Putin's Eastern voyages highlight Russia's setbacks

Europeans are rightly concerned about the escalation of Russian provocations, sabotage, and election interference. For the United States, Putin’s intention to pivot toward the PRC and wider Asia-Pacific is of serious importance. Setbacks in executing this course are indicative of a larger problem—the center of gravity in Russian policy is Putin’s war against Ukraine. Moscow is concentrating maximum possible attention on not losing this misbegotten confrontation, and so Siberia and the Far East are drained of investments, resources, and people. Direct messages from India, Türkiye, and even Kazakhstan on the senselessness and dangers of continuing the war are amplifying signals from Washington that each new version of a peace deal may require deeper compromises from the Kremlin.