Kazakhstan uprising complicates Putin's Ukraine calculus

[TexasTowelie]

Russian paratroopers descended on Kazakhstan's largest city Thursday to help quell the largest uprising in the history of the former Soviet republic — with potential strategic implications for Russia's plans in Ukraine.

Why it matters: The first-ever collective intervention by the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) complicates Putin's strategic focus for early 2022, when Russia's military threats against Ukraine were expected to reach an inflection point.

The latest: Violent clashes between security forces and armed protesters in Kazakhstan continued Thursday, as an initial 2,500 soldiers from Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan arrived for a "limited" operation to restore peace.

• Meanwhile, high-level security talks between U.S. and Russian officials are set to begin Jan. 10 in Geneva, followed by a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Jan. 12 and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Jan. 13.

• Putin's aims are either to extract concessions on NATO expansion, or potentially to invade Ukraine and reverse its Western drift by force.

Read more: https://www.axios.com/kazakhstan-russia-putin-ukraine-df944edd-592b-48f0-be65-b30325b7350c.html

[cstanleytech]

1. Putin wants Ukraine because of the $$$ he can earn routing things like gas and oil pipelines through

the country to service Europe and the middle east.

[left-of-center2012]

2. This reminds me of the old days

When the Warsaw pact would invade Czechoslovakia or other countries that were drifting away from communism.

[TexasTowelie]

3. You're correct.

The Soviet Union kept their satellite states in close orbit.

[Duncanpup]

4. So true