Book of M.K. Yurasov (IRI RAS) is devoted to the relationship of pre-Mongol Russia with Western neighbors. The birth of the Old Russian state, its formation as a major European power, the gradual expansion of borders inevitably led to the fact that contacts with neighboring peoples and powers became more and more complex and multifaceted. Russian princes from the Rurik dynasty from Vladimir the Holy to Vladimir Monomakh have always closely followed the events that took place in the western direction.