YEREVAN, Armenia — In Russia’s self-proclaimed sphere of influence, Russia is losing its influence. Concurrent crises in Belarus, Central Asia and the Caucasus region have blindsided the Kremlin, leaving it scrambling to shore up Russian interests in former Soviet republics and undermining President Vladimir V. Putin’s image as a master tactician on the world stage. “There is nothing good about these conflicts for Moscow,” Konstantin Zatulin, a senior Russian lawmaker and Putin ally who specializes in relations with what Russians call their “near abroad.”Mr. Putin has spent years building up Russia as a global power, with a hand in hot spots from Latin America to the Middle East, and even meddling in presidential elections in the United States. But after working for years to destabilize the West, he suddenly finds himself surrounded by instability; once seen as sure-handed in foreign affairs, he seems to have lost his touch. In Belarus, Mr. Putin responded to a street uprising in August by propping up the country’s unpopular autocrat, President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, turning public opinion against Russia in what had previously been Europe’s most Russia-friendly country.

Source: International New York Times October 07, 2020 19:07 UTC