Political scientist Marat Shibutov: Kazakhstan formally complies with anti-Russian sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, they agreed to strengthen the strategic partnership. This is reported by RIA News.
The visit began on the morning of Thursday, November 9th. The meeting took place at the Akorda state residence.
“Our meetings with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin are regular. This very clearly illustrates the high level of content in relations between Kazakhstan and Russia,” said President of Kazakhstan in an interview with Izvestia on the eve of the meeting.
Vladimir Putin was greeted at the residence by a company of honor guard. Then the politicians listened to the national anthems of Russia and Kazakhstan.
After this, the heads of state addressed the participants in the Forum of Interregional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia, which is being held in Kostanay in parallel with the negotiations. They stated that they intend to discuss at the meeting issues of coordinating the economies of the two countries within the EAEU.
Everyone knows that Kazakhstan and Russia are allies and strategic partners. The future of our relationship is bright, the past of our relationship was very rich
After the protocol events, the parties retired for a private conversation. It lasted about two hours.
Putin and Tokayev discussed sanctions, energy and military cooperation
Following the meeting, the parties issued a joint statement on a wide range of issues. They also signed a joint action plan between the two countries for 2024-2026 regarding economic and international cooperation.
In particular, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to meet its ally halfway in the export of coal and the creation of additional facilities in Kazakhstan for the assembly of Lada cars.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, in turn, supported the creation of branches of Russian universities in the country with an emphasis on technical training programs.
“Kassym-Zhomart Kemelevich supports the process of creating branches of our higher educational institutions in Kazakhstan. (…) Please, we will do everything to ensure that this is implemented as broadly as possible,” Putin emphasized.
According to the signed documents, Russia is also ready to build three new coal-fired thermal power plants in Kazakhstan on a turnkey basis. We are talking about new energy facilities in Kokshetau, Semey and Ust-Kamenogorsk. In addition, issues related to the supply of Russian gas and oil to China and Central Asian countries were discussed at the meeting.
At the same time, Kazakhstan intends to increase the volume of energy transit, as well as strengthen the work of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC).
“We noted the importance of ensuring the sustainable functioning of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, and in this regard, I expressed our gratitude and appreciation to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In other words, CPC is working successfully,” said the Kazakh president.
Another topic of negotiations was international sanctions. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev assured that he is against restrictions on Russian trade with other countries. He proposed removing any obstacles to the supply of Russian food, seeds and fertilizers to the world market.
Kazakhstan and Russia equally well understand that independent sovereign choice of development paths does not hinder, but greatly increases the returns from an equal and mutually beneficial partnership
The leaders also discussed issues related to military cooperation. Thus, Vladimir Putin said that he spoke with his Kazakh colleague about the training of military personnel and specialists from other law enforcement agencies. He noted that bilateral cooperation in the defense sector is not directed against third countries and serves exclusively to mutual strengthening of sovereignty.
With our assistance, licensed production and service of Russian military equipment was organized on the territory of the republic
There was also talk about coordinating efforts in international organizations, in particular the UN. Thus, Vladimir Putin promised that countries would jointly “defend the principles of the supremacy of international law, non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, and the right to a free model of development.”
Kazakhstan’s position on anti-Russian sanctions has not changed
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, however, did not touch upon issues of compliance with Western sanctions in areas not related to food. A few weeks earlier, he asserted that the republic intends to firmly adhere to the regime of restrictions imposed against Russia, although it opposes such a policy.
“Kazakhstan has clearly stated that it will follow the sanctions regime. We have contacts with the relevant organizations to comply with the sanctions regime, and it seems to me that there should not be any concerns on the German side regarding possible actions aimed at circumventing the sanctions regime,” the Kazakh president said in September 2023.
As a political scientist and member of the National Kurultai (consultative and advisory body) explained in a conversation with Lenta.ru approx. “Tapes.ru”) under the president of the country, Marat Shibutov, the republic is forced to comply with the sanctions regime due to the risk to its own economy.
There is no way we can compensate for this damage. We have to comply with these sanctions
At the same time, he noted that Kazakhstan is trying to deliberately not focus attention on this issue, since many companies “turn a blind eye to the established rules.” The country’s leadership, in turn, is not very actively preventing them from collaborating with their Russian colleagues.
“We don’t have to necessarily talk about everything. Maybe we could also indicate which specific company is not complying, so that it would be easier for the United States to harm us? If you do not comply with sanctions, there is no need to shout about it in all directions,” the political scientist explained.
He also noted that Kazakhstan is still considering Rosatom as a possible contractor for the construction of the country’s first nuclear power plant, along with French, American, Chinese and South Korean companies. This issue will finally become clear, according to him, after a referendum on the operation of nuclear facilities on the territory of the republic.
After the referendum takes place, and I hope that the majority of Kazakhstanis will vote “yes”, then we will talk about a specific choice
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