The picture shows the landmark building in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, the "Bayderek" Sightseeing Tower (meaning "Tree of Life"). Photo by Han Xianyang/Guangming Images
This is the scene of the meeting of the Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) taken on November 23 in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. Xinhua News Agency
【Reporter Connection】
Naryshkin, head of the Russian Federal Foreign Intelligence Service, said in the Central Asian country of Tajikistan on November 22 that Russia often finds that the United States and other Western countries are trying to find "pain points" in the CIS space in order to provoke a conflict similar to the situation in Ukraine. Observers here pointed out that Russia is increasingly aware that the United States and the West, which have identified "weak Russia" and "containing Russia" as strategic goals, are opening up "new battlefields" in Central Asia outside Ukraine. In response, Russia intends to identify "resistance to the destructive actions of Western countries in their respective territories" as a common task with Central Asian countries.
The United States and the West have intensified their efforts to "exclude Russia."
Soon after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the United States continued to squeeze Russia out of Central Asian countries and intensified its efforts. According to the Russian "Independent", in the video meeting between the foreign ministers of the five Central Asian countries and the United States ("C5+1") on March 1, US Secretary of State Blinken, while clarifying his position to the foreign ministers of Central Asian countries on the Ukrainian issue, also explored the possibility of US military bases or transit bases returning to Central Asia. In May, the United States sent a multi-industry delegation to Central Asia and issued a $25 million aid check in the name of the Launch of the Central Asian Initiative for Sustainable Economic Development. Kaul, deputy assistant administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, said in September that the U.S. goal should be to alienate Central Asia from Russia.
In late September, Blinken used the "C5+1" mechanism to hold talks with the foreign ministers of Central Asian countries in New York, and in addition to discussing hot issues such as expanding trade and investment cooperation between the two sides, ensuring sustainable economic development in Central Asia, and countering terrorism in Afghanistan, he also explicitly or implicitly encouraged Central Asian countries to "decouple" from Russia.
From November 6 to 11, Donald Lew, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, visited Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. In each country, Lew has proclaimed that the United States is committed to the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of those countries, while emphasizing the common goal of achieving prosperity, security, and democracy in Central Asia. In Turkmenistan, Donald Lew held talks with participants in the Exchange Program, as well as with officials of the country, to discuss "partnerships on bilateral and regional issues." In Uzbekistan, he met with officials, civil society and representatives of cultural associations to express U.S. support for "women's empowerment" and "freedom of religion and belief." In Kazakhstan, he discussed "economic stability in Central Asia" with business representatives, met with civil society leaders, and supported their role in building Kazakhstan's future.
Russia believes that the real purpose of the visit of senior US diplomats to Central Asian countries is to promote their "decoupling and breaking the chain" with Russia. Prittchin, a senior researcher at the Post-Soviet Space Research Center of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that Central Asian countries are forced to distance themselves from Russia due to fear of secondary sanctions, "to some extent, the US strategy is succeeding, Central Asian countries refuse to carry out financial cooperation with Russia, for example, the payment system Mir developed by Russia is currently not available in the countries of the region." Donald Lew also proudly declared that Russian companies were forced to sell financial assets, such as the "Alfa Bank" and "Savings Bank" and other financial branches opened in Kazakhstan to Kazakh citizens. The implication is to warn Central Asian countries that only by refusing to help Russia circumvent sanctions can they avoid secondary sanctions.
Seeing that the United States has increased its involvement in Central Asian affairs, the EU is not far behind. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Borrell said after his visit to Kazakhstan that the EU needs to deepen cooperation with Central Asia and it is necessary to use the potential of the region in energy supplies, imports of key raw materials and new transport corridors bypassing Russia. He believes the EU should take advantage of Central Asian countries' efforts to achieve pluralistic diplomacy and "find the right partners."
Russia is worried about the weakening of its influence in Central Asia
Ushakov, the Russian president's foreign affairs assistant, said in mid-October that Central Asia is an important region with Russia's close and important neighbors. Based on the historical tradition of good-neighborliness and friendship, alliances and strategic partnership, Central Asia and Russia are closely linked.
On the one hand, Russia is highly vigilant against the "anti-Russian" attempts of the United States and the West in Central Asian countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out on October 14 that external forces are trying to interfere in Russia's cooperation with Central Asian countries, and the United States and the West are trying to instigate "color revolutions" in Central Asia. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Seromolotov said on October 27 that the United States and its allies are currently meddling in Central Asian affairs under the pretext of "humanitarianism" and trying to undermine the stability of the region bordering Afghanistan (Central Asia), and "Russia cannot stand idly by while the West's attempts to interfere in the fate of Central Asian countries." Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Federal Security Council, warned on November 3 that the United States considers Central Asia a potential combat area and "clarifies the coordinates of future targets and corrects digital maps used for high-precision weapons."
On the other hand, in addition to actively interacting with Central Asian countries bilaterally and at the multilateral levels such as the CIS, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia also participated in the first Russia-Central Asian Summit held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on October 14. The important results of the summit were epitomized in the joint statement of the heads of state of the five Central Asian countries and Russia under the framework of "Central Asia-Russia".
Analysts consider Russia's overall relations with Central Asian countries to be "satisfactory," but there is still room for further expansion and improvement.
In Russia's view, the attempts of external forces to prevent the integration and development of Russia and the Central Asian countries in many aspects, to undermine the close ties and political, economic and people-to-people interaction formed by the history of the two sides, urgently require truly coordinated joint steps and establish alliances and strategic partnerships between Russia and the Central Asian countries.
Trade between Russia and Central Asian countries doubled to $37.1 billion in the five years between 2017 and 2021, and grew by 16% in the first half of this year. Russia is a major investor in the economies of Central Asian countries, with a cumulative direct investment of about $5 billion. In order to further enhance the space for economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, Russia proposed to strengthen cooperation with Central Asian countries in the fields of creating industrial and supply chains, import substitution, reconfiguring financial settlement mechanisms, ensuring energy security, and building transport corridors.
In addition to political, diplomatic, economic, trade and investment cooperation, Russia actively coordinates and responds to the challenges brought about by the "Afghan factor". Putin said Afghanistan is still a hotbed of tension in Central Asia. At the same time, intelligence agencies, mainly the United States and Britain, secretly supported anti-Taliban forces and shelled the borders of some Asian countries. Based on the above-mentioned risks and threats, as well as the interests of Russia and Central Asian countries, Russia maintains the necessary contacts with the Taliban leadership to prevent a repetition of the Afghan civil war.
"Pluralism and pragmatism" is the diplomatic choice of Central Asian countries
To this day, Russia's relations with Central Asian countries remain close. All sides reaffirmed their efforts to achieve broad and important results in political, economic, humanistic and other fields and to develop mature alliances or strategic partnerships on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.
Nevertheless, the situation of Central Asian countries after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine remains somewhat awkward, which was evident in the Russia-Central Asia summit and the joint statement issued after the meeting.
First of all, with regard to Russia's "special military operation", especially the "entry into Russia" of the four eastern and southern states of Ukraine, Central Asian countries have deliberately avoided stating their position. Although none of the CIS countries, including Central Asian countries, have any objection to the "entry into Russia" of the four states, this "acquiescence" is not support, but unwillingness to appear in the situation where Kazakh President Tokayev confronted Putin at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June this year, causing tension in Russian-Kazakh relations.
Second, in the Russian-Central Asian Joint Statement, the Central Asian countries, while agreeing with the principle of "indivisibility of security" put forward by the Russian side, at the same time called for the inclusion of "respect for the Charter of the United Nations and its international laws and norms" in front of it, demonstrating their adherence to respect for sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Finally, at the Russia-Central Asia summit, Central Asian countries also avoided joining Russia in fiercely criticizing the United States and the West. Tokayev said that in the context of the rapid development of digital technology, social networks and communication applications, it is the responsibility of politicians to avoid indecent words from triggering inter-ethnic hatred and hostility.
Central Asia is Russia's "soft belly", Russia's insufficient deployment of military forces here, coupled with its distance from Russia's economic and political center, complex ethnic composition, and frequent territorial disputes, has provided soil for the United States and the West to "fish in troubled waters". In June, Tokayev bluntly explained in St. Petersburg the reasons for Kazakhstan's "non-recognition of the independence of Donbass." In October, due to the border conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, Kyrgyz President Zaparov refused Russia's invitation to attend the informal CIS meeting in St. Petersburg, and canceled the CSTO peacekeeping force's "Indestructible Brotherhood-2022" joint military exercise. At the Russia-Central Asia summit, Tajik President Rahmon took a rare few minutes to complain that Russia did not treat a small country like Tajikistan equally.
People in Russian strategic circles pointed out that the relations between Central Asian countries and Russia have undergone subtle changes, and the political separation of the United States and the economic pulling of Europe have "contributed a lot." However, Central Asian countries, with their alliances or strategic partnerships, shared historical memories and common language, "may be interested in diversifying their economic partners, but will not recklessly refuse to cooperate with Russia." Kortunov, director general of the International Affairs Committee, an authoritative Russian think tank, believes that neither Washington nor Brussels can sever the close ties between Central Asian countries and Russia.
(Moscow, 26 Nov -- Han Xianyang, a reporter of this newspaper in Moscow)
Source: Guangming Daily