RAINER SAKS: Russia’s Abrupt Arctic Statement and a Possible Shift in US Tactics Toward the Kremlin

Russia’s foreign minister made what security expert Rainer Saks describes as an entirely unexpected statement about NATO and the Arctic. Saks also argues that the United States appears to have changed, or may be changing, its tactical approach to diplomatic communication with Moscow.

Saks links his assessment to developments surrounding a brief meeting between the presidents of Russia and China in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, during a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

A spokesperson for the Russian president sought to present the meeting as focused on bilateral relations between Russia and China, with Ukraine discussed only briefly. Saks writes that meetings with China’s president give Russia’s president a degree of diplomatic visibility at the highest international level.