Dragan Trailović

Serbia and Russia are countries that share a long and complex history of political, economic, and cultural ties. Their relations became even more intricate following the outbreak of the crisis in Ukraine, leading to various implications for broader international relations and, consequently, for the relations between the two states. The confrontation between Russia and the West has presented new challenges for Serbia's foreign policy, placing it at the crossroads between the strategic goal of joining the EU and its traditional friendship with Russia. This article aims to analyze the situation and present the relations between Serbia and Russia during the crisis in Ukraine. The paper will examine the primary areas of cooperation between the two countries, with a particular focus on their political and economic relations during this period. The paper relies on a range of sources, including official statements and documents, media reports, academic studies, and public opinion surveys.

The paper deals with the new diplomatic platforms of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America for cooperation with the Central Asian Republics in the “5+1” format. These two formats of cooperation are seen in the context of intra-regional changes in the political structure of Central Asia, primarily changes related to the transition of power in the Central Asian republics and the launch of consultative meetings of Central Asian leaders with the aim of improving regional integration. As an analytical framework, we use the group of literature that looks at international relations and processes in this region through the lens of the English School of International Relations, especially relying on the concept of “international society”. We rely on the claim that the Central Asian states themselves have a significant influence on the processes in the political and economic structure of the region, just as the great geopolitical players have. The aim of the paper is to present a part of the new geopolitical dynamics in the region, taking into account the regional foreign policy context and its changes, using the diplomatic platforms “China+5” and “C5+1” as representative examples. The main conclusions are that through the diplomatic platform “5+1” the People's Republic of China is introducing a political component in its relations with Central Asia with a new approach to the region as an integral whole, while the United States seeks to use the “C5+1” diplomatic platform to achieve Afghanistan's integration into the region of Central Asia, as well as to counterbalance Chinese and Russian influence and strengthen its position in the region.

The cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia within the existing comprehensive strategic partnership over the past few years, in addition to the existing fields of partnership relations, has expanded to include military and security cooperation. This cooperation takes place in two parts of the national security system of the Republic of Serbia, namely in the military domain and in the domain of public security and police cooperation. It involves strengthening of military cooperation through China's entry into the defense market (selling military equipment like drones) and maintaining joint military exercises, as well as the introduction of new technologies into the security field (face recognition technology) and joint police patrols in Serbian cities. This may indicate that China is seeking to enter defense markets of Europe and to take on a new role as a security actor, on the one hand, as well it may also indicate China's need to protect its investments and projects along the new Silk Road, on the other. On this basis, the main aim of the paper is to present the forms of realized and agreed cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Serbia in these areas, as an indicator of possible forms of cooperation between China and other European countries.