Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune announced the reopening of his country’s embassy in Ukraine, despite Algeria’s strong relations with Russia at all levels. He announced that, “We took a decision yesterday with the Foreign Ministry that next week we will reopen the Algerian embassy in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, after it was closed for security reasons.” 

Diplomatic adjustment

Speaking to Algerian media, President Tebboune alluded to the existence of a “draft peace plan” that would propose a solution to the Ukrainian crisis, adding that until then Algerian diplomacy is “silent”. In contrast, Tebboune emphasized that recent visits to Algeria by US officials, including the commander of the US military command in Africa, Michael Langley, were part of Washington’s search for influence in the region, stressing that “Americans have been reassured that we are not their opponents, and Americans must make sure that we are, politically and ideologically, an impartial country.”

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Algeria has adopted a balanced approach to the crisis that abstains from joining political flanks. The most important indicators of this approach are: 

1. The avoidance of voting against Russia at the United Nations: Algeria has not adopted a formal stance towards the Russian-Ukrainian war, avoiding both endorsement and condemnation. All statements by the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs focused on the situation of the Algerian community in Ukraine, and the extent to which they can be helped to return to the country.

The same way Algeria avoided engaging in the crisis, or lining up on either side, it steered clear from voting against Russia at the United Nations. Algeria abstained in the voting, together with 34 other states during the UN General Assembly meeting, on 2 March 2022, on the American-European draft resolution condemning Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Also, last April, Algeria opposed the UN General Assembly resolution on the “suspension of Russia’s membership in the Human Rights Council”. Algeria explained this opposition by stressing that “multilateral international efforts towards political dialogue must abstain from exclusion”.

2. A rejection of Western sanctions against Moscow: Consistent with its basic position on the Russian-Ukrainian war, Algeria has avoided implementing Western-led sanctions against Moscow. This was clearly demonstrated by Algeria’s hosting of the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, last May, who underlined his country’s appreciation for the Algerian “attitude to the war in Ukraine, in Arab and international arcades.”

It is noted that Algeria’s refusal to ride the Western sanctions bandwagon seems logical in terms of Russia’s cooperation with Algeria in many areas. In the energy sector, for example, Algeria has strengthened its natural gas export capabilities through cooperation with Russia, and the Algerian company Sonatrak has signed a contract to search for and exploit gas in the “honey field” of the Algerian Sahara. It is hoped that this project will commence in 2025.

3. Maintaining relations with Ukraine and the West: Algerian movements concerning the Ukrainian file cannot be isolated from corresponding Western-Algerian relations. Algeria appears to be leveraging the Ukrainian crisis and its implications, as well as ties with Russia, to manage relations with Western countries, especially with the tensions that have taken place in recent years. Perhaps the most prominent example is Algeria’s relations with France. 

At the same time, Russia represents an important trump card for Algeria in its relationship with the US, especially since, in recent years, the US had adopted policies that favored Morocco regarding the Western Sahara dispute. The Russian-Ukrainian war has thus created an opportunity for Algeria to challenge the isolation it has faced from Western states over the past few years. It appears that this war is becoming an important opportunity for Algeria to regain its relevance to the US, while maintaining open channels of communication with Russia, China and Iran.

Strategic gains

By adopting impartiality towards the Russian-Ukrainian, Algeria is seeking to maximize its strategic gains as follows:

1. Increasing opportunities for Algeria’s political convergence with foreign powers: The Algerian approach to war in Ukraine is the continuation of the Algerian President’s attempt to “diversify foreign political convergences” to surpass the limits of dependence on Western powers, particularly France, which prevailed during the era of former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

However, according to RT Arabic on October 27, 2022, Algeria signed arms deals in 2021 worth more than USD7 billion with Russia, making Algeria the most important importer of Russian weapons. At the same time, it conducted joint exercises with one of the US warships docked in the port of Jegel, east of Algeria, to carry out joint training last September 14-19 concerning the exchange of experience in demining, as announced by the Algerian Ministry of Defence, last September 14.

2. Promoting Algeria’s role regionally and internationally: Following the political changes that have taken place in Algeria by the end of 2018, and the subsequent overthrow of Bouteflika, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune took power in 2019. Since then, Algeria’s foreign policy has been marked by its attempts to evolve into a “regional actor” in North Africa and South of the Mediterranean. In the context of all the repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war, especially those related to energy, Algeria’s attempts to advance as a strategic player are vital and influential, both regionally, in North Africa and the Sahel, and for Southern European countries.

In spite of the flexible, impartial approach to the Russian-Ukrainian war, Algeria has attempted to invoke Russia’s role in some regional issues, such as that of Western Sahara, to counter various Western states. On the other hand, however, it has indirectly criticized Russia’s interference through the Wagner Group in Mali, as well as Libya.

3. Strengthening partnership with Europe through energy interests: The war in Ukraine was among the most important reasons for Europe to turn to Algeria as a safe source of energy. Indeed, Algeria is ranked as the third largest exporter of natural gas to the European Union. At the conclusion of the Energy Business Forum between Algeria and the EU, the EU Commissioner for Energy, Cadre Simson stressed last October 11 that, “Europe wants a long-term strategic partnership with Algeria, as a reliable gas supplier to Europe”.

This European vision appears to be consistent with Algeria, who on more than one occasion expressed their country’s mission to “build a more meaningful and more beneficial partnership with Europe,” emphasizing that this partnership should neither be temporary nor circumstantial, as is now the case, but must be based on long-term considerations. 

4. Maximizing economic and financial gains to overcome internal crises: The war in Ukraine has caused oil and gas prices to rise to record levels. This has contributed to Algeria’s financial gains, which its national economy needs, in order to recover from a number of internal problems that have worsened in recent times. 

In view of Algeria’s dependence on oil and gas exports as sources of national income for the country, their higher prices naturally provided additional revenues for Algeria, enabling it to declare that their food security needs have been met. Indeed, Algeria announced the diversification of sources of wheat, in order to avoid the consequences of the war.

Declared neutrality

In this context, it can be said that the reopening of the Algerian Embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, is a diplomatic move in the currently turbulent international climate since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war and its repercussions. Algeria’s resumption of diplomacy in Kyiv comes within the broader scope of its attempt to assert its impartiality between different international axes, especially with regard to its strategic relations with the parties to the conflict, in order to maximize its role in the regional and international landscape as it becomes a dependable source of energy for European countries.

This flexible and balanced approach, which can be expressed as a ‘declared neutrality’ on the part of Algeria, has contributed to the successful management of its relations, not only with Russia and Asia, but also with Western states in general, especially among those relations that have been characterized by tension over the past few years.