Russian Perception of Chinese Policy Towards Moscow Since the Ukrainian Crisis

ABSTRACT The present paper explores the expectations of the Russian Federation from People’s Republic of China in the process of “Russia’s pivot to Asia” and subsequent investigation of how the perception of the policy of the People’s Republic of China in relation to the Russian Federation changed in Russia between 2014 and 2016. This research addressed the following hypothesis: Russia’s ambitions of greater involvement with China in the field of energy, finance and technology have failed to meet its expectations because of ruble volatility, sanctions, political instability and the economic crisis in Russia. In particular, the author of the present paper has adopted descriptive research design as the main research method. In addition, the comparative research method will be used in order to contrast the expectations of Russia from China in the process of turning to Asia. The results show that there was no active involvement of China in Russian energy, financial and technological sectors since the Ukraine crisis as Moscow was expected. China could not replace Western capital markets in a full scale as it was planned and Chinese engagement with respect to advanced drilling equipment was very confined. Keywords: expectations, perception, Russia’s “pivot to Asia”, China, descriptive, comparative, energy, financial, technology, sanctions, Ukraine crisis, political instability.