Kazakhstan-Russia relations

While Kazakhstan's government is balancing, these Kazakhstanis have already picked a side in Putin's war on Ukraine. 

A debt dispute sits atop a host of other political risks, inserting uncertainty into operations at the important Baikonur spaceport.

Central Asia might actually be interested in Russian gas, but please don’t call it a “union.”

Back-to-back visits by Kazakh President Tokayev this week to Moscow and Paris underscore Astana’s unique position.

In the early 1990s, ethnic Russians left Kazakhstan in droves. In 2022, that flow once again reversed as Russians fled into Central Asia.

The new version of Kazakhstan’s military doctrine signals that Astana intends to hold fast to the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Moscow denies that Central Asians are being conscripted into the Russian military, but the risk is real.

“We must take care of them and ensure their safety. This is a political and humanitarian issue,” Kazakh President Tokayev said of the influx of Russians.

The not-so-subtle criticism of the Russian government regarding Ukraine in Kazakh President Tokayev’s UNGA speech should not be overlooked.

The decision was immediately framed in the press as related to the war in Ukraine, but we know very little about Kazakhstan’s arms exports.

The timing of an August 3 briefing on a months-old separatism case in Petropavl was no coincidence.