ABSTRACT
The affirmation that live in a rapidly changing world in the early decades of the 21st century has become an overused cliché. However, simply because the statement has become a cliché, it has ceased to be relevant. In this regard, it is impossible to confine ourselves to a cursory mention of several, albeit the most striking, episodes. In many cases, these mechanisms remain in place even after the end of the Cold War. In addition, the physical presence of many thousands of Russians in the region shows that the considerable distances that served as a barrier for expanding relations in the past no longer constitute such an insurmountable obstacle. The global epidemic of COVID-19 has suspended, for a while, the changes that have begun, but soon the players will return designing new rules of the game, and the world will face a new future sooner than it seems.
