Foreign Minister
Primakov served as foreign minister from January 1996 until September 1998. As foreign minister, he gained respect at home and abroad the reputation as a tough but pragmatic supporter of Russia's interests and as an opponent of NATO's expansion into the former Eastern bloc, though on 27 May 1997, after 5 months of negotiation with NATO Secretary general Javier Solana, Russia signed the Foundation Act, which is seen as marking the end of cold war hostilities.
He was also famously an advocate of multilateralism as an alternative to US global hegemony following the collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War. Primakov called for a Russian foreign policy based on low-cost mediation while expanding influence towards the Middle East and the former Soviet republics. This policy, known as the "Primakov doctrine", has ultimately failed. Another view is that though Primakov's rhetoric was anti-Western, he actually complied with Western wishes. Primakov has promoted Russia, China, and India as a "strategic triangle" to counterbalance the United States. The move was interpreted by some observers as an agreement to fight together against 'color revolutions' in Central Asia.
Read more about this topic: Yevgeny Primakov
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