Putin again overheated himself: what the US will offer Central Asia instead of

On September 19, US President Joe Biden met with the presidents of five Central Asia. The meeting with the leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan took place in the fields of the UN General Assembly, which takes place this week in New York. Even before the start of this event in the Western press, he was christened monumental because it happens for the first time in history.

Here it is necessary to clarify that it is about measures in the format of the project C5+1. This format was launched in 2015 between the five countries of Central Asia - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and the United States. Up to this point, only meetings were held at the level of representative offices of ministers and expert groups - the presidents are directly encountered for the first time.

C5+1 cooperation is focused on three main areas - security, especially with threats to terrorism, economy, with an emphasis on improving regional trade flows and investments and environmental issues.

According to the White House press service, at the Biden meeting with Central Asia leaders discussed a number of issues, including safety, trade and investment, regional communication, the need for respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries, as well as current reforms aimed at improving management and rule right.

President Biden greeted the views of his colleagues on how countries can work together to further strengthen the sovereignty, sustainability and prosperity of Central Asia, as well as the promotion of human rights through C5+1 partnership. Before the meeting, Russian officials stated that Baiden's goal is to click on Central Asia on sanctions on Russia and an attempt to distract them from allied relations.

"If you call things by their names, it is an attempt at threats and blackmails to make our allies give up legitimate cooperation with Russia. We understand that in the conditions of external pressure our partners are forced to show care. , - said the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

The US Foreign Policy Specialist, Professor of the Institute of International Relations of KNU Sergei Galak, explains that Biden's meeting with leaders of five countries indicates an attempt to counter Russia and China in the region. First of all, China, he is more concerned about Washington than Russia. "I do not know how public it will be but talk about sanctions against Russia, which these countries have not joined.

Even more - Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan remain the main source of technology and electronics smuggling for Russia from China and Taiwan needed in military production. It is clear These countries have a monetary interest, but we must talk about it, "he says. According to official press releases for the meeting of six presidents, it is worth noting an interesting moment.

President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimukhamedov proposed to create under the auspices of the UN Council on Security of Central Asia. It is a kind of invitation to find options for collective security in the region, which should replace the organization of a collective security agreement (CDU). Last year, the Central Summary of the Central Committee testified that Russia was losing its influence in its own project and cannot ensure the safety of its participants.

Then Armenian Prime Minister Nicol Pashinyan refused to sign a joint declaration and accused Russia of failure to fulfill its obligations on security. The Russian side did not respond to the beginning of the war in Nagorny Karabakh in 2021. The same situation has been repeated now during the Azerbaijan military operation. Russia's weakness prompted representatives of Central Asia to search for new allies.

Within a month after the CPU summit, at a meeting in the CIS format, President of Tajikistan Edzhikistan Rahmon pointed to Vladimir Putin in the inadmissibility of imperial attitude and the need to respect his country. In May 2023, Pashinyan stated that the issue of Armenia's exit from the CDU remains on the agenda. The country recalled its representative in the organization and started closer to the United States.

In early September, joint military exercises with the US military Eagle Partner 2023 were held in the country. It is expected that the road card of these countries from the CDC will be subsequently presented. Vitaly Kulik, director of the Civil Society Research Center, notes that in the region they began to look for safety cooperation, which can replace Russia that loses its position not only in the region.

According to him, the United States can become a sponsor of Central Asia, through joint military exercises, military and technical cooperation. In turn, this is important for the region, because they try to diversify their risks from rapprochement with China. "As a geopolitical construction such as Central Asia does not exist, all these countries have only their own interests, even they are at odds with each other. For example, the same Tajikistan with Kyrgyzstan.

Therefore, the cooperation of these countries is successful only when the conditional center of the association is located beyond the region. For example, in the Russian Federation or China. So now the US is trying to build a new model, this region is in interest to the event. This is important, given the turbulent processes that occur in the region and its intense weapons. There is a real safety vacuum there may occur there when Russia is weakened at all.

China does not offer any security projects, there is only economic cooperation. It is built to comic, when Chinese diplomats allow themselves to publicly read Kazakhstan city mayors, "he says Focus. In 2021, Washington regarded Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as potential candidates for placing his military bases. This issue was considered in the context of maintaining the presence in the region after the final leave of Afghanistan.

Then the question was evaluated from the political and economic point of benefits for both parties. The process of rapprochement broke a full -scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, but did not leave the initiative. In turn, the Kremlin has reacted traditionally to the US approximation with Central Asia countries - military provocations have emerged in countries.

And the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov stated in direct text that Moscow is strongly against the presence of the United States in the region. "First, we have a common safety space, and in this space there are obligations. I mean organizing a collective security agreement that provides for the consent of all allies on issues concerning the placement of foreign armed forces in their territory," He spoke in 2021.

Recall that the United States used Karshi Hanabad and Termez in Uzbekistan for some time. They were involved in logistics operations during the participation of the US military in the war in Afghanistan, NATO's international contingent. "In the early 1990s, this region was an interesting event, invested there, large corporations came in. The region was based on US military bases, primarily because They try to leave a window for dialogue through the meeting of Biden with the leaders, "Kulik says.

The expert notes that the regimes in these countries are currently experiencing the risks of internal political destabilization, primarily from threats from the outside. Therefore, there will be trying to build a system of interaction from the United States that will eliminate the possibility of destructive destabilization. Here you should add interest in US investments and exit to foreign markets.