In June 2021, the Russia-United States summit witnessed the first in-person meeting between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin to ease the mounting tensions between Washington and Moscow. Even though both presidents expressed cautious optimism about the future trajectory of U.S.-Russia affairs, what followed was anything but positive. In 2021, tensions between Moscow and Washington reached an all-time high, when Russia repeatedly accused the United States and NATO of providing military assistance to Ukraine and nudging the country closer to NATO and the European Union.
As the conflict escalated, Washington and its allies expressed concerns regarding Russia’s nuclear arsenal and political ambitions. This pushed Western officials to impose sanctions on Russia and provide support to the Ukrainian military. In light of this continuing support, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused NATO of waging a “proxy” war against Russia by supporting Ukraine. In its turn, Moscow continued to solidify its partnerships with key powers in the Middle East and to deepen its political and economic ties with China. This has created tensions that will lead to serious geopolitical rivalry between the great powers.
To examine the trajectory of U.S.-Russia tensions in light of the conflict in Ukraine and their wide-ranging repercussions and future implications, the Malcolm H. Kerr – Carnegie Middle East Center invites you to a public panel discussion on Wednesday, July 13 from 15:00 till 16:15 Beirut time with Alexander Baunov, Anna Ohanyan and Andrew Weiss.
The discussion will be in English and moderated by Maha Yahya. Viewers may submit their questions for the panelists using the live chat feature on Facebook and YouTube during the event. For more information, please contact Josiane Matar at Josiane.matar@carnegie-mec.org.
This event is part of 3-panel series to explore Middle Eastern, European, and international developments in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and assess the consequences of this conflict on the global geopolitical, economic, and security architecture.
