Trend Lines

Despite President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to project the image that Russia is a productive and internationally engaged great power, recent developments on the country’s periphery suggest, if anything, a decline in the Kremlin’s influence. In Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko is clinging to power despite the regular chants from thousands of protesters demanding he resign. Intense fighting has erupted again between Armenia and Azerbaijan, over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. And Kyrgyzstan is in chaos after protests forced the country’s Russia-friendly leader, Sooronbai Jeenbekov, to resign last week. This week on Trend Lines, WPR’s Elliot Waldman is joined by Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, to discuss Putin’s response to the rapidly unfolding crises in Russia’s “near abroad.” Relevant Articles on WPR: Can Russia Steer the Endgame in Nagorno-Karabakh to Its Advantage? How Russia’s Putin Could Respond to the Protest