Professor Richard Pomfret authored an article for the East Asia Forum explaining the current economic ties between Russia and the Central Asian countries with the overall argument that these economies are no longer dependent on Russia to survive. Pomfret notes that since 1991 nearly all these countries have diversified and pulled away from Russia, deepening ties with China and Europe instead. While they will all be impacted by the war in Ukraine, primarily related to migrant worker remittances and trade routes, the current crisis is not likely to seriously shock these economies and will mainly function to pull them further away from Russia long-term.