|
by Hugo Spaulding
Key Takeaway:
President Vladimir Putin seeks to project Russian military force forward into the territory of the former Soviet Union while competing with the U.S. for influence in the Middle East. Putin is expected to reach an agreement to create joint border patrol groups to manage crises along the borders of former Soviet republics including Tajikistan during a regional summit in Kazakhstan. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow was “ready” to open new information coordination centers in the Middle East and North Africa in addition to the cell in Baghdad, which is reportedly already providing intelligence for Iraqi airstrikes against ISIS. Lavrov also said this week that Russia would bolster Afghan security forces in order to prevent what it cast as an ISIS-led insurgency in Afghanistan from spreading into Central Asia. He later revealed that President Putin would consider a potential request by Kabul to help combat ISIS. Afghanistan comprises the nexus of two of Putin’s objectives: to counter the U.S. and NATO; and to expand Russia’s military presence on the fringes of the former Soviet Union. While it remains unlikely that Putin would seriously involve Russia in a counterinsurgency in Afghanistan, it is clear that Putin sees instability in Afghanistan as an opportunity to advance his objectives vis-à-vis the West. Meanwhile, Russia’s air campaign in Syria has escalated, increasing pressure upon the U.S. and its allies to accept Russian leadership of a new anti-ISIS coalition, to challenge Russia, or to withdraw.
|
