Russia’s Security Policy in East Asia

The Russian leadership has repeatedly emphasised that Russia has always been a Eurasian country, not only with regard to its territory but also its interests, policies, and even psychology. Russia is very interested in the development of the Russian Far East through cooperation with the neighbouring countries. East Asia is one of the largest Russian trading partners. The Russian leadership believes that both the Chinese and American military threats have disappeared for the foreseeable future, and Moscow no longer plans for a general war to preserve its territorial integrity against potential Chinese or American attack. Moscow is also discontented with the fact that it is not a welcome guest in certain regional economic and security organizations. North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons was perceived by Russia as a serious challenge to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and a threat to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.