The heart of Russia’s vast geography lies on the Asian continent, in the Siberian steppe that stretches from the Ural Mountains to the Pacific, and from the icy Arctic to Mongolia and Central Asia. It is there that the bulk of the oil, gas, and mineral treasures that sustain the Russian economy are found. Yet Russia has never fully been a great Asian power. Since Peter the Great founded the Russian Empire in the early 1700s, establishing a naval base in the Baltic and reshaping court life in St. Petersburg, its leaders have looked to Europe as a model and natural arena for international projection. That orientation reflects both elite impulses and practical constraints: a sparse population in Asian Russia, harsher climates, and the difficult geography that links vast regions.
The illegal invasion of Ukraine is changing everything. Western sanctions and isolation have pushed Russia toward the Global South in search of new partners to keep its economy and influence alive. Moscow benefits from a narrative of anti-colonialism and a defense of multipolarity, even as the territorial war in Ukraine and imperial rhetoric from its leaders render that narrative hollow. “Russia’s tilt toward the Global South, as well as toward the west, the south, and central Asia, is strategic and long-term,” said Alexander Dynkin, president of IMEMO, a leading Russian think tank. “For 300 years, starting with Peter the Great, Europe has been Russia’s model. But that era is ending.”
In this forward momentum, Moscow has found buyers and allies willing to ignore Western sanctions. Not only in the post-Soviet space. China and India are perhaps the most important, but also Iran, Turkey, and Gulf states. For some, the relationship is largely transactional; for others, it stems from rivalry with the West. Either way, Russia remains a supplier of assets the world needs: cheap oil and gas, grain, fertilizers, and sunflower oil, along with technical know-how for building nuclear plants or the umbrella of security offered by its paramilitary militias active mainly in Africa.
China replaces Europe
Asia has become Russia’s main market. Its relationship with China is now strategic and boundary-free, a level of cooperation not seen since the early Cold War years. The giant in the east has overtaken Europe as Moscow’s top commercial partner. In the past couple of years, trade between the two grew by about 61 percent. Beijing buys arms and oil; Moscow sells technology, vehicles, and consumer goods. Increasingly, transactions are settled in yuan with the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) functioning as a payment gateway, a system China designed as an alternative to SWIFT, a shift that should worry Washington.
Trade with India has also surged, quadrupling since 2021. Delhi is now Russia’s largest crude importer, a role Moscow hopes to expand with other regional players like Pakistan, with which it has reached a deal to export crude. Meanwhile, Rosatom, the state nuclear corporation, is building civil nuclear plants for use in India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, echoing its activity in China, Iran, and Egypt, a portfolio set to enlarge Moscow’s influence in those regions.
New trade routes
Evidence that Moscow intends to endure is seen in ambitious railway plans to better connect with southern Asia. The first line, reportedly set to begin construction this year, would link Russia to Iranian ports at the Persian Gulf and shorten the distance to India. A second route aims for Turkey, a country that has become a major buyer of Russian oil and a central hub for commercial aviation. Despite being a NATO member and condemning the Ukraine invasion, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has resisted sanctions and pursues a multivector policy that allows him to dine with both Putin and Biden without breaking the lines.
In the Persian Gulf, Moscow has important security deals, especially with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Their firms help Russia bypass Western price caps on oil. The Financial Times reported that they buy crude from Russia and resell it elsewhere in Africa, South America, or parts of Asia. More critical for Ukraine is the unprecedented level of cooperation with Iran, which has started selling drones, artillery, ammunition, and missiles to Moscow. A December agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, led by Russia, further cements ties.
Russia’s reach in Africa and beyond
Moscow is also deepening ties with Africa, where paramilitary forces have backed coups in Francophone regions, a move that alarms Europe as its influence fades. In South America, Russia has aligned with Brazil, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela as key partners. This broad strategy remains partly a work in progress, yet it has helped the autocracy survive Western punitive steps and escape isolation for now.