BIG DECRYPT – More or less openly, since February 24, the former Soviet republics of Central Asia have distanced themselves from Moscow and sent signals to China and the West.
Due to the Russian war in Ukraine, the five former Soviet republics of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan – are under tension. Politically and economically. Despite Russia’s aggressiveness in its “near abroad”, and their countries’ deep dependence on it, the region’s leaders sometimes say, admittedly with great oratorical precautions, how much they disapprove of Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Part of the opinions in the region also show their distrust of the former colonial power.
• How do the governments of the five “Stans” react to the war Russia is waging in Ukraine, another former Soviet republic?
Some Central Asian leaders surprised by stating their disapproval of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It was sometimes very direct. Like this June 17, on the occasion of the International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, where the Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, had to answer, facing Vladimir Putin, an embarrassing question: was he ready to recognize…