Russian foreign policy behavior towards the West is increasingly aggressive. The Russian war in eastern Ukraine and the escalated military build-up along the Ukrainian border, the unmasking of the GRU’s involvement in a 2014 fatal explosion in a Czech weapons depot and Kremlin’s interference in last year’s U.S. presidential elections. All are recent examples of Russia’s increasingly aggressive actions directed towards the West.
Simultaneously, Putin’s regime is tightening the repression of Russian citizens. As opposition leader Alexey Navalny struggles for his life in prison after being denied seeing an independent doctor, the authorities are cracking down on his supporters and the democracy movement at large.
These topics were discussed in a digital panel discussion hosted by the Stockholm Free World Forum on Friday. It is now available on both our Facebook and Youtube channel.
Click here to watch the panel discussion.
Participants:
Anders Åslund, senior fellow, Atlantic Council
Carolina Vendil Pallin, researcher, The Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI)
Kurt Volker, ambassador, US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations 2017 – 2019
Jakub Kalensky, senior fellow, Atlantic Council
The conversation was moderated by Gunnar Hökmark, chairman of SFWF, and Katarina Tracz, director of SFWF.