The Kremlin's ambitious plans to turn Russia into part of a new "Silk Road" from China to Europe continue to fail, according to The Moscow Times.

"On June 22, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Alikhan Smailov, paid an official visit to Georgia, where he signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint venture for the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).

Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, China has sharply reduced the volume of transit shipments through the territory of Russia. China is developing alternative routes with the participation of neighboring countries," The Moscow Times said.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, starting from Southeast Asia and China, runs through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, then Azerbaijan and Georgia and to further European countries.

According to the press service of the Government of Kazakhstan, within the framework of Alikhan Smailov's visit to Tbilisi on June 23, an agreement was signed between "Kazakhstan Railways" and "Georgian Railways" on the creation of a joint enterprise. A similar document was also signed with "Azerbaijan Railway" in Baku.

"A unified logistics company will make it possible to simplify the transportation process on the Trans-Caspian international transport route and reduce the delivery time of Chinese goods to the European market by 10-15 days," the press service of the Government of Kazakhstan said.

It should be noted that according to the results of last year, the transit from China to Europe via Russia decreased by 30%.