Russia-Ukraine war: Russia extends influence in central Asia  | WION World DNA

Russia-Ukraine war: Russia extends influence in central Asia  | WION World DNA

for more on this professor Peter kosnik is joining us live from Washington DC Professor kosnik is history and director of the nuclear Studies Institute at American University thank you so much for being here with us today Professor kosnik now Russia is all set to build a small nuclear power plant in usbekistan a first such plant in Central Asia talk to us about the significance of the project and how perhaps it will further increase Russia’s influence in the region globally now we see a trend toward building more and more nuclear energy most people believe that that is relatively safe and much more environmentally friendly Russia and China have both been expanding the number of nuclear facilities that they’re building around the world so on the one hand this is in that context uh but it’s also part of the competition with the US in Central Asia the United States has tried to make more and more inroads through trade in that region but the Russians are showing that they can match them technologically and are not is not ready to relinquish influence in that region so on the one hand uh you can see it in that context in the broader nuclear context now we’ve got a very alarming Trend taking place and that’s this game of nuclear chicken that’s occurring on the battlefield Ukraine is losing more and more ground as Russia is gaining and that is making many of the NATO countries feel quite desperate right now we’ve got two kinds of threats going on on the one hand we’ve got mcon and others calling for sending NATO troops into Ukraine both as trainers and in combat in certain circumstances uh and then on top of that we’ve got the Cameron and blinkin and stoltenberg and the poles and the estonians saying that the ukrainians should be allowed to use Western weapons to hit inside of Russia yes now that is very dangerous because Putin’s response is these tactical nuclear weapons drills on Ukraine’s border so we see nuclear escalation going on on both sides in this nuclear chicken game that could lead to World War I so we’re at a very alarming moment the the positive use of nuclear energy and nuclear power that we’re seeing right now in usbekistan is one thing but the threatened use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine or more broadly is much more alarming to me right now right Professor kosnik um usbekistan has tripled uranium exports to the European Union in the past year um the question being that will Russia’s move impact uzbekistan’s uranium export to Europe uh R Russia will be actually selling more and more oil and gas to usbekistan which previously have been exporting oil and gas usbekistan and Kazakhstan have both said that they need nuclear power that their their oil and gas supplies should not be exported they need them internally but they also need nuclear power to meet their demand and Russia is in a prime position Ros Adam the Russian nuclear agency has been exporting a lot of nuclear power so they’re in a very strong position technologically economically politically to carry this out right now Peter do you feel the sanctions that the West imposed on Russia have drawn Russia to improve more foreign tries more aggressively and what kind of response do you feel we can expect from the West after the recent announcement uh the West’s ability to hurt Russia with sanctions has proven to be surprisingly limited Russia has been opening up trade with the East orienting away from the west and so now they’ve got increased trade as you know with India with China with Eastern Europe with Africa with other Asian countries so Russia has its own strategy which has been working whereas countries like Britain and Germany are showing signs of economic decline Russia is actually showing signs of economic growth so Russia has not been hurt but in the long run this has not been positive for Russia’s economy what Russia’s done is been building up its military industrial complex well that can work in the short run but in the long run it’s not producing the kinds of goods that people need to raise their standard of living and so in the long run this will not be beneficial for Russia but in the short run it has been working yes all right thank you so much for sharing all your insights sir there was a lot of insight and some foresight as well from Peter Kik who joined us from Washington always a pleasure speaking with you thank you [Music]

Russia and Uzbekistan signed an accord Monday for Moscow to build a small nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country, as Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in the Uzbek capital with Uzbekistan leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

#russiaukrainewar #putin #tashkent

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