Russia – Living Its Own Story
Ever since the sudden 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, Russia’s future and the actions of its take-charge leader Vladimir Putin have remained prominent topics within the international community. While initially expected by Western leaders to become a flourishing and proper democracy, Russia’s has proven otherwise. It begs the question – why is Russia doing that? Can this kind of politic considered to be rational? Does Putin himself believe the narrative he’s created of most Russia’s neighbours posing a threat to its safety? Do the Russian people truly believe that? Furthermore, why does Russia focus so much on Ukraine? Is there a real possibility of a full war on Ukraine? Will Russia’s elite and it’s way of life ever change? These are just some of the questions to be addressed during this interview.
For this episode of our podcast, Andrey Makarychev, visiting professor at Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies at University of Tartu with broad experience in Russian foreign policy discourses and international security, along with Alexey Grigoryev, Vice-chairman of the board of the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance, former Latvian journalist and politician of the Supreme Council, try to answer these challenging questions.
The interview is part of a series developed in the context of the annual Rīga Conferences organised by the Latvian Transatlantic Organisation in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Latvia and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia. The purpose of the series is to keep discussions alive in between consecutive conferences.