Russia's Turn to East and "Asymmetrical" Sino-Russian Relations: History and Facts

Six and a half months after Russia launching "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022, President Vladimir Putin attended the Seventh Annual Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok. In his speech, he emphasized that "no matter how much someone might like to isolate Russia, it is impossible to do it, as we have always said so. It is enough just to look at the map."1 Perceiving itself as a Eurasian great power, Russia has encountered unprecedented sanctions and export controls imposed by Western countries following the Ukraine conflict. Notably, these measures included disconnection from the SWIFT system and imposing price caps on Russian oil. In response to these economic and diplomatic challenges, Moscow has shown a growing interest in pivoting towards the East, seeking to strengthen ties with Asian countries and mitigate its isolation from the West. Russia's reorientation towards Asia is not a new strategy adopted in response to the current Ukraine conflict or even the Crimean crisis. More than a decade ago, President Putin announced a policy of "turning to the East" (поворот на Восток), which [End Page 287] was evident through Russia's hosting the APEC summit in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok in September 2012. A book titled Putin's "Turn to the East" in the Xi Jinping Era by two distinguished American scholars, Gilbert Rozman and Gaye Christoffersen, provides a timely publication that offers an objective and critical assessment of the implementation of this flagship Russian policy over the past decade, within the context of China's rise. The book also carries significant implications for Russia's ongoing reorientation towards Asia in the wake of the current Ukraine conflict, especially in relation to its ties with China.

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/913883