Valdai Club

All of Russia’s problems associated with the post-Soviet countries are rooted in the “civilizational divorce,” or more precisely semi-divorce. The accustomed format of Russia-Belarus relations represents a dead end. It would seem that both Minsk and Moscow have an interest in Belarus continuing its drift from the former mother country, as this is the only hope for them to get rid of the backlog of old contradictions and start a more rational dialogue.

In late February, in Moscow, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted the 5th meeting of the Valdai Middle East dialogue, «The Middle East: From Violence to Security». This paper gives the summary of the discussions and conclusions reached by its participants.