Mongolia makes awkward move to troll Putin for his history part of Carlson interview

Mongolia's former president outlined his country's claims to Russian territories, but then reassured everyone that the Mongols were a peaceful nation.

Photo: Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj on X platform

In his post on X platform (formerly Twitter), Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj commented on the historical part of Putin's recent interview with Tucker Carlson.

Elbegdorj posted a picture of a historical map of Mongolia in comparison with the Roman Empire and in comparison with Russia in 1471 during the era of Genghis Khan. Elbegdorj called on Russia "not to worry" because the Mongols were a "peaceful and free nation."

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj: Nationalist and Russophobe

Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj is a Russophobe and a nationalist. In the West, Elbegdorj is considered to be "a recognised democratic leader of the 1990s.” Like many post-Soviet leaders of that period, he turned on a dime after the collapse of the USSR, where he studied at the Lviv Military School. Elbegdorj became an agent of Western influence after he studied in the USA and England. In Mongolia, he created the Democratic Party, with which he still defends Western ideals and values.

Elbegdorj condemns Russia's special military operation in Ukraine and calls on the Russian president to "immediately stop the war.”

In his article entitled Why Ukraine Must Win, he stated:

"Victory means more than expelling Russian aggression, more even than liberating all occupied Ukrainian territory. Victory requires the rebuilding of Ukraine after conflict, and total recovery from Putin's war. If Ukraine fails to achieve that, freedom and the free world will face continuous intimidation and aggression from dictatorships."

Elbegdorj called on the West to provide Ukraine with fighter jets and longer-range missiles. He also believes that the Asian continent is "full of self-proclaimed rulers” who help Putin.

Pug barking at elephant

The call from the ex-President of Mongolia "not worry” looks like an inappropriate act of trolling. The point is not about a "peaceful and free nation” either. The point is about the Mongols who had lost their empire to Russia and found themselves unable to maintain their claims to world leadership.

Nowadays, Mongolia is a small landlocked country sandwiched between the Russian Federation and China. As Elbegdorj himself admits, there are "not many issues in the region that depend on Mongolia.”

Mongolia's risks today are as follows:

• one of its neighbours has the world's second-largest economy,
• the other one has the world's largest nuclear arsenal and most experienced military.

Thus, Mongolia can only guarantee its security is neutrality and building profitable economic relations with the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of China.

With this in mind, Mongolia will only benefit sooner or later: the Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline will stretch through its territory, providing foreign exchange earnings for transit.

The Russian Federation still has leverage over Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar depends on Russian fuel (Mongolia imports almost 100% of fuels and lubricants from Russia), electricity and food. It also imports equipment for the mining industry. Half of Mongolia's tourists in 2022 were Russians. Russia also controls its transit routes to Europe and ultimately acts as its second largest trading partner after China.

Mongolia has nothing to choose from, because China supports Russia in foreign policy. This explains why Ulaanbaatar abstains from voting in the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.

Elbegdorj as Mongolia marginal politician

Mongolia will hold parliamentary elections in 2024. Elbegdorj's party is portrayed in Mongolian media as an "extremely unpatriotic" group. As for the politician himself, Mongolian journalists describe him as a man, who still uses his image of the head of state (in the past tense) as an international representative and does everything possible to thus live an easy and quiet life.