Russia Highlights Key Foreign Policy Outcomes of 2025
Russia said 2025 marked a pivotal year for its foreign policy, highlighting steps it says strengthened a multipolar world order grounded in international law and cooperation, while defending what it described as its core national interests.
Moscow said its external focus remained centered on the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the broader Eurasian region. The year also coincided with the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in World War II, which Russia used to reaffirm, alongside partner countries, its commitment to the post-war international system based on the principles of the UN Charter.
Within the CIS, 2025 was declared the Year of Peace and Unity in the Fight against Nazism. At Russia’s initiative, the UN General Assembly held a special session in May at its New York headquarters to commemorate World War II victims. In December, the Assembly adopted an annual resolution opposing the glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism, co-sponsored by 44 countries.
Russia said ties with China were significantly strengthened through high-level diplomacy between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, including reciprocal visits to Moscow in May and Beijing in September, further boosting their comprehensive strategic partnership.
Relations with the United States also saw renewed engagement after a new US administration took office in January. Moscow said top-level political dialogue was restored, culminating in a Russia-US summit in Anchorage on August 15. According to Russia, the talks produced understandings that could serve as a basis for resolving the Ukraine conflict by addressing what it called its root causes, including NATO expansion and the treatment of Russian-speaking populations.
Russia also reported a deepening of relations with North Korea, saying cooperation under a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty included allied assistance in restoring stability in Russia’s Kursk region. Ties with Iran entered a new phase with the signing of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Treaty in January, which entered into force in October.
Moscow said it made progress in advancing Eurasian integration and strengthening the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Within the bloc, members identified priorities for collective security, enhanced the readiness of joint forces, and approved an anti-narcotics strategy through 2030.
At the United Nations, Russia and its partners in the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter led efforts that resulted in the General Assembly proclaiming December 14 as the International Day for the Elimination of Colonialism in All Its Forms and December 4 as the International Day for Combating Unilateral Coercive Measures.
Domestically and internationally, Russia said it took steps to protect Orthodox Christianity and other traditional religions, creating what it described as favorable conditions for foreign nationals to resettle in Russia under a presidential humanitarian support order. The government also said it intensified efforts to counter what it called misinformation about Russia in foreign media, including through cooperation within the International Fact-Checking Network.
Russia concluded that its firm stance toward countries it accuses of hostile actions led them to acknowledge, in Moscow’s view, the impossibility of delivering a “strategic defeat” to Russia on the battlefield and contributed to calls for an immediate halt to hostilities in Ukraine.
