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Bucket-wheel excavators mine rare earth materials on Ukrainian soil on February 25, 2025, in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov via 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
