section_path: Government and politics/Foreign relations
section_name: Foreign relations
paragraph_text: Foreign relations
  
  Russia had the world's fifth-largest diplomatic network in 2019. It maintains diplomatic relations with 190 United Nations member states, four partially-recognised states, and three United Nations observer states; along with 144 embassies. Russia is one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The country is generally considered a great power, though its status as a modern great power has been questioned following the struggles it has faced while invading Ukraine starting in 2022. Russia is also a former superpower as the leading constituent of the former Soviet Union. Russia is a member of the G20, the OSCE, and the APEC. Russia also takes a leading role in organisations such as the CIS, the EAEU, the CSTO, the SCO, and BRICS.
  
  Russia maintains close relations with neighbouring Belarus, which is a part of the Union State, a supranational confederation of the two states. Serbia has been a historically close ally of Russia, as both countries share a strong mutual cultural, ethnic, and religious affinity. India is the largest customer of Russian military equipment, and the two countries share a strong strategic and diplomatic relationship since the Soviet era. Russia wields influence across the geopolitically important South Caucasus and Central Asia; and the two regions have been described as Russia's "backyard".
  
  In the 21st century, Russia has pursued an aggressive foreign policy aimed at securing regional dominance and international influence, as well as increasing domestic support for the government. Military intervention in the post-Soviet states include a war with Georgia in 2008 and a war with Ukraine beginning in 2014. Russia has also sought to increase its influence in the Middle East, most significantly through military intervention in the Syrian civil war. Cyberwarfare and airspace violations, along with electoral interference, have been used to increase perceptions of Russian power. Russia's relations with neighbouring Ukraine and the Western world—especially the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and NATO —have collapsed; especially since the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the beginning of a full-scale invasion in 2022. Relations between Russia and China have significantly strengthened bilaterally and economically; due to shared political interests. Turkey and Russia share a complex strategic, energy, and defence relationship. Russia maintains cordial relations with Iran, as it is a strategic and economic ally. Russia has also increasingly pushed to expand its influence across the Arctic, Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, two-thirds of the world's population live in countries such as China or India that are neutral or leaning towards Russia.