Xi Gives Life to Putin’s Greatest Nightmare

Former Soviet republics targeted by China for closer relations

Photo by Laurentiu Morariu on Unsplash

Vladimir Putin’s main reason for invading Ukraine was his fear of losing control over one of the largest republics of the former Soviet Union. He regards the former republics as Russia’s “near abroad” and territories in which other countries should not be meddling.

After his recent much-anticipated meeting with Xi ended, and Putin shuttled off to his billion-dollar lair in the forest, his new BFF, Xi Jinping, demonstrated to Moscow how the new relationship is going to work. The very next day before the carpets in the Kremlin had even been vacuumed, Xi sent a telegram to the leaders of the five Central Asian countries inviting them to a first-ever “China-Central Asian” summit in May.

According to reports, Xi’s messages emphasized the deepening of relations between China and Central Asia, with sources adding that Xi said he was “looking forward to discussing with Central Asian leaders the grand plan for developing China-Central Asia relations (Sends Cold Chill Down Putin’s Spine)”.

Kazakhstan, the republic of Kyrgyz, Turkmenistan, Tadjikistan, and Uzbekistan were all Soviet republics and since 1991, have looked to Moscow for their security guarantees. Moscow, in turn, has kept them on a tight…