Russia’s former Foreign Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, advocated consistently for the emerging political governance and new economic architecture, ultimately replacing the ‘rules-based order’ that has been traditionally perpetuated by the Western and European countries, marginalizing the Global South. Today, that complex interplay in relations between the industrialized countries in the northern hemisphere is steadily experiencing significant changes, basically headed by China and Russia, in the new political dimension, on the principles for uplight the Global South’s position unto the higher stage. This was one of the prominent themes reviewed and thoroughly discussed at the 12th Primakov Readings conference, which kicked off in Moscow on June 24.
On trends in global affairs
Under the title World Without Rules: A Power Game?, the conference was addressed by academic experts and high-profile politicians. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the leading speaker, highlighted global trends, underscored carefully what happens next, and discussed multiple perspectives of evolutionary processes. At the same time, Lavrov’s remarks sternly suggested that countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America have strongly indicated their preparedness for such a change and fight for their integrative positions in multilateral organizations and institutions. In addition, what is currently an essential factor is only to reaffirm the collective new position, a recognizable constructive agenda for the Global Majority in the 21st century.
As a matter of fact, a group of Global South countries have been demonstrating so much anxiety acting against ‘the system of written and unwritten international norms, rules, and regulations,’ which had been used and had taken shape over the past several decades. On these above-mentioned issues, Moscow and Beijing are seemingly principled, like-minded partners in this direction. There are also economic indicators across the collective West, pointing to a tendency of stagnation in the coming years compared to the Global South. In the west, its economic growth rates lag behind those of the Global South. The demographic situation is in a worse condition than that in the Global South. And these indicators of economic development are tending, at best, toward stagnation, at least over the next decade.
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According to official reports, for instance, the consensus-driven approach of Russia and China towards the emerging world order was articulated by the leaders in the Joint Declaration on the Formation of a Multipolar World and a New Type of International Relations. This document was adopted on May 20, 2026, during the visit by President Vladimir Putin to the People’s Republic of China. In this flagship document, Moscow and Beijing have succeeded in ushering in a new dawn in the formulation of the prospective parameters of the world order for the 21st century.
The fundamental ideas set forth in the Declaration are constructive in nature. They are capable of making an important doctrinal and practical contribution to the transformation of international institutions and the progressive development of international law. It is, however, anticipated that the Declaration on a multipolar world, which may be regarded as a joint global initiative of Russia and China, will elicit a positive response and garner support from the entire international community.
On NATO and Russia’s Regional Security
In his speech, Lavrov reiterated Russia’s security position and reminded his listeners of the aspirations for eastward expansion by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). According to Lavrov, this expansion has serious security implications. He reminded us that “NATO emphatically refuses to honor its verbal (as they say) commitments given to the leadership of the Soviet Union and new Russia, as well as written legal and political obligations. This implies written, rather than verbal, obligations, signed by the top leaders of Western countries together with Russia at OSCE summits.
First of all, NATO flatly rejects the principle of equal and indivisible security. According to this principle, formalised by the above-mentioned documents, security is indivisible, and no one has the right to strengthen their security by infringing upon the security of others. No country, group of countries, or organization can claim the right to dominate Euro-Atlantic space. Lavrov stated clearly that there was no need to explain to everyone in the conference room the fact that NATO continues expanding its domination.
For many years, Russia has contended with the Atlantic community’s irresponsible course of geopolitical expansion eastward, right up to Russia’s borders. Simply put, this has increasingly been the most aggressive and offensive approach toward Russia’s sovereignty. Furthermore, the simple truth must be recognized, and on top must be practically condemned NATO’s dangerous efforts to achieve global military and military-technological superiority or its aggressive expansion of influence across Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific region.
Europe’s Latest Economic Sanctions
As already known, the European Union has imposed its latest sanctions on Russia. It has rightly to be noted that this has turned into a conveyor belt-like process. It was described that the latest sanctions, as adopted on June 15, 2026, are illegitimate and illegal, or it can conveniently be said that the conveyor keeps grinding on without coming to a halt. This time, sanctions consisted of restrictions targeting specific individuals and legal entities, as well as several foreign companies. For some reason, they fail to realize that they are hurting both themselves—they are the primary victims—and the entire world.
All the speculation that they care for the world’s destinies, food, and energy security—all these perorations come up against these sanctions. They now impose them not only against Russians, Russia, and Russian companies but also against representatives from other countries.
In doing so, they keep expanding, deepening these measures and coming up with something new all the time. That said, while trying to come up with ways to have more of these sanctions, they have been struggling to find a way to make them more effective so that they have a bearing on those who are targeted by these sanctions. Therefore, this policy becomes increasingly absurd with every new decision to impose sanctions reflecting its unsightly, darker side. In return, Russia will offer an effective response and will be firm in doing so.
Assessing the latest G7 summit
Speakers at the 12th Primakov Readings conference were compelled to follow the developments from the G7 summit held in June, which also gave rise to many logical questions. The entire content of the G7 summit statement on geopolitical issues raised multiple questions. The speakers at the Primakov conference viewed the new trends and directions at the G7 by its discussions and rhetoric highly saturated with anti-Russian sentiments. Frankly, the Russia-Ukraine crisis; the indispensable attempts to achieve peace; the model approach to the settlement of the crisis; and their collective position on the expansion of joint military-industrial potential with Ukraine.
As it has done for years, the G7 has committed itself to ratcheting up sanctions pressure on the Russian economy. A relatively new level of cynicism and even political opportunism can be seen in the direct reference to an agreement reached by US President Donald Trump, which is designed, among other things, to open the Strait of Hormuz for maritime navigation. Allegedly, this creates an opportunity for adopting additional anti-Russian measures. The only obvious conclusion is this group has confirmed its long-standing role as a headquarters for approving decisions made by the collective West designed to contain Russia and, apparently, to inflict a strategic defeat on the country, Russia, and its people.
Nevertheless, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said on multiple occasions, “What purpose do the sanctions serve if, considering that it is the 21st package, then they have failed to deliver the expected results?” Understandably, the EU’s sanctions policy against Russia has failed to achieve its objectives. On the other side of it, this is not a coincidence but a perfect illustration of the fact that the European Union could not avoid the consequences of rejecting economic and energy cooperation with Russia. Surging energy prices plunged entire sectors of EU manufacturing into crisis, including the chemical, steel, and car industries. European companies are losing out to their competitors in China and the United States and are set to lose even more ground in the future.
Axis of Russia, India, and China (RIC) and BRICS
Since 2009, the historical formation of Russia, India, and China (RIC) has shared a notably privileged partnership. China and India, both the world’s most populous Asian countries, have the fastest-growing economies and are brimming with technological potential across all sectors. The close relationship is further reinforced by the joint participation in various international organizations. Both highly combined value in the partnership of the BRICS+ association, for instance, and dedication to enhancing multifaceted cooperation and exploring new horizons in the emerging multipolar world.
Multipolarity will never push the world into chaos and confrontation, as its critics claim, but will rather help balance interests on the basis of international law, one essential thought maintained by Lavrov while talking to the participating audience at Primakov Readings. A relevant example is relations between Russia and China, or more precisely, their comprehensive partnership and strategic interaction. These relations can serve as a model of equal mutually beneficial cooperation between major powers. Foreign policy ties between Moscow and Beijing are a major factor of international stability and a model for a safe and just future. The contours of this model have been outlined in many documents adopted at Russian-Chinese summits.
Worth saying a few words about the relations with India, which have been defined as a special and privileged strategic partnership. They have a long history as well. Both continue to comprehensively develop them while trying to stimulate the trilateral RIC—Russia, India, and China—group. That format was shaped about 30 years ago at the initiative of Yevgeny Primakov and formed the core of the BRICS+ association. The number of full members has increased from five to ten. Now, the partner countries attend these events, which is creating grounds for giving BRICS a more universal dimension. By its principle at present, the annual agenda is determined by the rotating presidency of BRICS. However, practice shows that every successive presiding country strives to ensure continuity. For example, during India’s presidency, Russia has been actively working to implement the initiatives, which it presented during the Kazan summit in autumn 2026.
Furthermore, BRICS and the SCO provide a convincing example of the principles of sovereign equality and mutually beneficial cooperation in a multilateral format. Their philosophy resonates with all states that pursue an independent foreign policy and promote primarily their national interests. BRICS and the SCO are interesting for everyone who rejects the “leader-follower” concept underlying the West-centric unions and mechanisms. In these associations, cooperation is based on mutual respect and readiness to search for consensus solutions even when this is a challenging task. These things happen, and quite often. But the solutions, eventually, found are guaranteed to serve common interests. That is why the number of countries willing to join the operations of BRICS+ and the SCO keeps growing, namely, in Central and Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
It is significant and interesting to note here that BRICS+ and Eurasia Union are playing parts in the new global architecture, as both have common interests in the structural arrangement within the emerging architecture involving the Global South. The Eurasian character should be given a place in global affairs. Eurasia, although the biggest continent, is the only part of the world. That has many regional and subregional structures, but not a single continental organization. In the related case, Africa and Latin America have many integration associations. But they also have continental organizations—the African Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The initiatives advanced by President Vladimir Putin are not closed to any country or organization in Eurasia that is ready to diligently work on the foundations of common prosperity and stability. Therefore, it will be delighted if participants in the Primakov Readings contribute to this process, primarily in the promotion of the intellectual aspects of these initiatives.
As President Putin said during the ceremony for presenting letters of credence at the Kremlin, in January 2026, “Peace does not come by itself. It must be built, day-by-day.” Therefore, the task of both classical and scientific diplomacy is to find well-calibrated approaches to contemporary challenges, through painstaking daily work, in the emerging multipolar world.
Yevgeny Primakov and His Political Thoughts
Yevgeny Primakov was an outstanding personality, rich in creative heritage and contemporary policy ideas. He served as Prime Minister from 1998 to 1999. During his political career, he earlier on served (from 1996 to 1998) as the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Russian Federation. Life itself subsequently proved him right, overturning the shallow views of the advocates of “the end of history” who rejected any alternative to the ultra-liberal development mode.
Yevgeny Primakov wrote in an article he wrote 30 years ago, titled “International Relations on the Eve of the 21st Century: Issues and Prospects. No single country can stand alone against the legion of problems.” The United States, and the west in general, have not been ready to accept the objective reality of an emerging multipolar world order. The current situation has a peculiar feature. They prefer propping up their weakening positions by forcing others to side with them, imposing sanctions, enacting bans, issuing threats, and taking other illegitimate measures to force the global majority to play their game.
By the way, Primakov not only forecast and formulated the imminent advance of multipolarity in the middle of the 1990s, when the West anticipated an era of its global domination, but also started steering Russia’s foreign policy ship in the direction of the rising, more just polycentric world order. Now, it is noticeable that the potential of new powerhouses is rising in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The world will definitely change; this is an irreversible evolutionary process creating the foundation for future system, and for a new political and economic architecture. The Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the initiator of Primakov Readings, marked its 70th anniversary in April 2026.
