When Vladimir Putin calls Ukraine an “artificial state,” he is largely projecting Russia’s own problems onto it. After all, the considerations that produced Russia’s current borders aren’t exactly transparent.
Podcast host Alex Gabuev is joined by Maksim Samorukov, a fellow at Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, and by Paula Erizanu, a prominent writer and journalist from Chisinau who writes for Financial Times, The Guardian and The New York Times, to discuss the upcoming presidential election in Moldova and what leverage Moscow still has to interfere in Moldova’s path toward the EU.
As Moldovans prepare to go to the polls on Oct. 20, it looks like another round of the familiar geopolitical standoff between Russia and the West over the countries in Moscow’s former empire and sphere of influence.
While the prospect of a full-scale war between Iran and Israel is a worry for the Kremlin, it could also have a significant financial upside for Russia.
Moscow’s approach to Moldova is to play for time and keep the country in geopolitical limbo by stoking internal divisions, stalling reforms, and fueling disenchantment with the pro-European course.
Rather than bemoaning the emergence of the BRICS, the West should court those member states that have a stake in making sure that the grouping does not become an overtly anti-Western outfit intent on undermining the global order.
Washington and Brussels appear to believe making it more expensive to get around Western restrictions will fuel inflation in Russia and boost economic inefficiency.
