Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin was predicted to increase his influence abroad in 2021. This assessment was made by Ann Simmons, head of the Moscow bureau of The Wall Street Journal.
In her opinion, this year the Russian authorities have taken a number of steps that are likely to enable them to strengthen Moscow's role in other countries. Among them – mediation in the settlement of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, the development of the first Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus and its supply to other countries, as well as providing support to the Belarusian authorities against the backdrop of mass protests that began after the presidential elections.
In this regard, for example, the authorities of Armenia and Azerbaijan will treat Russia more respectfully. “They depend on Putin at least to prevent fighting in the South Caucasus,” the article says.
Simmons also believes that under the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden, tensions between Moscow and Western countries will continue. And the Russian authorities in any case will try to protect themselves from external threats, she said.
In another publication, The Wall Street Journal, on December 23, senior fellow at the Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, Catherine Stoner, urged Biden to work with and oppose Russia at the same time. One of the areas of possible cooperation, the author of the article called the extension of the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START, unofficial name – START-3), which ends in February 2021.
