Russia Collaborating With Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

Uzbekistan wants to join a gas union with Russia and Kazakhstan, the Russian deputy prime minister said on December 2. This effort will facilitate transportation of Russian gas to the other two nations.

We are prepared to expand gas supply to Uzbekistan, as gas consumption in Uzbekistan is increasing and will continue to rise in the foreseeable future. This collaboration on gas supplies has the potential to grow.
—Alexander Novak, Russian deputy prime minister

• On November 28, Kazakhstan’s president said Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously mentioned the need for such a union.
• The next day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said a gas union “would meet the interests of all three countries.”

Putin’s plan: In 2005, Putin said, “The breakup of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century.” Both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were part of the former Soviet Union. This explains Putin’s interest in these countries.

In the years since he spoke those revealing words, Putin has channeled much of Russia’s might into hammering those nations back together.
—Jeremiah Jacques, Trumpet contributor, “Putin and the ‘Greatest Catastrophe’”

This gas union will increase these nations’ dependence on Russia for fuel, bringing them closer to Putin’s Soviet-esque empire.