13 December 2022, Tuesday, 12:19 403

Putin's Geopolitical Influence Falling. ISW Analysts Name Reason

Редактор: Tetiana Herasimova

Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to stop financing other international or domestic campaigns, as the war in Ukraine continues to drain the budget of the Russian Federation.

It is reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russian forces transfer equipment and personnel from other conflict zones, such as Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh, and may abandon other fighting and soft power operations in favor of continuing the protracted war in Ukraine.

However, Putin remains unwilling to sacrifice his geopolitical initiatives in the short term and risks facing a financial predicament in which he cannot balance maximalist goals in Ukraine with his global power-building campaigns.

Putin, for example, continued to try to restore Russia's position in Central Asia, without success proposing to create a trilateral alliance between Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan at the end of November and during a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Bishkek.

Putin's spending on regional soft power initiatives has already upset several prominent pro-war bloggers, who criticized the Kremlin for allocating almost USD 95 million for the development of Russian-speaking schools in Tajikistan, while not providing Russian forces on the battlefield.

Military journalists believe that the Kremlin is inefficient in using its soft power in Tajikistan, which further casts doubt on the need for such costs.

Recall that British intelligence suggests that the main priority of the Russian command remains the capture of the entire Donetsk Region and hopes to occupy the territory of the four southern regions - for which, however, the Kremlin is unlikely to have enough resources.

Больше новостей о: Russian President Vladimir Putin ISW Institute for the Study of War