Russia's foreign policy towards countries receiving aid in the Covid-19 crisis; Opportunities and Challenges

Given the threat posed to the international community by the outbreak of the coronavirus, the approach of some countries and how they have dealt with this global crisis is remarkable. In particular, the role of national interests and perhaps their global goals in their smart policies in such critical situations is not negligible. During this crisis, the study of Russia is a good case study. Although Russia like other countries, is affected by the consequences of this global crisis, but because Russia has focused primarily on reviving its global image through public diplomacy, its role in countering the coronavirus is also different from that of most of the countries involved. main question in the present study is that what effect the corona epidemic has had on Russia's foreign policy towards countries receiving aid. Although some believe that Russia's foreign policy has not been very successful in dealing with this crisis and has been more in line with its goals by using smart power, but the present study shows that these contradictory but intelligent actions of Russia relying on soft power and in order to attract the public mind towards the desired understanding of Russia as a powerful and influential country around the world. results show that Russia's financial and health assistance to other countries in the fight against Corona, as well as the production of vaccines has increased Russia's soft power and its international face emerged and gained a regional and global prestige. research method in this research is descriptive-analytical.