Just over 40 years ago, in July 1986, Mikhail Gorbachev traveled to Vladivostok and announced something that would reshape Russian foreign policy for decades to come. For the first time, the Soviet leadership publicly declared its intention to rebuild relations with China and deepen cooperation with Asia, while it also signaled a desire to repair the bitter split with Beijing that had defined much of the previous two decades.
That marked the beginning of a gradual but lasting shift, and under Vladimir Putin, particularly from the late 2000s onward, it evolved into what became known as Russia’s pivot to the East. Its value became unmistakable after 2022, as relations with...
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