Despite war, post-Soviet states find breaking up with Russia hard to do
There was a time, not so long ago, when Russia’s Victory Day, marking the USSR’s triumph over Nazi Germany, was considered a shared international holiday. At one point, it even included contingents of NATO troops marching in the traditional military parade across Red Square under the gaze of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and visiting Western leaders.
The outside world largely ignored this year’s parade on May 9, which was a greatly scaled-back affair amid the war in Ukraine and the very real threat of Ukrainian drone attacks. But to the surprise of many analysts, Mr. Putin was joined on the reviewing stand by the leaders of seven other post-Soviet countries, including all five former Soviet Central Asian republics, plus Armenia and Belarus.
After more than a year of severe stress, many of those countries from embattled Moscow and find alternative avenues for trade, political connections, and security. But it’s not that easy to escape the bonds of geography, history, economic integration, and geopolitical dependence. All of the leaders sitting with Mr. Putin, and a few others who weren’t, have discovered evergreen reasons not to burn their bridges with Moscow.
