Because the region was part of both the Soviet Union and the Russian empire, President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin regards it as part of Russia’s natural sphere of influence. Putin’s efforts to transform Russia into a major energy power and use energy as a tool of Russian foreign policy make the region all the more strategically significant.
其次，中亚的领导权力过渡可能导致外来力量利用由此而生的混乱局面，从而引发一场影响力之争。因为这一地区曾几何时是苏联和俄帝国的领土，因此普京总统领导的克里姆林自然而然地将其划进了俄国的势力范围。普京将俄国打造成能源大国并将能源作为外交武器的努力使得这一地区在战略上的重要性进一步增加。