Kremlins foreim policy is that they are extremely opportune stic. They're very good at recognizing where there may be an opening to kind of tip things in their favor. Kasokstan, like a lot of central asia, has for a long time, been on good terms with all the major players in the region. And so russia may have seen an opening here to make themselves dispensable by essentially propped up a leader.
The speedy arrival of CSTO troops in Kazakhstan is unprecedented in the 30-year history of the Russia-backed regional security alliance.
Today’s show was produced by Victoria Chamberlin, edited by Matt Collette and Noel King, engineered by Efim Shapiro, fact-checked by Laura Bullard and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.
Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained
Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices