Empire of the Ring

Chapter 638: Negotiations in Moscow (2)

Upon arrival at the Kremlin, Youngho was escorted to Putin’s personal library.

Officials from the Russian military were also present.

The fact that military officials attended the meeting was probably because they wanted to talk about the Baltic-White Sea Canal.

“Your Highness, I heard you wanted to use the Baltic-White Canal. But our military leadership was reluctant to do so because of our submarine base in the White Sea.”

In an era where satellite images could capture most of the movements, it was not persuasive to use military bases as an excuse. It would be more reasonable to argue that Kazakhstan had allowed a U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan and had a joint operation with the U.S. in Afghanistan and Syria.

“I’m sure you know that military exchanges and military alliances are different, don’t you? Currently, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States are the only military allies of Kazakhstan.”

Looking at the Russian generals present, Youngho showed an expression of being clueless.

They were well aware of that fact, but Putin was displeased with the Kazakh royal family’s pro-Western policy. Nevertheless, he was not able to bluntly tell Youngho to stay away from the U.S., so he was subtly pressuring him with an excuse of the Russian military.

“These guys tend to cut things out of context not thinking thoroughly. They misunderstood the attack on Syrian government forces.”

“Anyway, I hope you don’t forget that we’ve worked hard enough to inform you of our targets in Syria in advance.”

In fact, there was no damage from the Russian military during the punitive operation against the Syrian government’s distribution of poison gas.

Kazakhstan had informed the Russian Air Force of its targets in advance and allowed the Russian Air Force to avoid them.

“And the withdrawal of Kazakh troops from Syria, even though the Kurds had not completed their migration, was in consideration of the positions of Russia and Iran.”

“How can we not know that? However, our military leaders are uncomfortable to open military facilities to Kazakhstan which is in military cooperation with the U.S. I can’t ignore the voice of the military either.”

It was never true that a dictator with absolute power needed the military’s permission for a decision. The military was just an excuse, but Putin just wanted to know Youngho’s mind.

For Putin, it was important whether the Kazakh royal family still considered Russia an ally.

In order to revive Russia’s beleaguered economy, investment by the Kazakh royal family must be made, but if Kazakhstan was leaning toward the U.S. so that it could shake Putin’s power.

Because of Putin’s policy on the Crimean Peninsula, it seemed that there was no way out of Russia’s economic recession no matter how much resources were sold out of the country.

Putin’s opponents were even protesting to leave Crimea alone again and get out of economic sanctions.

When Youngho gave a straight answer without hesitation, Putin turned the conversation back to the canal.

“But some sections of the Baltic-White Sea are shallow so that a large cargo ship can’t get around.”

“If a warship or a submarine could travel, wouldn’t it be possible for any merchant ship to travel around? I don’t think there’s a problem because the water line of warships runs deeper than the merchant ships.”

The battleship’s water line was deep because its lower part was made pointy to increase its speed.

“How big would a warship be? When the battleships go through the artificial waterway, we increase the water level of the floodgates as much as possible so that they can pass. But I don’t know if it can be applied to large cargo ships.”

“How many shallow sections are there?”

“We have prepared a data for that. Would you like to take a look?”

Putin brought out the data he had prepared to show to Youngho.

The reason why he invited Youngho to his private study was because he wanted to talk about such matters.

“There will be slight differences between sections, but it is essential to expand about 50 kilometers of the waterway to secure safe passage. We wanted to expand the canal to allow cargo ships to travel, but we left it there because we couldn’t afford it.”

This meant that if Youngho wanted to use the canal, he had to expand it himself.

It would be clearer with a survey, but if the height of the floodgates was higher, the water level could be raised.

Most of the Volga-Baltic canals were man-made, so most of it had to go through construction, but for the Baltic-White Sea Canal, the issue could be resolved by raising the gates and banks of the artificial waterway section as large lakes were located throughout the canal.

“We have to conduct a due diligence, but I think we can solve it by raising the floodgates and building the banks higher.”

“Hmmm… That could be a breakthrough.”

“Mr. President. Military facilities may be important, but think about the economic benefits of opening the canal.”

Putin began to show interest when Youngho mentioned economic benefits.

If the Baltic-White Sea Canal was opened, Russia would end up rolling in money just by making profits from the canal, and there was no way that Putin was not aware of it.

“Then Russia will take the initiative in opening the era of the Arctic Ocean. Don’t you know better how opening the Baltic-White Canal will affect the economy?”

“The icebreaker is essential to travel through the White and Arctic seas which are frozen for 7 months a year, and is there a way for you to deal with it?”

“You know, we have icebreakers, too. We’ve prepared this to remove the ice from the Caspian Sea and make it to Greenland. We’ve got 4 large and 2 small icebreakers.”

You could not say it was made for the purpose of taking Siberia’s resources.

The best excuse was Denmark. Even elementary school students knew that the royal families of Kazakhstan and Denmark were in-laws.

“I see. You seem thoroughly prepared. Then you must be very interested in nuclear icebreakers, too”

The mention of an atomic energy icebreaker meant that he could sell one of them too.

“Are you saying you’d like to sell nuclear icebreakers?”

“We can sell whatever you want, whether it’s a new ship or an existing icebreaker.”

This remark was tantamount to a proposal to join the Arctic Ocean era.

The nuclear icebreaker was a ship that had the power to crush winter ice near the North Pole. He could not possibly suggest using such a ship at the Pacific Ocean.

“I’m very interested, but unless the Arctic route had started in earnest, it would be too premature for me to buy it.”

“Considering the drying period, I recommend that you prepare it from now on. Please take the time to consider it.”

The reason why Putin recommended buying nuclear icebreakers was that Russia could not afford the maintenance costs of icebreakers in Russia.

***

Youngho and Putin discussed pending issues for about three hours and ended the first day of the meeting.

Yaniv welcomed Youngho when he arrived at Arirang Hotel, where Youngho would be staying.

“What did you talk about that you stayed there until this late?”

“Well, there were tons of things we talked about. Later, he even recommended buying an atomic energy icebreaker.”

“Putin must have been in a hurry, too. He tried so hard to win the reputation of having the world’s only nuclear-powered icebreakers but now he is eager to sell them.”

There were a total of 32 icebreakers in Russia, of which six were nuclear-powered icebreakers. Maintaining that many icebreakers were also a daunting situation for Russia at the moment.

“He recommended a new icebreaker on the surface, but it seemed like his true intention was to sell old ones.”

“He’s been pushing himself to build nuclear-powered icebreakers out of your desire to monopolize the Arctic Ocean, and now he can’t handle it. Why don’t you take this opportunity to secure an atomic energy icebreaker?”

“I think I should thoroughly go over this and decide. If we buy your icebreaker, we can sail the Arctic Ocean without a hitch.”

“You’re right. That much is more than enough. How about the Siberian railroad project?”

Youngho and Putin shared an in-depth view on the Trans-Siberian Railway project in private, after the military leaders left.

“The Siberian railroad project alone costs more than 6 billion dollars. So I asked him to allow foreign companies to participate.”

“As far as I know, the total cost of construction is 6 billion dollars. What do you mean?”

“It is by Russian government standards. Russia worked on some of the sections already, so it is estimating the remaining construction costs at around 6 billion dollars.”

“Phew, those government officials are working by the rule of thumb.”

“It has to be. It’s all muddy in the summer and freezing in the winter. It wouldn’t have been easy to estimate the construction costs.”

“Will foreign companies try to get involved easily?”

“Just like the canal project, it would be possible if the Kazakh royal family guaranteed profits.”

“And then what if Putin changes his mind and nationalizes all the facilities?”

“Then Russia will be cut off from the world. And over time, it’s going to collapse from the inside. When the economy collapses, even the most loyal people are supposed to turn their backs.”

“Then Putin probably won’t risk it.”

“I wish that’s the case.”

“I feel like your move is bold and relentless. Have you gotten something behind you, Duke?”

Youngho wanted to spill that he had secured tactical nuclear weapons, but he kept quiet.

“Of course. What would I worry about with you and Sergey in Russia?”

“I’m a man of no foundation. I didn’t hesitate to kill for profits. Can you really trust me?”

“Whatever you’ve done in the past, I only believe in the present. I don’t know if it’s selfish, but you’re always nice to me. I think I can fully understand even if you turned your back on me. You’d probably have a good reason to do so.”

“Oh, now I have no words to say.”

“Mr. Yaniv, don’t think too much. You’ve been able to survive every single time you’ve risked your life. I, who is leading Kazakhstan, also am walking on a dangerous tightrope. In order to survive, I’ll do anything.”

“Listen to you, the Duke of the Kazakh royal family sounds more like a mafia than myself.”

“When you run a country, you have to be worse than the mafia. The mafia is more like a gentleman.”

“Hahaha… I’ve never heard of a mafia being a gentleman.”

“The international community is where you’d do anything for the sake of the national interest. Yesterday’s enemies become friends and enemies again, right? Mafia would rather be loyal.”

“There’s no loyalty to a gang. It’s the mafia world that eats treachery for survival.”

“I’ve seen you for such a long time, so when I think of mafia, I think about a sense of duty.”

“Hahaha… Now you’re saying that I can’t even think of turning my back on you.”