Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Today to a great extent the future of the world system depends on how Russia, Europe and the US will accommodate their policy. This is a crucial goal to be achieved if we want to maintain international security and to avoid further confrontation.

As a starting point it is advisable to look at how Western approaches to Russia have been viewed in Russia. First, in the West there is a judgment that as the Soviet Union was the loser in the Cold War so Russia's interests can be disregarded. This is the trend that did not begin today but can be traced back in the 1990s.

Second, all integration processes in Europe and Asia supported by Russia are considered as an attempt to revive the Soviet Union so they should be resisted. This was a clear message that was sent by former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton at the OSCE ministers' meeting in Dublin in 2012.

Third, the West strives to keep its domination in the world hampering the evolution of a multi-polar world. That is the reason why NATO does not want to establish official ties with the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and why Western institutions and countries keep BRICS at bay. These approaches are counterproductive and should be reconsidered.

Today there is potential for both conflict and cooperation in relations among Europe, Russia and the US. It is advisable to look back at the Cold War era as that experience may be useful now. The basic principle of détente was to focus more on what united opposing sides rather than what divided them. In order to move toward cooperation it is necessary to make up a positive agenda.

A lot of wrong and harmful things for our security have already been done and they should be corrected. First of all, it is necessary to stop the demonization of each other. The US prominent policymaker Henry Kissinger was right saying, "For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one." So it is advisable to work out policy based on common goals and approaches.

To my view there should be a balanced approach which could lay down a good basis for our possible cooperation. What items can be included in the positive agenda?

Russia does not strive for separation but for harmonization or unification of integration processes. This is the principle that we are guided by now as we begin to work on linking the Eurasian Economic Union with the Chinese project of "One Belt, One Road." The same goes for possible harmonization of integration processes in Europe and Asia. In this respect the Shanghai Organization of Cooperation and BRICS can be useful.

Russia and the West have common threats. The major threat to Russia and Europe comes from the south. These threats are the Islamic State terrorist group, radical extremism and waves of illegal migration. Our urgent task is to stabilize the situation in the Middle East and this goal can hardly be achieved without Russia. Our joint work should be aimed at uniting our efforts to fight terrorism, coordinating our activity and avoiding conflicts among us.

Our cooperation in nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction is vital. Russia and the US came out with the initiative which was transformed into The Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, co-chaired by Russia and the US. Today it is an international partnership of 86 nations and five official observers that have endorsed a set of core nuclear security principles. Operation Active Endeavour, and Syria's chemical disarmament are good examples of such cooperation. 

We should not stop our partnership even if we disagree in some areas. Unfortunately, the Russian-US bilateral presidential commission does not work, which does not help our cooperation. NATO severed joint work with Russia in such crucial areas as cooperation on Afghanistan, fighting terrorism, non-proliferation, fighting drug trafficking and so on.

Who wins after cessation of this cooperation? Neither Russia nor the West does. Terrorists do not impose sanctions on each other. They unite their efforts to commit crimes against us.

Today the major goal of Western policy is to punish Russia and the main tool is sanctions. If the only tool you have in your toolbox is a hammer all problems start looking like nails. One of the biggest challenges that we face in our relations today is the split between Russia and the West and we should do our best to bridge it.

The author is vice-rector of research at the Moscow-based Diplomatic Academy. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn