Russian foreign relations

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RUSSIA'S FOREIGN RELATIONS INCLUDE THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION'S RELATIONSHIP WITH DIFFERENT COUNTRIES.

FIRST - CENTURY JEWISH CHRISTIANS HAD TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO GIVE UP.

FOREIGN OR SOVIET-NORTH STATES

AZERBAIJAN

AZERBAIJAN WAS A REPUBLIC OF THE SOVIET UNION UNTIL 1991. AFTER THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION, AZERBAIJAN'S PRESIDENT IZZ MUTELLIBOV HAD CLOSE TIES WITH RUSSIA AND AZERBAIJAN DUE TO FOREIGN POLICIES. BUT ABULPHAAZ ELCHIBE BECAME THE PRESIDENT OF AZERBAIJAN AFTER FINDING OUT ARMENIANS, AND HE USED ANTI-RUSSIAN POLICY. IN 1993, HEIDAD ALI CAME TO POWER IN AZERBAIJAN AND ESTABLISHED A WARM RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA.

THERE ARE 5 MILLION AZERBAIJANIS LIVING IN RUSSIA, AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF RUSSIANS LIVING IN AZERBAIJAN. EVEN THOUGH THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE COUNTRY IS FRIENDLY AND CLOSE, THE NAGRONO-KABAKH VIOLENCE, RUSSIAN-RUSSIAN WAR AND THE LEGAL STATE OF THE SEA HAVE LED TO CONFLICT BETWEEN THE COUNTRY'S TWO COUNTRIES. AZERBAIJAN SUPPORTS RUSSIA IN THE CHECHEN CRISIS AND SHUTS DOWN THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE CHECHEN PRESIDENT ASLAN MASRDOV IN BAKU. ON THE OTHER HAND, RUSSIA WAS NEUTRAL AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NAGRONO-KURBAKH CONFLICT, BUT AFTER THE RUSSIAN ANTI-RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT CAME TO POWER, RUSSIA TOOK SIDES IN ARMENIA. IN ADDITION TO THE MEMORY OF THE BLACK JANUARY 1990 EVENTS, THERE HAS BEEN DOUBT ABOUT RUSSIA IN AZERBAIJANI SOCIETY ESPECIALLY AMONG NATIONALISTS. NEVERTHELESS, ACCORDING TO A 2007 SURVEY, 80 PERCENT OF AZERBAIJAN HAD A FRIENDLY RELATIONSHIP WITH RUSSIA. THE SUPPORT CAME AT 52% AFTER THE WAR WITH GEORGIA IN 2008.

RUSSIAN FEAR HAS NEVER BEEN ABLE TO INFLUENCE AZERBAIJAN, AND THE GOVERNMENT THERE IS DETERMINED TO PROTECT ETHNIC RUSSIANS LIVING IN AZERBAIJAN, BUT THERE IS AN ENEMY TO THE ARMENIANS, BOTH MARRIED OR OTHERWISE. ON THE OTHER HAND, ON THE OTHER HAND, THE AZERBAIJANIS ARE OFTEN SUBJECT TO DISCRIMINATION IN RUSSIA BECAUSE OF THE "COUSTIC FEAR" THAT EXISTS IN RUSSIA AFTER THE CHECHEN WAR, AS RUSSIANS CANNOT DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE AZERBAIJANIS AND THE REST OF THE CAUCASUS.

ABHAZIA

GEORGIA GAINED INDEPENDENCE FROM THE SOVIET UNION IN 1991. THE REPUBLIC OF ABKHAZIA, ONE OF GEORGIA, HAS STARTED A WAR FOR FREEDOM DUE TO FEAR OF THE OVERTHROW OF THE ABKHAZ IN A NEW STATE. RUSSIA SUPPORTS ABKHAZIA DURING THE CLASHES. RUSSIA RECOGNIZED ABKHAZI AS AN INDEPENDENT STATE AFTER THE DEFEAT OF GEORGIA DURING THE 2008 RUSSIAN WAR. CURRENTLY THERE IS A CLOSE ECONOMIC AND MILITARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RUSSIA AND ABKHAZIA. RUSSIA'S MILITARY BASE CURRENTLY EXISTS IN ABKHAZIA, AND THERE ARE ABOUT 4,500 RUSSIAN SOLDIERS OPERATING THERE.

ARMENIAN

ARMENIA WAS PART OF THE SOVIET UNION UNTIL 1991. SINCE THE FALL OF THE SOVIET UNION, THERE HAS BEEN CLOSE TIES BETWEEN ARMENIA AND RUSSIA. RUSSIA ACTIVELY CO-OPERATES ARMENIA DURING THE WAR OF 1988-1994. RUSSIA SUPPORTS THE RUSSIAN MOVE TO STRENGTHEN THE CIA. THE RUSSIAN RUSSIAN-LED MILITARY ALLIANCE IS PART OF CSTO AND THE JOINT CIA DEFENSE SYSTEM. ALMOST