Roundtable with Dr. Thomas Gomart
Vice President for Strategic Development
and Director of the Russia/NIS Centre at Ifri
March 28, 2014

Dr. Thomas Gomart, Vice President for Strategic Development and Director of the Russia/NIS (Newly Independent States) Centre at Ifri (Institut Français des Relations Internationales) convened with GRF members and a group of Young Scholars at a Roundtable on March 28th. During his speech, Dr. Gomart gave an overview on Russia’s foreign and energy policies as well as its military relations. During his speech, Dr. Gomart stated that the Crimean crisis was a turning point as it was a rupture from the diplomatic approach of Russia. He also underlined that Russia-EU relations will remain pivotal in the long run and be based on mutual interdependence despite the recent developments. Following his speech in which Dr. Gomart defined energy as a vector of cooperation or conflict in Russia-EU relations,  he received a wide range of questions from GRF members.