How Putin was repeatedly snubbed by countries he thought were his allies since invading Ukraine

• Some of Russia’s longtime allies have snubbed the country and Putin since the Ukraine invasion.

• Once-subservient allies are growing bolder, seeing Russia struggle to subdue a small neighbor.

• Large powers like China and India are charting an ambivalent path.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has not been a popular figure around the world since he invaded Ukraine in February.

While he has been outright rejected by Western leaders since it started in February, more interesting is how Russia’s longtime allies have responded.

Though more subtly, many have shown they are not happy with the war. It has left Russia with only a handful of still-close allies that include the world’s pariah states.

Here are the ways Putin has been snubbed since the war began:

Tajikistan’s president appeared to berate Putin and demanded respect for his country.

The president of Tajikistan, a close ally of Russia, seemed to berate Putin during a meeting of central Asian leaders in October.

Emomali Rahmon said he wanted more respect from Putin despite his country’s size.

His remarks followed a theme seen with other post-Soviet nations which felt confident enough to assert themselves in the face of Russia’s failures to quickly subdue Ukraine.

“Yes, we are small nations, we are not 100-200 million, but we have history, culture, we love, we want to be respected,” Rahmon said, according to Mail Online.

He also complained that smaller nations were “never being treated like strategic partners!”

“No offense,” he said, “but we want to be respected!”

Rahmon also told Putin not to treat central Asian countries as if they were still part of the former Soviet Union, the New Voice of Ukraine reported.

However, this stopped short of actually condemning the invasion of Ukraine.

Tajikistan, which is economically dependent on Russia, has largely stayed quiet about the war but has taken in Russians fleeing the call to fight in Ukraine.

Read Full Story

Kazakhstan distanced itself from Russia, sent help to Ukraine, and sought to increase ties with the West.

Story continues