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Analyst says wording of Russia’s new foreign policy concept gets 'tougher and tougher'

There is a certain stylistic dissonance between the wording of the concept and President Vladimir Putin’s latest statements, including his message to the Federal Assembly, the expert notes

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/. The wording of Russia’s updated foreign policy concept, which President Vladimir Putin approved on November 30, has become tougher in contrast with its previous version, the general director of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrey Kortunov, told TASS.

"The wording of the concept is harsher than the 2013 version," he said. "The new concept has special clauses concerning Syria. Before there were none. The prospects of our relations with the European Union are described in more reserved terms. And Ukraine is absent from the list of priorities of Russia’s foreign policy altogether."

"One has the impression, at least in that concerns the United States, that the concept reflects our understanding and our disappointment over the outgoing Obama Administration," Kortunov said. "At the same time it is clear that it can say very little about a future US Administration of President-elect Donald Trump. Possibly, the same applies not just to the United States."

"Although the document does reflect the changes that international relations have seen over the past three years, possibly it does not fully incorporate the ongoing changes we are witnesses to these days," Kortunov said.

"There is a certain stylistic dissonance between the wording of the concept and President Vladimir Putin’s latest statements, including his message to the Federal Assembly. The concept reflects the overall dynamics that we’ve observed over the past three years and the stance of the basic government institutions. To a smaller extent it reflects the latest changes in the United States, Europe and other parts of the world.".