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Sunday, December 1, 2024

Russia for the week (01.07-07.07)

This report presents key events that had an important impact on political, economic and social processes within Russia.

According to the results of the past week the following tendencies can be defined in the following theses:

  • Moscow and Astana have many unclosed “gestalts”. President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev has repeatedly and defiantly taken a separate position on a number of issues, in particular the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia’s activities in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, and the prospects for the Baikonur Cosmodrome after the completion of the Russian-Kazakhstani agreement on its operation. It was important for Putin to show that Russia has no serious problems in Central Asia and Kazakhstan in particular. Apparently, this is what he demonstrated during his visit to Astana. 
  • For Putin (as well as for Xi Jinping) it is important to show the effectiveness of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as the main instrument of influence on the Eurasian continent. For Putin, the ideal is to turn the SCO into a kind of counterweight to NATO. However, most members of the organization are not ready for this. The inclusion of Belarus in the SCO is a great success for Putin, but for Lukashenko it is primarily new opportunities for political maneuvering. At least, Lukashenko felt more free from his earlier commitments, which can be felt in the personnel reshuffle in Belarus on the eve of the SCO summit. 
  • Viktor Orbán’s arrival in Moscow immediately after his visit to Ukraine is symbolic: Orbán, as the leader of the EU presidency, decided to try his hand at mediating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, Orban uses the unofficial status of “Trump’s personal friend,” which is quite a weighty argument in the current situation of uncertainty in the camp of American Democrats. However, there is no reason to talk about Orban’s possible achievements in this direction, as the conflict is now increasingly demonstrating escalation tendencies. 

This digest looks at the following issues that were most relevant to Russia between July 1 and July 7:

  1. Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan; 
  2. Vladimir Putin’s participation in a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State;
  3. Vladimir Putin talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

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This report presents key events that had an important impact on political, economic and social processes within Russia.

According to the results of the past week the following tendencies can be defined in the following theses:

  • Moscow and Astana have many unclosed “gestalts”. President Kasym-Jomart Tokayev has repeatedly and defiantly taken a separate position on a number of issues, in particular the Russian-Ukrainian war, Russia’s activities in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan, and the prospects for the Baikonur Cosmodrome after the completion of the Russian-Kazakhstani agreement on its operation. It was important for Putin to show that Russia has no serious problems in Central Asia and Kazakhstan in particular. Apparently, this is what he demonstrated during his visit to Astana. 
  • For Putin (as well as for Xi Jinping) it is important to show the effectiveness of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as the main instrument of influence on the Eurasian continent. For Putin, the ideal is to turn the SCO into a kind of counterweight to NATO. However, most members of the organization are not ready for this. The inclusion of Belarus in the SCO is a great success for Putin, but for Lukashenko it is primarily new opportunities for political maneuvering. At least, Lukashenko felt more free from his earlier commitments, which can be felt in the personnel reshuffle in Belarus on the eve of the SCO summit. 
  • Viktor Orbán’s arrival in Moscow immediately after his visit to Ukraine is symbolic: Orbán, as the leader of the EU presidency, decided to try his hand at mediating the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In addition, Orban uses the unofficial status of “Trump’s personal friend,” which is quite a weighty argument in the current situation of uncertainty in the camp of American Democrats. However, there is no reason to talk about Orban’s possible achievements in this direction, as the conflict is now increasingly demonstrating escalation tendencies. 

This digest looks at the following issues that were most relevant to Russia between July 1 and July 7:

  1. Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan; 
  2. Vladimir Putin’s participation in a meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State;
  3. Vladimir Putin talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

This Content Is Only For Subscribers

Please subscribe to unlock this content. Enter your email to get access.
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