After the Soviet breakup, Central Asia has gained importance for several States because of its geographical location … Asian countries are: Russia, China, United States, European countries, Iran, India and Turkey. Among these players, Russia … considers Central Asia still part of its sphere of influence for historical reasons, while it has to deal an increasing presence …

notably with the aim of limiting Russia's access to hard international currency. However, Russia remains the world's first … States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Given the inelasticity of Russia's oil and gas supply, the most efficient … used flexibly to control the degree of economic pressure on Russia. …

Russia resulted by the 2014 Ukraine crisis might reinvigorate the EU's quest to diversify its gas supply portfolio. These …