Geopolitical factors in shaping Russia's approaches to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative

The Belt and Road Initiative, announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, has received very different, often conflicting and ambiguous expert assessments from the global community. Their nature depends on the current geopolitical situation in the world and the progress of the Belt and Road Initiative. The article reveals the Chinese view of how perceptions of this concept have changed in Russian political quarters, noting that attitudes to it are conditioned by the situation on the global economic and political scene; in particular, the escalation of conflict in Russian-Western relations and the intensity of the US and Eu anti-Russian sanctions have provoked an increased interest in Moscow to support the Chinese initiative, while the easing of tensions leads to a decrease in it. Currently, due to Russia's military operation in Ukraine, its relations with European countries and the United States are in a phase of active information and economic confrontation. Under such circumstances, China can no longer rely on using Russian territories to implement the provisions of its ideological initiative; it needs alternative ways of building transport corridors to Europe.