The Washington post published an article titled "Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus form Eurasian Economic Union".
"Russian President Vladimir Putin moved Thursday to further bolster his nation’s ties to former Soviet republics, as Russia’s relationships with the United States and Europe continue to fray over the conflict in Ukraine. Putin met Thursday with his counterparts from Kazakhstan and Belarus in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to initiate the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union. Putin has long sought to form the bloc in hopes that it would provide an Eastern counterweight to economic and political powerhouses such as the European Union and the United States", begins the article.
Some analysts quickly dismissed the Eurasian Economic Union, saying it was likely to have little practical impact, reads the article. “I don’t believe that the Eurasian union is [going to be] able to open the door for modernization,” said Alexey Malashenko, an analyst at the Carnegie Endowment’s Moscow Center, quoted by the Washington Post. “That’s a big deal, because without modernization and real economic reforms, what does it mean, this union?"
"Still, inside Russia, many people are frustrated with what they see as domineering U.S. foreign policy and economic might, and they are angry at Russia’s flagging economy and endemic corruption. The combination makes the idea of a Russian revival, commanding new attention on the world stage, increasingly popular. And, thus, so is the concept underpinning the Eurasian Economic Union. Putin has called the breakup of the Soviet Union the greatest tragedy in Russian history, and many Russians echo that rhetoric", writes the Washington Post.
