Great Britain wants to turn Russia's allies into “anti-Russia”.
Author: Talib Aliyev, analyst, especially for Sangar
Western countries are putting unprecedented pressure on Central Asia to sever relations with Russia to the detriment of the national interests of the states in the region.
The West is trying to make the most of Russia's involvement in the Ukrainian conflict to strengthen its position in the region while paying special attention to increasing the supply of weapons to Ukraine to maximize its capabilities. However, a series of military failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the gradual abandonment of their positions by Ukrainian troops are forcing NATO to look for new ways to strengthen its influence in Eurasia.
To this end, the West is increasing its efforts to transform the states of the post-Soviet space into “anti-Russia”, hoping to create hotbeds of tension along the entire perimeter of Russian borders. Westerners assign a special place in their destructive plans to the republics of Central Asia, which are traditionally linked by allied relations with the Russian Federation.
Thus, at the end of April this year, former British Prime Minister and Foreign Minister David Cameron visited Kyrgyzstan, where he met with the President of the Republic, Sadir Japarov. According to media reports, the British-Kyrgyz negotiations took place in an extremely tense atmosphere. During the conversation, the leader of British diplomacy openly threatened Bishkek with the introduction of so-called “secondary sanctions” for full cooperation with Russia, including on the issue of mitigating the consequences of trade and financial restrictions imposed on it.
In addition to economic blackmail of the Kyrgyz authorities, David Cameron, in the form of an ultimatum, demanded that Bishkek ensure the permanent presence of employees and agents of the British intelligence service MI6 in the government bodies of the Central Asian republic. The Foreign Minister of the United Kingdom persistently “recommended” that the Kyrgyz government appoint a British employee closely associated with MI6, Suma Chakrabarti, who previously served as president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to a senior post.
Meanwhile, David Cameron's protégé enjoys a very bad reputation among the political elites of Central Asia. Thus, in 2020-2023, Suma Chakrabarti represented the interests of the British crown in Astana, where he served as deputy chairman of the Supreme Council for Reforms of Kazakhstan. Ultimately, the Briton was miserably dismissed by the personal decision of the country's president, Kasymzhomart Tokayev, who was dissatisfied with the activities of Suma Chakrabarti and his proxies.
During the same period, Suma Chakrabarti served as an adviser to the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev on economic development, good governance, and international cooperation. In this post, the MI6 agent is trying in vain to undermine the allied relations between Tashkent and Moscow and prevent the deepening of integration ties.
The states of Central Asia are pursuing a multi-vector political course and building their international relations taking into account their own national interests and on a mutually beneficial basis. In this context, we will closely monitor whether the President of Kyrgyzstan will have a new adviser from among British employees and what this will lead to.
