If 2020 was the year Russia was forced to deal with an unknown coronavirus, 2021 was the year it sought an exit strategy from the pandemic. Since the beginning of the year, when the coronavirus situation had improved slightly, Russia has made clear its stance of prioritizing the economy and has gradually loosened measures put in place to prevent infections. On the diplomatic front, Russia has sought to recover from the stagnation it was forced to endure in the previous year by holding the first face-to-face summit between the United States and Russia in June and resuming largescale international meetings. However, because Russia prioritized economic reopening over infection prevention measures, the virus began spreading again in Russia in the autumn. Diplomatic relations with the United States and other Western countries have not improved significantly, and it is expected that confrontational relations will continue into the near future. As the US-China confrontation intensifies, Russia is increasingly leaning toward China to counter the US.