Breakfast Session under the Chatham House Rule

Through the Back Door: Russia Between Isolation and Globalisation

May 16, 08:30-09:45

Room: Copenhagen

Russia is neither as isolated as it seems nor as globally influential as it wants to be. In response to measures the west has imposed—from sanctions to expulsions—Moscow has reconfigured its external engagement. The Kremlin now operates through informal instruments of power, arms cooperation, transnational networks, sabotage, and corruption. What are the aims and inner logic of its strategy, if indeed there is one beyond opportunistic tactics? How can we guard against Russian malign activities? At a time when Russia’s readmission to international diplomatic, cultural, and sporting fora is no longer hypothetical, who decides when and on what terms the isolation ends?