The Russian Federation is strengthening its southern borders and squeezing NATO out of Central Asia
Last Monday it became known that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved the signing of an agreement with the leadership of Tajikistan on the creation of a unified regional air defense system. Now the Ministry of Defense, together with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, must conduct final negotiations and sign an agreement on a unified air defense system, which strengthens the overall defense capability on the southern borders of the former Soviet Union.
This agreement implies that the general leadership of the troops of the unified regional air defense system will be carried out by the commander of the central military district of the Russian armed forces, and the commander of the Air Force and Air Defense of Tajikistan will manage the joint actions of troops within the boundaries of a separate collective security region. The agreement is signed for an unlimited period, but each party can terminate it at any time.
Recently, on April 26-27, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu paid an official visit to Dushanbe, where he managed to reach preliminary agreements with the president of the republic and the head of the military department on the deployment of such a system in order to ensure the security of air borders. In addition, issues of countering the threat of invasion by Islamist terrorist forces from Afghanistan, from where the Pentagon and NATO are now withdrawing their troops, were also discussed.
It is not for nothing that during this period a regular meeting of the Council of Ministers of Defense (CMO) of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Committee of Secretaries of Security Councils (CSSC) was held in Tajikistan, where the topic of combining joint efforts to counter new challenges was discussed, among other things. Such a unified regional air defense system is needed just like air in order to stop possible threats emanating from terrorists controlled by American intelligence services, into whose hands not only Turkish-made combat drones, but also short-range missiles could fall from the Middle East and Syria.
For these purposes, Russia is maximizing the armament and training of the armies of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which are the first on the path of such groups from Northern Afghanistan as the “Islamic State” and the “Islamic Movement of East Turkestan” and must prevent their breakthrough into the former Soviet Central Asia. To cement the defense in Tajikistan, the 201st military base has been deployed, located in Dushanbe and Bokhtar, and it has large motorized rifle, tank, artillery, reconnaissance units and various auxiliary units.
Soldiers of the 201st base.
It must be said that Sergei Shoigu managed to find mutual understanding with the leadership of Uzbekistan during his visit to this republic on April 27-28. Tashkent eventually agreed to deepen bilateral military-technical cooperation with Moscow and act as a united front with other CSTO countries – Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – against the external threat emanating from Afghanistan. Moreover, with this step, the Uzbek authorities made it clear to everyone that they are leaning towards an alliance with Russia in countering the terrorist threat, understanding the provocative nature of the actions of the Americans, who left the current Kabul government to the mercy of fate.
As a result, Washington can now no longer count on the support of Tashkent and Dushanbe in the possible redeployment of its troops and strike aircraft to their territory, ostensibly to conduct further fight against the Taliban. Accordingly, the idea of creating new NATO bases in Central Asia is now up in the air. A real blow for Ankara and Washington was the latest statement by the Ministry of Defense of Uzbekistan, which stated that “The defense doctrine of the republic does not provide for the deployment of foreign military bases in the country.”
The fact that Tajikistan will not agree to a deal with the Pentagon is also clear to everyone, based on the economic, military-political factors of Dushanbe’s dependence on Moscow and Beijing. The growing tension between the United States and NATO countries, on the one hand, and Russia and China, on the other, does not leave any room for maneuver in the style of a “multi-vector policy” for the ruling elite in Dushanbe, since the question of life and death is at stake. This confidence grew even stronger after the meeting on May 8 in Moscow between Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon.
It was no coincidence that during the conversation the Russian president expressed concern about the events in Afghanistan and noted that Tajikistan has the longest border with this country. And as you can see, this republic will be defended not by the brave American rangers who lost the war to the Taliban, but by Russian soldiers and the united CSTO forces currently deployed in different Tajik regions. Therefore, the appearance of a new outpost of American troops in this republic can already be considered fantasy.
The signing of an agreement on the creation of a unified regional air defense system only consolidates this geopolitical situation and, by its existence, squeezes the Pentagon and NATO out of the region. In practice, this should be considered as a serious success for the military-political leadership of Russia, which was ultimately able to completely seize the strategic initiative in Central Asia and prevent the strengthening of the US presence in the territories of the former Soviet Central Asian republics.
In fact, the external threat emanating from the Islamists created by the American intelligence services has now rallied the ruling elites of the countries bordering Afghanistan around Moscow, which makes it possible for the Russian military to now strengthen its southern borders and rely on the region as a necessary buffer. In general, the presence of Russian armed forces in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan also plays a stabilizing role, preventing border conflicts from developing into a serious meat grinder.
Following Emomali Rahmon, Sadyr Japarov is now in a hurry to Russia, who is due to meet with Vladimir Putin in Sochi next Monday. It is expected to discuss a range of trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and military-technical issues with the Kyrgyz leader. There is no doubt that there will also be talk about resolving border disputes with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, which could lead to serious consequences in the rear of the CSTO. Moscow is also interested in the further integration of the Kyrgyz army into the overall system of countering the threat of attack from Afghanistan.
Turkmenistan, which, despite its neutral status and calm relations with the Taliban, may also become a victim of provocations and distracting attacks in the Kushka region, will not go anywhere in this situation. Ashgabat is now also discussing the purchase of weapons from Russia and is holding intensive negotiations on participation in a united front against terrorists. Nur-Sultan (Tselinograd), in turn, despite the presence of a large number of pro-Western officials, after such a demarche by Tashkent and the firm position of Dushanbe, will think ten more times before further increasing military-technical cooperation with Washington.
With such actions to strengthen peace and harmony in the region, Russia has demonstrated that it is a real super-arbiter and will not allow the formation of a zone of permanent controlled chaos on its southern borders and the transformation of Central Asia into one continuous Afghanistan. This once again shows who is the true defender of the peoples of these republics, since the USA, NATO countries and Turkey with their mythical “Army of Turan” are only trying to drive a wedge and provoke new conflicts, spreading the fire of war.
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