RE: The title: {Putin wants to slice up Kazakhstan now that he’s lost Ukraine war}
How did they come up with this conclusion? The war is still being fought even a I write this.
“While some in the West say Russia’s military has been exposed as a paper tiger, one senior official from a Central Asian country told the WSJ that fear was only growing over Russia’s ambitions. “It’s one thing when they deal with so many others and they have Eastern Europeans and Ukraine to spend their time abusing,” the official said. “Imagine if they don’t have Ukraine to abuse. Are we going to be next?”
It is clear this Central Asian official sees Putin’s behavior as “abusive” and fears they will be next. Is this because they think Putin is winning, or because they think he is losing and may give up and look for easier pickings in Russian speaking portions of the Stans? What does it signal that he was talking with the Wall St. Journal?