Russia’s focus on developing two major trade routes linking Europe and Asia may put the country “at the heart of much of international trade,” as Bloomberg put it.
The two routes in question are the International North-South Transport Corridor – a network of railways, roads and shipping lanes that links Europe and India via Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran – and the Northern Sea Route, which connects Europe and Asia via Russia’s Arctic waters.
Both of these transportation arteries bypass the Suez Canal and are thus unaffected by the current volatile situation situation in the region, not to mention that using them could drastically reduce transit times and costs as compared to the Suez Canal route.
Though the United States and its Western allies have so far refrained from using these trade routes, “major Asian and Gulf economies” have already displayed interest, the media outlet notes.
The use of these trade routes also helps Russia pivot from trading with the West to dealing with the booming Asian economies, thus further diminishing the effect of the already faltering Western sanctions.