From Diplomacy to Doxxing: Russia’s Week in the Spotlight

February 17th, 2025

Brogan Jones

In recent years, Russia has made the clear leap from just another leading global influence to a prominent threat to global peace and security. A massive testament to this is the Ukrainian War, which began when Russian troops invaded the country in February of 2022. The war has been tumultuous, sparking political disputes as well as producing casualties exceeding one million, as of last fall. Aside from the conflict, Russia has a long history of suppressing domestic political opposition, with President Vladimir Putin often being regarded as an anti-democracy dictator. Finally, Russia has also been notorious for influencing the political systems of other countries. This was particularly prevalent during the 2016 U.S. election, in which Russia was accused of manipulating media and even voting methods to favor Trump. Now, with Donald Trump–a longtime admirer and confidant of Vladimir Putin–back in the White House, Russia is already beginning to make progress in expanding their global influence and dominance.

A massive way in which Russia is expanding their influence is through dominating Ukrainian peace talks. Russian-American peace talks are set to take place in Saudi Arabia, revolving mainly around the future of the conflict in Ukraine. Despite being the main topic of discussion, representatives from Kyiv will not be present in the talks, a move that has seemingly upset Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who has stated that Ukraine would not accept any plan of action that was decided upon by America and Russia without Ukrainian approval or oversight.

Ukraine wasn’t the only prominent actor excluded from these discussions, however. U.S. officials have confirmed that no European nation will sit in on the peace talks, either. This is significant because all EU member states have jointly condemned Putin's actions in Ukraine. Both of these key exclusions benefit Vladimir Putin, who has remained seemingly uninterested in meaningful negotiations over Ukraine. Putin’s control over international discussions allows him to prevent any actor who might overtly oppose Russia’s interests in the region from having a seat at the table.

Aside from diplomacy, Russia is gaining key strides in their ability to suppress dissent, both domestically and internationally. Recently, in light of Trump's initiative to shut down USAID, the U.S. government agency that provides foreign aid to countries around the world, Russia has requested that the Trump administration hand over data regarding funding to Russian opposition groups. USAID had previously been providing funding to dissidents in Russia, with the main goal being to protect these groups and ensure that they could endure governmental pushback for criticism of Putin’s leadership. If Russia’s request is granted, this data will provide them with new ammunition and ability to track down and suppress any groups that oppose the government’s decisions.

In the midst of key strides from Russia, several international organizations are bolstering their readiness to respond to Russian actions. The G7 Rapid Response Mechanism said in regards to Russian manipulation of foreign information and media that G7 would continue to stand against malign activity and remain committed to countering these actions. As previously mentioned, the European Union is another organization that continues to stand against Russian malice. The EU has stated numerous times its condemnation of Russia's military aggression in Ukraine, as well as several other questionable Russian actions in recent years.

Newly-reinvigorated U.S. support from the Trump administration is giving Russia never-before-seen international influence. As Russia continues to shake up global politics through their bolstered influence, the response of multilateral organizations and activists will remain crucial.