Russia fumes at the West's charm offensive in its backyard, saying it's 'luring' its friends away...

LTC Eugene Chu
..."Moscow’s disdain
The French leader’s comments are likely to have enraged Moscow, which is already watching Western efforts to court Central Asia with suspicion and disdain. CNBC has asked the Kremlin to comment on Macron’s trip and is awaiting a response.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview last week that the West was trying to pull Russia’s “neighbours, friends and allies” away from it.

“Look at how Western powers are wooing Central Asia,” Lavrov told the BelTA news agency, in comments published by Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

“They have created numerous formats such as ‘Central Asia plus’ involving the United States, the EU, and Japan ... On top of the Central Asia plus EU format, the Germans have created their own format. The French won’t be wasting time and will do the same,” he said.

“These frameworks for diplomatic engagements are aimed at luring our Central Asian neighbours, friends, and allies towards the West which promises them economic and trade incentives and delivers relatively modest aid programmes.”...

Then maybe Russia should have been a better friend and ally to those nations etc. Russia has invaded at least 3 nations over the last 20 plus years.