iIn recent decades, Central Asian states have become participants in various projects of international transport corridors. For the countries of the region, such projects are of significant interest, as they make it possible to overcome geographical remoteness from the main markets. Most of the logistical projects have been initiated by non-regional actors, which in turn are highly interested in Central Asia. The development and promotion of transport corridors have been determined primarily by long-term economic motives. For non-regional players, primarily the United States, the EU, China and Turkey, the major task has been to maintain the Central Asian states in the sphere of their interests. In recent years, international transport corridors have been supplemented by bilateral and multilateral mechanisms initiated by non-regional actors. They are aimed at forming sustainable political and economic relations with the Central Asian states. For regional countries, participation in international transport corridors provides an opportunity to receive revenues from the transit of goods passing through the region, and at the same time opens up new opportunities for organizing the export of their own products to foreign markets. In particular, the article provides an overview of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. In addition to other logistical routes, this project attracts the attention of the EU and China, which expect to increase the supply of goods through it. A new direction in the policy of non-regional states towards Central Asia is gaining access to deposits of rare earth metals. A big role in the implementation of projects related to the development of deposits of rare earth metals and their export from the region is assigned to transport communications coming from the countries of Central Asia.

: In recent years, the world has witnessed significant geopolitical shifts, with the crisis in Ukraine becoming a key event influencing global relations. Africa, as an important element of the “Global South,” has become a central arena for great power competition and geopolitical maneuvers. After the end of the Cold War, Russia-Africa relations experienced a low point when Russia withdrew from Africa, followed by a period of slow recovery and rapid development. Since the onset of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, these relations have entered a period of “strategic horizontality,” characterized by high-level interactions, food cooperation, military and security cooperation, and energy cooperation reaching new heights. The new phase of Russia-Africa relations is the result of increasing alignment of the needs and interests of both Russia and Africa. Russia-Africa military and security cooperation is challenging the Western presence in Africa, but Russia still faces disadvantages in economic cooperation, institutionalization, and countering “hybrid warfare” with the West. The further development of Russia-Africa relations is on the rise, with both sides continuing to strengthen cooperation in various fields. This article examines the evolutionary dynamics of Russia-Africa relations, especially in the context of the ongoing Ukraine crisis, and analyzes the strategic, economic, and political implications for both regions.

The article is devoted to the study of Russia’s foreign policy and Turkey’s neo-Ottomanism during the Second Karabakh War, which lasted from September 27, 2020 to November 10, 2020. The author focuses on the events of autumn 2020 as a turning point in the long-term ethnopolitical and territorial conflict in the South Caucasus. The main attention dedicated to determining the factors influencing the positions taken by Russia and Turkey in the conflict, as the main external arbitrators and key regional players, as well as the consequences of the actions taken. The main reasons for Turkey’s active support of Azerbaijan are the conceptual foundations of neo-Ottomanism in combination with elements of pan-Turkism and the Muslim aspect, implying a desire for regional leadership in the South Caucasus and expanding its access to the Turkic world. Author identified the factors that influenced the absence of direct Russian intervention in the course of the war on the side of Armenia. (Maintaining the status quo of the conflict as the most acceptable for maintaining security in the region; agreeing with Azerbaijan’s legally justified claims to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh from the point of view of international law; the importance of maintaining stable relations with Erdogan’s Turkey). Noteworthy the six-week war has changed the configuration of forces in the region. It led to the transformation of the poles of influence in the South Caucasus. Turkey has significantly strengthened its position as a regional factor, while Russia, on the contrary, has faced challenges and pro-Western development vectors among the former USSR countries.

The article considers the evolution of the state confessional policy in Russia. It explores the genesis of the state religious policy in the period of existence of the multi-confessional Russian Empire, highlights the special features of the religious politics and atheistic propaganda in the USSR, the transformation of the state confessional policy during the years of perestroika and after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The features of the religious renaissance on the post-Soviet space are being observed as well as the process of formation of the contemporary model of the state confessional policy in Russia. Special attention is paid to the development of the legal base for interaction of the state authorities and religious confessions and to the state structures which provide communication with religious organizations. The main areas of co-operation of the state with the traditional religions of Russia are being explored. Special attention is paid to the activities of the Interreligious Council of Russia and of the Interreligious Council of the CIS.

The article studies the current problems of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Arctic in the context of global warming. The main existing threats include both food and infrastructure issues, as well as problems of economic activity and health care. Against the background of global warming associated with an increase in the average annual temperature, there is a high probability that the above problems will only intensify and significantly affect all life support systems of the indigenous peoples of the Russian Arctic. Special attention is given to existing public and private initiatives, as well as proposed methods of adaptation and mitigation of the effects of global warming on indigenous peoples, including support for traditional knowledge and practices, sustainable use of natural resources and infrastructure improvements.

The article analyzes security issues in the relations between Russia and Norway in 2000– 2022. The relevance of the topic is attributed to the importance of Norway for the Russian foreign policy, the significant role of Norway in the Arctic, as well as the current militarization with the increasing influence of external actors on regional military security. The purpose of the study is to assess the changing role of military security in the bilateral relations. When it comes to the methodology, the author relies on the methods of comparative and critical analysis, content analysis, historical method, and a systematic approach. The plan of the research includes an analysis of Norway’s strategic position and the factors behind its approach to maintaining national and regional security; fundamentals of Russia’s military activities in the Russian Arctic zone; the reasons and significance of strengthening Russia’s military potential in the Arctic; bilateral cooperation in the military sphere. The author notes that Norwegian military planning is largely determined by NATO policy and the Alliance’s relations with Russia. Amid the aggravation of the dialogue between Russia and the collective West after The Five-Day War in Georgia, and the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict, Russia became perceived by the Norwegian authorities as a threat to national security. The change in the Norwegian approach, in particular, expressed in the desire to strengthen the role of NATO in the region, led to the curtailment of all programs of military cooperation with Russia and provoked the strengthening of the Russian military presence in the Arctic. In conclusion, the author notes that, despite the rather developed military cooperation until 2014, amid the global security crisis, a return to the pre-crisis level of mutual understanding in the military sphere is unlikely.

The problematic field of political interaction between the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is constructed under the influence of actualizing national priorities of external political players in view of the strategic and resource significance of the post-Soviet space in general. Attention is focused on the contribution of extra-regional and transnational subjects to the development of political and economic space of the EAEU. Political presence of the United States, as well as Western and European states in this region is increased. In this context, we are talking about the intersection and competition of geostrategic, political, economic and other goals of existing political participants in the framework of interstate exchange. On the one hand, it creates some additional factors and mechanisms of manifestation and expansion of conflict-causing precedents, on the other hand, it leads to the emergence of qualitatively new opportunities for opening special political potential, strengthening the status-role positions, establishing the bilateral and multilateral ties, etc. In the end, real prerequisites are created for transformation the symbolic nature and activity significance of the EAEU in the context of domestic political and supranational processes. In this sense, the conceptual basis and tool of American media publications in the direction of actualization the US political agenda in relation to the EAEU countries are interesting. The ideological, semantic and technological features of The Washington Post publications on the topic of political relations between the United States and other foreign policy actors with the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia are analyzed. As a result, it is determined that political participation of the United States in this region is built in the focus of creating the restraining factors for stabilization of political and economic partnership of the EAEU participant countries in the framework of the concept of Greater Eurasia. The existing institutional and functional potential of the post-Soviet states is used for negativization of political and regional role and strengthening of geopolitical opposition of the Russian Federation and the PRC. Particularly, the most frequently published topics in relation to political problems of the EAEU are the Russian participation in a special military operation on Ukrainian territory and foreign policy participation of foreign states in the main processes of Eurasian integration.

The purpose of this article is to clarify the role of Russophobia in the structure of Ukrainian political identity. The genesis and transformations of Russophobic normative-value attitudes within the geographical boundaries of modern Ukraine are considered. The main ways of manifestation of Russophobia in socio-political practices are analyzed. The pivotal role of Russophobia has been revealed, without which the entire structure of the national and state identity of the Ukrainian state is not viable. The conclusion is made about the need for systematic efforts of Russian political science to develop a holistic project for the political reintegration of Ukraine into Russia and the “Russian World”.

Current geopolitical situation affects greatly on worldwide distribution of energy. These circumstances challenge Russian energy companies to be more flexible in development of foreign market expansion strategies and pro-active in establishing of cooperation mechanisms with new partners abroad. In this case gas power generation should be considered more attentively, gas-fired power plants provide the customer with end-product, while natural gas exporters create additional values to gas exports and are able to achieve synergy of core business and power supply. The article considers Russian power generation companies’ potential expansion to new power markets. Brief description of two electricity markets is provided with examples of Iran, the largest regional market and Pakistan, which suffers from power deficit and non-sustainable energy supply. Iran power sector is also remarkable with its experience of development under international sanctions, including establishment of energy machinery sector based on localization of foreign technologies. Pakistan is one of the most attractive LNG markets for Russian companies, which face the challenge to increase LNG export up to 20% of world market share.

The article explores the foreign policy course of the Republic of Turkey in Central Asia, which has intensified in recent years. The article analyses ambitious energy projects of Turkey, which seeks to become an energy ‘hub’. The article pays great attention to the study of the institutional framework and key instruments of Turkey’s ‘soft power’, which pursues an active policy towards the Turkic-speaking countries of Central Asia. This has allowed Turkey to significantly expand its influence in the countries of the region, competing with Russian and Chinese influence. The article explores the role of the ‘Organisation of Turkic States’ (OTS), whose activities Ankara pays increased attention to. Turkish policy is aimed at using the potential of this organisation to pursue its own interests. The article concludes that the Organization of Turkic States plays a significant role as one of the important actors between Turkey and the states in the region. It also concludes that Turkey’s policy in Central Asia is aimed at addressing long-term objectives related to the expansion of political, economic and cultural influence.

The article considers the specific features of the systemic approach to the history of the international relations and world politics. International relations are viewed as a single complex organism, which is greater than the sum of its parts. The freedom of actions of the states is limited by the frames of the system of international relations, the part of which they are. Each system has its spatial and temporal characteristics. In the period of the Early Modern Age the process of formation of the national states unrolls. In the XVII century The Thirty Years’ War became the largest event of the international life, at the end of which the Westphalian system of the international relations was born. In the XIX century after the victory over Napoleon the Vienna system of international relations develops. Both Westphalian and Vienna systems are European regional systems. The end of the World War I war resulted in formation of the Versailles-Washington world order, which was the first attempt to build the global system of the international relations. After the victory of the anti-Hitler coalition in the World War II the global bipolar Yalta-Potsdam system was built, which existed till the dissolution of the USSR. At the present moment the new system of international relation is developing, with polycentrism and diversity of actors as its’ specific features.

The article investigates the modern policy of Great Britain in Central Asia. In recent years, official London has increased its interest in Central Asia. The region is considered as an important direction of British foreign policy. The British course is implemented in the context of the policy of the collective West towards the Central Asian states. It is based on the weakening of Russia’s political, trade and economic relations with Central Asian countries and putting pressure on them to change their foreign policy course. It is important for London to reorient Central Asia’s political and economic ties with Moscow and Beijing toward the interests of the collective West. London’s involvement in Central Asia is determined by energy resources in the region, as well as long-term plans to gain access to deposits of rare earth metals. The article concludes that it is possible to make only а relative comparisons with the “Great Game” that unfolded between the Russian Empire and Great Britain in the middle of the 19th century in the Central Asian khanates. The geopolitical conditions have changed dramatically and, in addition, London follows the general policy of the West. Nevertheless, London’s goals in Central Asia have not changed — the struggle for resources and limiting the influence of Russia.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union with the immediate appearance on the world map of five independent republics in Central Asia, the Turkish government, believing in its own political calling to unite the Turkic-speaking peoples under its auspices, launched extensive activities to plant its influence in this region. Convinced of the ineffectiveness of too persistent political patronage over the Central Asian republics, the Republic of Turkey, which claims to be the standard-bearer of pan-Turkic ideology and political Islam, has built an influential network of educational institutions and international organizations representing the arsenal of its “soft power” and designed to turn Turkey into a reference point for the development of the Central Asian states.

The article is devoted to the study of the current state of integration of the Union State in the context of the modern transformation of the world order. The article identifies the reasons for the rapprochement between Russia and Belarus which made it possible to create and develop the integration project. Despite the objective difficulties, the two states have been successfully developing joint economic projects for a long time. Special attention is paid to the identification of external factors affecting the development of the Union State. Since the creation of the Union State western countries have pursued a policy aimed at weakening the potential of the integration association. The article examines the last years of the Union State’s activity, reveals the impact of sanctions pressure on Russia and Belarus, and analyzes the steps taken by the leaders of the two countries to further develop the integration project.

The article examines some problems of Russia’s humanitarian policy and humanitarian cooperation. According to the author, domestic humanitarianism does not go beyond the boundaries established by the Helsinki Final Act. The formulation of tasks and directions of domestic humanitarian policy contained in strategic planning documents is reduced only to a description of the methods and conditions of communication, leaving the specifics of humanitarian activities and humanitarian instruments outside the scope of strategic planning documents, thereby complicating its institutionalization. The author believes that the goal of humanitarian cooperation may be the formation of a global structure of support for domestic foreign policy initiatives, representing a dense network of interactions that provides ripple effects, expanding Russia’s influence and forming new dependencies. But achieving such a goal is impossible without putting forward a clear alternative to the modern world order, which will reflect not only the interests of Russia, but also of countries that disagree with the Western-centric world order.

The article analyzes the political institutions, processes, technologies characteristic of the period of formation of Soviet power in Crimea after the end of the large-scale Civil War. The phenomenon of the Civil War, from the author’s point of view, was expressed in an irreconcilable struggle between the centers of power that emerged from the ruins of the empire, with the geopolitical factor itself playing an important role. The article notes that in Crimea in 1921, emissaries of British and German intelligence services were actively working, that is, those forces that had previously made considerable efforts to overthrow the monarchy and unleash a Civil War in the Russian Empire. The formation of the Crimean ASSR as part of Soviet Russia in the fall of 1921, as well as the creation of a new powerful state of the USSR with its own social project in December 1922, was not at all part of their plans. Therefore, Western opponents tried as much as possible to use the inertia of the Civil War to destabilize one of the key regions of the RSFSR. Under the current conditions, it was quite logical that a number of leaders of the anti-bolshevik underground wanted to establish close contacts with opponents of Soviet power abroad in order to combine efforts in the fight against it, which objectively became a factor of geopolitical tension in the Soviet Republic in general, and in Crimea in particular. In conditions of increasing conflict in Crimea, a system of emergency institutions is being formed. This system included the Crimean Revolutionary Committee and its local bodies, the establishment of the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, Special Purpose Units, and revolutionary tribunals under the general ideological leadership of party bodies. The author comes to the conclusion that emergency institutions objectively opposed the implementation of projects of Western powers to destabilize the situation in Crimea and contributed to a certain ethnopolitical stabilization of the situation in the region. On the other hand, their activities were characterized by a class approach, which led to thoughtless repressive policies and inevitable “excesses” in their work, aggravated by weak coordination of actions and the lack of strict control at the first stage.

Ethnic diversity has an impact on many areas of social life, which has led to an extensive layer of research on relationships in this area. Many authors have studied in detail the impact of ethnic diversity on conflicts, instability, domestic politics, other various social and cultural aspects. At the same time, the relationship between ethnic fractionalization and economic parameters remains insufficiently studied, which leaves a wide field for relevant research, especially at the level of individual countries, since most of the work is devoted to cross-country comparative analysis of the relevant parameters. One of the most actual problems in the context of ethnic heterogeneity is its relationship with income inequality. This article presents the results of a study of the relationship between ethnic diversity, estimated on the basis of the ethno-linguistic fractionalization (ELF) index, and two indicators of income inequality — the Gini coefficient and the inter-decile income share ratio (S90/S10). The analysis of this relationship was carried out on the example of one country — Kazakhstan — by comparing the corresponding indicators for seventeen regions. The results of the analysis showed the presence of a stable and noticeable relationship, expressed in the growth of income inequality as ethnic diversity grows in the regions of the country. It was revealed that in the most ethnically homogeneous regions, income inequality indicators are minimal, while in the most ethnically diverse regions they are much higher. A significant correlation was also found between ethnic fractionalization and indicators of income inequality. The results obtained are generally correspond to the results of a number of cross-country studies, but in the case of Kazakhstan they are more distinct, which can be interpreted as confirmation of the relationship between ethnic diversity and income inequality in general.

NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept views China as a “systemic challenge” to the Alliance. Joint statements regarding China began to appear several years before the adoption of the new Concept on the official NATO agenda in response to increasing pressure from the Trump administration. The military-political, technological and discursive power of the PRC is perceived by the bloc as a threat to their strategic interests. The greater military-political presence of China in the Arctic and in the Middle East and North Africa is regarded by NATO countries as strengthening the hegemonic aspirations of the PRC. Technological dependence on supplies from China harms the Alliance’s operational capabilities and military mobility. NATO has set itself the goal of adapting to strategic competition with China, particularly in the areas of advanced technologies, artificial intelligence and 5G. China’s influence on the media agenda, as well as its ability to promote its own narrative, threatens transatlantic solidarity and the “soft power” of the Alliance countries. Moreover, China is accused of systematically seeking to sow divisions in transatlantic relations and exploit differences between Western countries to its own advantage. China’s efforts to forge a multipolar world order pose a direct challenge to Western liberal democracies and the rules-based international order. European NATO states have begun to regularly encounter the “China factor” when interacting with the United States. However, there remains disagreement over what policies should be pursued toward Beijing. Those who see China as a security threat advocate general policy coordination with the United States. Those who recognize Beijing as a necessary economic partner and participant in global governance insist that Europe pursue independent policies that distance itself from US strategy. All this suggests that practical steps within the Alliance to counter China, especially outside the Euro-Atlantic region, will face resistance from the United States’ European allies.

The article considers the foreign policy aspects of the activities of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the First convocation. The specifics of the main results of parliamentary votes of this period, which were related to international-political realities, in the context of their relationship with the conceptual foundations and implementation of Russian foreign policy, have been characterized. Features of the composition and nature of the activities of the lower house of the Russian parliament of this period have been identified. The conceptualization of the Russian Federation’s foreign policy has been analyzed. The initiatives and decisions of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the First convocation in the field of foreign policy and international relations have been assessed. It is shown that these were due to the specifics of its personal composition, where there was no strict factional discipline and a clear advantage of any political force, which determined the need for situational interaction. The normal work of the lower house of parliament became possible largely due to the efforts of its Chairman, who took a centrist position. It is substantiated that the State Duma, operating in conditions of complex socio-economic problems and the colossal weakening of Russia’s international political positions, demonstrated significant activity in international political initiatives that covered a wide range of topical issues with an emphasis on the situation in the states of the post-Soviet space. These decisions were relatively balanced, which was explained by the approximately equal distribution of resources between the so-called “left”, “right”, “centrists” and “national patriots”, as well as the presence of “common bloc” issues, positions on which coincided or did not cause obvious contradictions. The international political initiatives of the State Duma of the First convocation were distinguished by greater realism and emphasis on the protection of national interests than the content of conceptual documents and the foreign policy course pursued by the state. This happened against the background and simultaneously with the beginning of the process of rethinking the foreign policy approaches of the Russian Federation, which had a significant influence on it.

After the collapse of the USSR, the policy of the Western states towards Central Asia was focused on the issues linked to the expansion of trade and economic relations, gaining access to hydrocarbon resources of the regional countries and organizing their reliable export to foreign markets. In recent years, due to changes in technological development, the Western countries have increased their interest in rare-earth metals. Competition aimed at getting control over explored and prospective deposits is unfolding in different regions of the world. One of the promising areas with significant reserves of rare-earth metals is Central Asia. For this reason, in the last few years the USA, the EU, Great Britain and other countries have become increasingly interested in the region. The West is pursuing an active policy course towards Central Asian states. Such an approach is aimed not so much at developing the countries of the area as at expanding the presence of the West and reorienting the foreign policy course of the regional states towards the interests of non-regional actors. The ultimate goal of the Western states is to gain control over the deposits of rare-earth metals, which are located in Central Asia. The article covers the main directions of the policy the Western states apply in the region and underscores the mechanisms they use to promote their interests in gaining access to promising deposits of rare-earth metals. At the same time, the countries of the region generally welcome the Western policy, believing that it will attract additional investments into their economies. In turn, some influential and rich Western states along with companies they support exert pressure on Central Asian countries, seeking the most favorable conditions for themselves in the development of deposits and control over the resulting resources. The article concludes that Russia and China are competing with the Western states in Central Asia for getting access and gaining control over the deposits of rare-earth metals.

This article examines the role of stability of Niger uranium supply to France for the volume of electricity export to Europe, as well as the possible role of Russia in resolving the uranium deficit for nuclear power plants in France. France is considered one of the world’s largest producers and exporters of nuclear energy. For more than 50 years, one of the main suppliers of uranium to France has been its former colony, represented by Niger. Due to the events of 27 July 2023 in the Niger, there is a high risk of a complete cut in the supply of Niger uranium to France, which threatens the energy security not only of France, but of all its neighbors: Germany, the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and others. Also in this work, the statistical data on uranium shipments from other countries to France are analyzed, the possible risks associated with the changing political situation in the African region are predicted and various measures are presented, which could be taken to mitigate the impact of the disruption of uranium supplies from the Niger to France’s nuclear sector. 

The article studies the problem of energy policy of the EU. Issues of creation of conditions necessary for realization of declared goals are considered. The features of implementation of the tasks are highlighted. It is concluded that the energy policy of the EU countries has both a number of advantages and a number of difficulties, which can become a significant obstacle to the implementation of all announced projects. The formation of European Union energy policy in recent years has been strongly influenced by external factors, such as: the emergence and development of new technologies, climate change, EU countries’ dependence on energy imports and new policy decisions. Considerable attention is being paid to renewable energy (RES) technologies, which, according to the official EU strategy, will be used for the construction of a closed energy system. Renewable energies include marine renewable energy, “green” public procurement, solar panels, alternative fuels. However, these projects pose a number of challenges for European countries, such as the need to build new infrastructure and reform the tax system. The fulfilment of all the objectives of the “European Green Deal” also involves certain risks, for example, the loss of a significant number of jobs by heavy industry workers and the loss of competitiveness of certain branches of the economy. European energy policy undoubtedly influences the policy of the Russian Federation. The global trend on renewable energy directly concerns Russia and the countries of the post-Soviet space, because this region has a high potential in this industry. This is particularly true for renewable energy sources such as wind power and hydropower. The development of renewable energy sources is undoubtedly a very important process for world politics, because energy is one of the most important resources that nations possess. It is very important to take this into account when considering the world’s political strategies. 

The article is devoted to one of the important issues of the development of the political space, political system, political life, and ideological and cultural structure of modern Afghan society. The article attempts to analyze and discuss various aspects of the current state of the political culture of Afghanistan. The main attention is paid to the attitude of citizens to politics and the political regime of the Taliban (organization banned in Russia). Afghanistan’s current political culture is based on the models and values of the Taliban government. They rely on traditionalist political models. The implementation of modern political processes, such as elections, is not far from being able to question the power of representatives. It can be argued that political culture is the link between people and political power. The main task of political culture is to include people in the political system of society and political activities. Political culture is a system of political knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and values, as well as political activities of political subjects. For example, political culture manifests itself differently in different social groups and communities, political movements, and individuals. The study of the current state of the political culture of Afghanistan allows us to conclude that today the level of conflict is quite high, the mood of the Afghan society is at a disorganized level. A controversial political culture prevails in Afghan society. This conflict can be seen in social differences, institutional weakness, society’s distrust of functioning authority, and cultural differences. 

The article examines the consequences of the Western states’ sanctions pressure on Russia for the EAEU. Special attention is paid to the position of the EAEU members amid two crucial events in the Ukrainian crisis: the reunification of Crimea with Russia (2014) and the beginning of a special military operation (SMO) in Ukraine (2022). Measures aimed at minimizing the damage from anti-Russian sanctions on the economies of the EAEU countries are considered, such as: customs, customs tariff and non-tariff regulation, protective measures; internal market and cooperation; financial and currency markets; international economic cooperation with third countries and integration associations. The priorities of Russia’s chairmanship in the EAEU in 2023 are analyzed. The prerequisites for the further development of the EAEU as a self-sufficient integration center in Eurasia and the prospects of the EAEU amid a confrontation between Russia and the West are examined. Among the negative factors slowing down the development of the EAEU the following stand out: the orientation of some members to the third countries’ markets, the modest pace of modernization and increasing the competitiveness of the economies of the EAEU countries, the insufficient level of development of transport infrastructure and logistics, the concerns of the EAEU members (Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan) of «secondary» sanctions, the absence of a consolidated position within the union regarding Western sanctions, the violation of transactional payments as an outcome of Russia’s disconnection from international payment systems.