One top official in Moscow was fuming as he claimed the West was "luring" its "neighbours, friends, and allies" away from Russia.
Moscow's disdainThe French leader's comments are likely to have enraged Moscow, which is already watching Western efforts to court Central Asia with suspicion and disdain.
"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.
China's roleThere's certainly a tussle for influence that's taking place in Central Asia, with China also "courting" the region to a certain extent.
Persons:
Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Kassym, Sergei Lavrov, Lavrov, Ilham Aliyev, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, Emomali Rahmon, Alexander Lukashenko, Mark Galeotti, Galeotti, we've, Ed Jones, There's, Joe Biden, Jim Watson, Alexander Titov, Russia's, Xi Jinping, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov
Organizations:
Getty, Ukraine, Kazakh, CNBC, Russian, Central, Russia's Foreign Ministry, EU, Commonwealth of Independent States, Central Asia's, West, General, Afp, Georgia —, Queen's University of Belfast, U.S, Analysts, of, Forum, International Cooperation, Xinhua News Agency
Locations:
13,2023, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Moscow, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Soviet, Astana, France, Uzbekistan, United States, Japan, Turkmenistan, Russian, London, Europe, China, Central, Ukraine, Central Asian, Tajikistan, New York City, Belarus, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, North Korea, Nicaragua, Syria, South Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova, Afghanistan, Beijing, People's, of Turkmenistan