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A see-off ceremony for newly recruited soldiers is held on September 16, 2025, in Fuyang, China. (Getty Images)
Russia
Russia
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on November 9, 2014 in Beijing, China. (How Hwee Young - Pool/Getty Images)
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Syrian opposition members inspect the site of a suspected chlorine gas attack by Assad regime forces in Jobar region of Damascus, Syria on November 13, 2014. (Lokman Sair/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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US Secretary of States John Kerry (R) beside of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) after the International Syria Support Group (ISSG) meeting in Munich on February 12, 2016. (CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with US Secretary of State John Kerry during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 15, 2015. (SERGEI KARPUKHIN/AFP/Getty Images)
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Then-Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Russia's president Vladimir Putin give a press conference in Istanbul on December 3, 2012. (BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images)
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(D3Damon/Getty Images)
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US Vice President Joe Biden (L) gestures next to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a meeting at Yildiz Mabeyn Palace on January 23, 2016 in Istanbul. (SEDAT SUNA/AFP/Getty Images)
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A Russian biker shows a banner depicting Joseph Stalin and reading a WWII slogan 'For the Motherland! For Stalin!' in Moscow on April 25, 2015. (DMITRY SEREBRYAKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
Commentary
Commentary
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Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin during a congress of the ruling United Russia party in Moscow, on September 23, 2011. (NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA/AFP/Getty Images)
Experts
Luke Coffey
Senior Fellow, Center on Europe and Eurasia
Can Kasapoğlu
Senior Fellow (Nonresident)
Nate Sibley
Fellow and Director, Kleptocracy Initiative
Richard Weitz
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Political-Military Analysis
