and almost 90,000 cars, worth billions of dollars combined, have been damaged.

Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

State Sponsor of Terrorism Designations

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Buildings of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the State Unitary Enterprise of the National Police and the Kharkiv National University in the Kharkiv, second largest city of Ukraine is struck by a Russia army missile at about 08:10 on March 2, 2022. (State Emergency Service of Ukraine/EYEPRESS)

Russia's Invasion of Ukraine

Proposals to Seize Russian Assets to Rebuild Ukraine

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Blog Posts

A military officer adjusts a Russian flag ahead of a welcome ceremony hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping for Russian President Vladimir Putin outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China June 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Order from Chaos

Fatalism is not an option for addressing China-Russia relations

Ryan Hass

Friday, March 17, 2023

Russia's President Vladimir Putin holds talks with China's President Xi Jinping via a video link from Moscow, Russia, December 30, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Kuravlev/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Order from Chaos

Taiwan is feeling the pressure from Russian and Chinese autocracy

Pavel K. Baev

Thursday, March 16, 2023

Illustration of a mini replica of tanks and soldiers, seen in front of the Ukrainian flag in Krakow, Poland. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto)

TechStream

Lessons from the meme war in Ukraine

Sarah Kreps, Paul Lushenko, and Keith Carter

Friday, February 10, 2023

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Events

2023

Mar

Past Event

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the international legal order

10:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Russia suspends its participation in New START: Arms control and risk reduction in the current moment

10:30 AM - 11:45 AM EST

Meeting the Russia challenge: Lessons from the foreign policy transition from Bush to Obama

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

Washington, DC

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Related Books

Book cover: "Evaluating NATO Enlargement"

Evaluating NATO Enlargement: From Cold War Victory to the Russia-Ukraine War

Edited by James Goldgeier and Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson

2023

Putin’s World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest

By Angela Stent

2019

The End of Europe: Dictators, Demagogues, and the Coming Dark Age

By James Kirchick

2017

View All Books

Experts

Steven Pifer

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Initiative

steven_pifer

Pavel K. Baev

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe

Angela Stent

Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe

AngelaStent

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Multimedia

A sign with the words "Nord Stream" stands in front of the gas receiving station of the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline and the transfer station of the OPAL long-distance gas pipeline (Ostsee-Pipeline-Anbindungsleitung - Baltic Sea Pipeline Link). The Nord Stream1 Baltic Sea pipeline, through which Russian natural gas has been flowing to Germany since 2011, ends in Lubmin near Greifswald. After the start of the war against Ukraine, Russia openly threatened for the first time to stop gas supplies through the Nord Stream 1 Baltic Sea pipeline.

Podcast Episode

Oil, gas, Russia, OPEC—What’s happening in world energy markets?

Samantha Gross and David Dollar

Monday, October 31, 2022

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, right, looks at a map with Ukraine Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 19, 2022. On a visit to Kyiv to show support for Ukraine, the top U.S. diplomat said Ukrainians should prepare for difficult days. He said Washington would keep providing defence assistance to Ukraine and renewed a promise of severe sanctions against Russia in the event of a new invasion.

Podcast Episode

Ukraine in the age of unpeace

Mark Leonard, Fiona Hill, and Jason Cowley

European Power

Friday, July 15, 2022

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) speaks at a press conference at the end of the G-7 summit at Schloss Elmau.

Podcast Episode

Post-G7 summit, a time of great uncertainty in the global economy

Douglas A. Rediker and David Dollar

Monday, July 11, 2022

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