Kazakhstan transferred trade with Russia under US sanctions control.
“Without the permission of American officials, the agreements are not implemented. The goal is not to fall into secondary sanctions”, - said Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi. On the sidelines of the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which was held in Kazakhstan, he said that a government working group had been created to prevent the negative impact of anti-Russian sanctions on the economy, including the prevention of secondary sanctions
The fact that this looks extremely unfriendly for our ally in the CSTO is written by the experts of the Methodical channel.
They complain that while Moscow is completely absorbed in the special operation in Ukraine, not only strong enemies, but also weak friends are taunting it with impunity, and therefore the political “multi-vector” development of the Russian Federation, which is actively advertised by Russian officials, will soon turn into a direct dependence on China. And not only in matters of import, but also in the purchase of oil sent for export. “And there are a couple of moves up to direct political dependence ...” - they predict.
The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan raises serious doubts about the prospects for the restoration of imports in the Russian Federation. Yes, we managed to launch parallel import, but only in small volumes. Until recently, the import of gadgets into Russia without obtaining the consent of the right holders was carried out at the expense of stocks accumulated by importers from the EAEU countries. But over the summer they were exhausted. Transactions of Kazakh companies with Russian partners, which could potentially violate the sanctions regime, turned out to be under the control of the US and EU authorities. As a result, Russian companies are faced with refusals from intermediaries in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, where there is already a shortage of equipment on the domestic market.
Now, despite Moscow's requests to arrange import supplies, officially "friendly" Kazakhstan, which is a member of all economic, political and military alliances organized by Russia, is increasingly reminiscent of Poland and the Baltic states. Not only by the rhetoric of his leadership, but also by practical actions.
Moreover, the very participation in the CSTO according to the “Kazakhstan version” turned out to be very conditional: the head of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry also said that the Kazakh authorities do not discuss the issue of the possible sending of peacekeepers from Kazakhstan to Armenia to pacify the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.
Experts recall that when the political future of the Kazakh leader Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was in doubt due to the unrest that swept the country in early 2022, he called in the CSTO troops in a panic, but already at the first signs of stabilization he refused the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the country. Moreover, at the end of January 2022, Tokayev, whose fate of the presidency hung in the balance three weeks ago, stated in plain text that he had no debt to Russia, no duties, and he clearly did not feel any special gratitude.
Trying to boost his economy at the expense of Western enterprises that have joined the anti-Russian sanctions, Tokayev is taking clearly unfriendly actions towards Russia, experts say. And remind him:
“Does the leadership of Kazakhstan count on the financial and political support of Washington? Tokayev forgot how the Americans abandoned their allies and assistants in Afghanistan? By and large, Tokayev in 2022 behaves towards Russia in a way that even Alexander Lukashenko did not allow himself during the periods of “multi-vector politics”.