Sergey Saenko, international observer

In Eurasia, a security system must be created on the basis of bilateral and multilateral agreements, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a June meeting with the leadership of the Russian Foreign Ministry. In this regard, the head of state instructed the domestic foreign policy agency to maximally facilitate international agreements on the formation of a new system of Eurasian security.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin emphasized that if a new security system is built in Eurasia, the presence of foreign military contingents in the region will be unnecessary. According to him, Western countries are trying to provide an ideological basis for the dismemberment of our country and “have taken a line on the absorption and military-political development of territories close to us”.

It is no coincidence that Vladimir Putin emphasized in this regard that the situation dictates the start of a broad discussion of a new system of collective security guarantees in Eurasia. Moreover, he specified that this is both about bilateral guarantees and with the participation of many countries. In the long term, the goal is to completely curtail the military presence of external powers in the Eurasian region. True, Putin himself, in his speech at a meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, admitted that this does not look very realistic at the moment, but it is still necessary to strive for this. For this reason, the head of state called for intensifying the dialogue between international organizations operating in Eurasia, primarily the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Union State of Russia and Belarus, with the prospect of involving other influential Eurasian associations.

According to the Russian President, the Greater Eurasian Partnership can become the socio-economic basis for a new security system on the Eurasian continent. It is no coincidence that in this regard, Vladimir Putin proposed establishing a dialogue with all potential participants in the new security system in Eurasia.

It is noteworthy that, speaking about the future Eurasian security system, the Russian President noted that it should be open to all countries in the region, including NATO member states. “For all” means, of course, for European and NATO countries, too,” the Russian leader specified.

It should be noted that, according to Putin, Russia is interested in the dialogue on creating an indivisible security system in Eurasia taking place within the UN. Moreover, international discussions on the parameters of interaction between states in a multipolar world are already underway. He also added that the world had a chance to build a reliable security system at the end of the last century. Russia was set on this, but the West thought differently, Putin said.

The fact that the issue of security on the Eurasian continent is important is also demonstrated by the fact that Vladimir Putin touched on this topic during his speech at the July SCO summit in Astana. At that time, he noted that one of the priority tasks in the activities of this organization was and remains maintaining security in the member states and along the perimeter of external borders. At that time, Putin recalled Russia’s proposal to create a new architecture of cooperation, indivisible security and development in Eurasia. According to him, it should replace the “obsolete Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models” that have led to crises around the world. It should be noted that the topic of security in Eurasia, which was touched upon by the head of state, was previously touched upon by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his speech in March at a meeting of the board of trustees of the A.M. Gorchakov Foundation. According to Lavrov, a new security system needs to be created in Eurasia against the backdrop of the degradation of Euro-Atlantic institutions, and Russia is focused on solving this problem. “At the regional level, in the context of the complete degradation of the OSCE as a Euro-Atlantic symbol, the task of forming a new architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia comes to the fore, which is intended to complement and strengthen the process of forming a large Eurasian partnership, which President Putin has mentioned more than once,” said the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

At the same time, Sergey Lavrov recalled that practical work on forming the foundations of a security system in Eurasia began back in October last year. “Russia took part in an international conference in Minsk, which was organized by the Belarusian chairmanship of the CSTO. And it was devoted specifically to the processes of formation and prospects for creating a Eurasian security system. The work continues at various venues,” the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized.

Speaking about the creation of a new security system in Eurasia, one cannot help but mention the role of China in this track. Thus, back in the spring of this year, Sergey Lavrov, following negotiations with the head of the PRC Foreign Ministry Wang Yi, said that Moscow and Beijing agreed to begin a dialogue on Eurasian security. “The task of forming Eurasian security suggests itself. President Putin mentioned this in his address to the Federal Assembly. And we agreed with our Chinese friends to begin a dialogue with the involvement of our other like-minded partners on this issue,” the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, in particular. At the same time, Lavrov noted that Russia and China are aimed at strengthening security in Eurasia.

The fact that Moscow and Beijing are ready to ensure security on the Eurasian continent not in words but in deeds was clearly demonstrated by the recent exercises of the Russian and Chinese naval ships “Maritime Interaction-2024” in the Philippine Sea. These exercises once again demonstrated the parties’ ability to jointly counter security threats in the Asia-Pacific region in the context of an ever-increasing confrontation with NATO. It seems that it is no coincidence that Russia and China are concerned about security in the Eurasian space. In recent years, a particularly tough geopolitical confrontation has been unfolding around Eurasia. The largest continent on the planet (accounting for 36% of the land area) contains the bulk of all the world’s natural resources, particularly in the Arctic and Siberia. Eurasia also has the most extensive network of continental transnational communications and developed technological potential. Let’s not forget that 3/4 of the planet’s population (more than 5 billion people) live here, representing five Eurasian civilizations (Hindu, Confucian, Islamic, Western Christian, Orthodox Slavic) out of a total of 7-8 world civilizations.

At the same time, today Eurasia accounts for about 80% of all international conflicts and local wars. For this reason, Russia, which occupies a large part of the Eurasian continent, is extremely interested in the security of this region. In this regard, it is no coincidence that in his February address to the Federal Assembly and at a June meeting with the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, President Vladimir Putin stated that Moscow is “ready for a substantive conversation with all interested countries and associations to create a new contour of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia in the foreseeable future.” Now it is up to other states that care about the fate of the Eurasian continent.