Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
The situation in Ukraine seems to be cooling down. Not sure why. I think that Biden must have said something to Putin to cool it a little. Secondly, could be that Putin is prioritizing the gas pipeline over Ukraine. Perhaps the thrill of taking Kazakhstan will satisfy Russian imperialistic feelings for a while. Either way, I fully expect Kazakhstan to be a relic of the past very shortly...
I think that everyone is looking forward to what, if anything, will come out of the Geneva talks, so it is most likely that little will happen before then, outside of both sides preparing for conflict. Tomorrow is the Russian Orthodox celebration of Christmas, so we are also looking at a holiday weekend there.
What is happening in Kazakhstan bears some similarity to the Maidan uprising, and Putin is not going to risk another one of those succeeding in a former Soviet territory. Apparently, he is involving Armenia in the effort to put down a popular resistance that started with the government announcing fuel price hike a few days ago. The government there is trying a strict crackdown, which is what triggered the full-blown revolution in Ukraine. The one in Belarus failed, putting Lukashenko firmly in Putin's pocket. The Kazakhstan revolt is likely to result in that country sliding more firmly back under Russian dominance, but it is difficult for international monitors and news organizations to see what is happening. With Russian troops in the country, Putin will have firm control of yet another major supplier of fossil fuel to other countries, so prices of those commodities will probably ratchet up even more on the world market, helping Russia's economy.