U.S. Actions Under Trump Challenge Russia's Approach to International Rules

Russian President Vladimir Putin has pursued a strategy of resisting what Russia calls a Western-dominated rules-based international order while seeking to maintain leverage within its institutions. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine represented the peak of a long turn toward revisionism, according to an article published by Foreign Affairs on May 7, 2026.

Since the end of the Cold War, Russia has sought to shape Europe's security architecture, influence smaller neighbors, and clash with the United States and Europe in multilateral bodies including the United Nations. Russian leaders have condemned the rules-based order as a tool to maintain U.S. hegemony.

The country positioned itself as promoting a multipolar world in which it could increase its global clout without being bound by restraints. The article states that Russia now finds itself in a position where the United States is behaving more like Russia.

The United States has withdrawn from dozens of UN agencies, stripped them of funding, and launched a rival body called the Board of Peace. Trump has also asserted a right to coerce smaller countries. While this alignment may appear advantageous on the surface, the article reports that in the long term it may harm Russian interests.

Strategy Relied on U.S.

The approach depended on Moscow freeing itself from rules while pressing Washington to remain bound by them. Russia has criticized legacy international institutions but relied on them for leverage. It has used its veto power on the UN Security Council to wield influence.

The article reports that Trump's actions now threaten to dilute that power. Russia has channeled resistance to U.S. primacy into disagreements over treaties and institutions. In a 2007 speech in Munich, Putin criticized the United States for showing disdain for international law and turning the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe into an instrument of foreign policy interests.

After the 2014 annexation of Crimea prompted Western sanctions, Russian diplomats increased clashes with Western counterparts in multilateral forums. These included disputes at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons over Syria's chemical weapons program.

Russia assembled supporters among nations discontented with Western dominance and disrupted the functioning of legacy institutions. At the same time, it pursued selective cooperation with like-minded countries. Its 2016 Foreign Policy Concept called for network diplomacy and flexible participation in multilateral mechanisms.

Starting in 2017, Russia joined Iran and Turkey in the Astana Process for Syria, which overshadowed the UN-led Geneva Process. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia promoted the expansion of the BRICS group. In 2024, it presided over hundreds of events as chair to integrate new members.

Russia has guarded its veto power on the UN Security Council. After the invasion of Ukraine, it initially coordinated with Western members on issues such as sanctions on Haitian gangs and aid to Afghanistan. As the Ukraine conflict became a war of attrition, it began using its veto to support allies in Mali, North Korea, and Syria.

In September 2024, Russian diplomats attempted to block adoption of the Pact for the Future at the UN General Assembly. The effort failed but complicated the negotiation process.

The article reports that Putin has had to observe as the Trump administration used U.S. military force against Iran and Venezuela, two partners of Russia. At the same time, the U.S.-Israeli actions against Iran have allowed Russia to gain billions in extra oil revenues.

Russia may hope that U.S. involvement in multiple foreign policy actions weakens American global standing over time. The article states it is far from certain that Putin can capitalize on this approach in a lasting way. The more likely outcome according to the article is that Russia's global power projection, already reduced by the war in Ukraine, will erode further.