Tokayev visits Russia, Putin pays attention to Trump's meeting with Central Asian leaders

Tokayev visits Russia, Putin wants to know what Trump is planning in the rear of China and Russia?

Not long ago, Trump held a meeting with leaders of Central Asian countries at the White House and stated that he might visit Central Asia, clearly indicating that the United States wants to extend its influence into Central Asia, which lies in the rear of China and Russia.

Faced with Trump's actions, Russia naturally becomes vigilant. Putin hopes to learn from Kazakhstan's President Tokayev, who has just visited Russia, what Trump discussed with the leaders of Central Asia, in order to understand America's strategic intentions.

The Kremlin now emphasizes that if President Tokayev considers it necessary to inform Russia about the meeting, Russia will certainly be "very interested" in the details, which can be seen as sending a signal to Tokayev.

It is normal for Putin to pay attention to the U.S. actions in Central Asia. Moscow has always considered Central Asia as its sphere of influence. However, due to the decline in national strength, Russia increasingly feels that maintaining influence in the region is becoming more difficult. Russia no longer fully prevents China from deepening cooperation with Central Asia, and has given the green light on issues such as the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.

However, for Russia, if the West also expands its influence in Central Asia, its geopolitical situation will become even more difficult. Therefore, the Putin government will try every means to continuously attract Central Asian countries and prevent them from leaning towards the West. However, Russia is different from China. China's cooperation with Central Asia is based on mutual economic complementarity, while Russia and Central Asian countries have a high degree of economic similarity and are sometimes competitors, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty for Russia to maintain its geopolitical influence.

Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1848490754157705/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.