Astana rejects Belarussian leader’s criticism over Russia-Ukraine war stance.
Almaz Kumenov Aug 23, 2024
Lukashenko, Putin and Tokayev (front, from left) at an EAEU event in Kazakhstan in May 2024. (Photo: akorda.kz)
Belarus’ dictator, Aleksandr Lukashenko, recently called out Kazakhstan for not being sufficiently supportive of Russia’s efforts to militarily bludgeon Ukraine into submission. Kazakh officials did not take kindly to such criticism.
Lukashenko took a not-so-veiled swipe at Kazakhstan’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war during an interview broadcast on Russian television on August 15, casting Astana as a pacifist observer. He also hinted that Kazakhstan was insufficiently grateful for the political support that Moscow has provided in the past and may provide in the future. Russian forces helped quell upheaval in early 2022 in Kazakhstan, a bout of violence now commonly referred to as the January events.
“The time is not far off when you will come to Russia and ask for support and help. There is no one else to ask,” Lukashenko said in the interview, making an apparent reference to Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh Foreign Ministry summoned the Belarusian ambassador to explain Lukashenko’s unwelcome intervention. During the August 21 meeting in Astana, Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu reminded the Belarusian ambassador, Pavel Utyupin, that Kazakhstan pursues “a peaceful foreign policy based on the principles of the UN and international law,” the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.
In the most diplomatic of terms, Nurleu effectively told the Belarus to butt-out, hinting that Lukashenko had committed a diplomatic sin by airing criticism publicly and not behind closed doors. Belarus and Kazakhstan are ostensibly allies via shared membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
“Our country is firmly convinced that all disagreements between states should be resolved by political and diplomatic means,” the Foreign Ministry statement cited Nurleu as saying. “In the current geopolitical conditions, the country’s foreign policy course developed by the Head of State has proven its effectiveness.”
To hammer home the point that Lukashenko was out of line, the Kazakh minister “called on the Belarusian side to objectively assess Astana’s position on the ongoing processes.”
With an eye on securing its own northern regions, Kazakhstan has expressed its commitment to the principles of the inviolability of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion in February 2022. Officially, Astana also complies with sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, although there have been multiple reports of sanctions-busting activities.
Kazakhstan has long pursued a multi-vectored foreign policy, striving to balance the interests and influence of major powers, including Russia, China, the United States and European Union.
In June of that year, at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly, with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sitting next to him, declared that his country does not recognize the independence of the eastern regions of Ukraine, the Russia-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. A month later, Tokayev, during a telephone conversation with the head of the European Council Charles Michel, assured him of Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide support in solving energy problems in European countries, which have significantly reduced oil and gas imports from Russia.
Almaz Kumenov is an Almaty-based journalist.
Belarus’ dictator, Aleksandr Lukashenko, recently called out Kazakhstan for not being sufficiently supportive of Russia’s efforts to militarily bludgeon Ukraine into submission. Kazakh officials did not take kindly to such criticism.
Lukashenko took a not-so-veiled swipe at Kazakhstan’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war during an interview broadcast on Russian television on August 15, casting Astana as a pacifist observer. He also hinted that Kazakhstan was insufficiently grateful for the political support that Moscow has provided in the past and may provide in the future. Russian forces helped quell upheaval in early 2022 in Kazakhstan, a bout of violence now commonly referred to as the January events.
“The time is not far off when you will come to Russia and ask for support and help. There is no one else to ask,” Lukashenko said in the interview, making an apparent reference to Kazakhstan.
The Kazakh Foreign Ministry summoned the Belarusian ambassador to explain Lukashenko’s unwelcome intervention. During the August 21 meeting in Astana, Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu reminded the Belarusian ambassador, Pavel Utyupin, that Kazakhstan pursues “a peaceful foreign policy based on the principles of the UN and international law,” the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported.
In the most diplomatic of terms, Nurleu effectively told the Belarus to butt-out, hinting that Lukashenko had committed a diplomatic sin by airing criticism publicly and not behind closed doors. Belarus and Kazakhstan are ostensibly allies via shared membership in the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.
“Our country is firmly convinced that all disagreements between states should be resolved by political and diplomatic means,” the Foreign Ministry statement cited Nurleu as saying. “In the current geopolitical conditions, the country’s foreign policy course developed by the Head of State has proven its effectiveness.”
To hammer home the point that Lukashenko was out of line, the Kazakh minister “called on the Belarusian side to objectively assess Astana’s position on the ongoing processes.”
With an eye on securing its own northern regions, Kazakhstan has expressed its commitment to the principles of the inviolability of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine since the start of Russia’s unprovoked invasion in February 2022. Officially, Astana also complies with sanctions imposed on Russia by the West, although there have been multiple reports of sanctions-busting activities.
Kazakhstan has long pursued a multi-vectored foreign policy, striving to balance the interests and influence of major powers, including Russia, China, the United States and European Union.
In June of that year, at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev publicly, with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin sitting next to him, declared that his country does not recognize the independence of the eastern regions of Ukraine, the Russia-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. A month later, Tokayev, during a telephone conversation with the head of the European Council Charles Michel, assured him of Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide support in solving energy problems in European countries, which have significantly reduced oil and gas imports from Russia.
Almaz Kumenov is an Almaty-based journalist.
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