NEW YORK, July 22. /TASS/. Russia will not abandon its position in the confrontation with the West in the Ukrainian conflict, which is facilitated by the failure of attempts to isolate it and its large-scale support for non-Western nations, Hanna Notte, director of the Eurasia Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in California, said in a column she contributed to The New York Times.
"Many expected Russia to turn into a bete noire. But it soon dawned on Russia’s adversaries that the country wasn’t going anywhere," she said, adding that since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, Moscow has gained support from non-Western countries that have refused to make "a binary choice between Russia and the West."
"Russia soon became something curious: the most sanctioned country in the world, yet more than able to stay afloat. Estrangement from Europe was offset by ever closer relations with the global south," she added.
According to her, conversations with representatives of many countries confirm her belief that the West's position does not enjoy a widespread support. "No matter what the West does, Russia will not yield," the expert said.