As the countries of Central Asia are working on transport routes that bypass Russia, the Kremlin is certain to view that effort with dismay. Russian president Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to try to put Russia back on stage during an Russia-Central Asia summit in Tajikistan last week.
Putin proposed to unite all Eurasian logistics projects and transport corridors into a single network. Mostly Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan are working to boost Europe-bound transport capacity on the Middle Corridor. They are hoping to benefit from international trade flows by promoting transit through their territories. Moreover, enhanced connectivity with other parts of the world could help their own imports and exports.
Europe is interested in the Middle Corridor because it bypasses Russia. Naturally, Russia will want to keep as much transit through its territory as possible. It also does not want to be left out of major international corridors for its own trade.
In the presence of Central Asian leaders, Putin expressed his wish for Russia to be integrated into these projects by creating a single network, saying that it could grow international transport volumes through Eurasia by many times – exactly what those countries are after.