Carnegie Politika Podcast

Changes in foreign trade—the backbone of economic prosperity for Putin’s Russia—reflect the giant shifts in Moscow’s relations with the outside world. Five years after the annexation of Crimea, Russia is moving away from the West and trading less with the EU, while increasing the share of its trade with Asia, in particular with China. Alex Gabuev, a senior fellow and chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, examines the implications of this for Russia, the EU, and the Eurasian Economic Union with podcast guests Tatiana Flegontova, deputy head of the Institute for International Economics and Finance, and Dr. Janis Kluge, a senior associate at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

In September 2014, following the annexation of Crimea, the outbreak of war in the Donbas, and the introduction of the first Western sanctions against Russia, the Kremlin announced a "pivot to Asia." Five years on, what's the outcome of this policy? Have Russia and China really formed a new, much stronger partnership? Alex Gabuev, a senior fellow and chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, sat down to discuss just that with Vita Spivak, head of analytical projects at the Expert creative agency.