Ex-ambassador of Russia to the UK talked on the pandemic's consequences and said how to deal with them.
Alexander Yakovenko, Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, predicted a global economic recession coming in once the coronavirus pandemic is over. His article is available for reading on the Academy's website.
According to Yakovenko, the world has been going through the transformation and change phase.
"A crucial, even paramount, factor has become evident now: this is the dramatic strengthening of the role of Russia, China, India - in short, the leading 'non-Western' players - in the international arena," says Yakovenko in the article.
He notes that global political decision-makers bent all the efforts into fighting the pandemic, which let most countries temporarily forget about the post-USSR or post-Cold-War conflicts.
The paper also says that the EU is currently experiencing a societal division.
"Based on the state of the EU, one can deduce that even on our continent intercultural, linguistic or any other differences are becoming more important than factors which unite the countries. And this is the main reason for the EU crisis. Such phenomena as Brexit and Trump as a president indicate the Western world is divided, which - under new conditions and without the threat of a new war - revives the old antagonism at the level of worldview and political culture that led to the two world wars," notes Yakovenko.
He also emphasises that Russia, Western countries, and China have been facing new 'common threats' that help them stay more united and maintain solidarity.
As per Yakovenko, now is a unique time for uniting European and Asian states under the new terms since the countries agree that a joint 'development agenda' in economics, security and energy sectors is required. With its vast resource potential and unique geography, the Russian Federation will play a significant role in this process.
