Nur Sultan, 7 March 2022 (TDI): German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier hold a telephone conversation with Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Both Presidents talked about the Russian Ukraine crisis and bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and Germany.
🇰🇿📞🇩🇪 At the initiative of the German side, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had a telephone conversation with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany
The heads of state thoroughly exchanged views on the situation in #Ukraine.
Read more: https://t.co/QNcjFm14Sb pic.twitter.com/9oJqqqyTNJ
— President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s Press Office (@AkordaPress) March 7, 2022
Discussion during the Telephonic Conversation
At the start of the conversation, both heads of state thoroughly discussed the Ukraine situation. Likewise, German President Steinmeier briefed about the European Union’s position regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kazakhstan’s President reasoned that all states should abide by the United Nations (UN) Charter principles and norms. Further, he emphasized diplomatic means should be adopted for the peaceful solution of the crisis.
A diplomatic solution will stop further harm to Ukraine’s civilizations and prevent civilian infrastructure from destruction. President Tokayev showed Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian civilians.
These include food, medicine, necessary products, and transportation facilities for evacuation. He also briefed that the Kazakh government has already evacuated nearly 1000 civilians to safe places and their homelands. They agreed to stay in touch on the Ukraine crisis.
Other than the Ukraine crisis, both Presidents talked about the bilateral relationship between Germany and Kazakhstan. They noted bilateral relations have improved after the Kazakh president visited Germany in 2019.
At the end of the phone call, President Tokayev invited the German President to visit Kazakhstan. German President gratefully accepted the invitation. The German President also praised the Kazakhstan modernization policy and welcomed the Kazakh economic and political reforms.
Russia Ukraine Crisis: An Overview
Ukraine and Russia have captured the entire world’s attention since 24th February. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine at the behest of its Security Council that convened a day before.
Prior to this, a day before, Russia also recognized the Republics of the Luhansk and Donetsk, much to the West’s chagrin. The Donetsk and Luhansk are a part of the Donbas region that is pro-Russia territory.
Recently, Western countries had been alleging Russia about troops’ deployment on the border of Ukraine. However, Russia had been denying the allegations by claiming that it has no intention to invade Ukraine.
One of the main issues of contention between Russia and the EU/US is NATO’s beefed-up defences in northeastern Europe and Ukraine’s intent to join NATO. Russian and Western counterparts held a series of negotiations to avert escalation. Though, that indelibly failed.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s stance regarding Ukraine is a matter of principle. In this context, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that if attempts to come to terms on mutually acceptable principles fail, Russia will adopt an appropriate response.
Contrarily, the Ukrainian authorities had been alerting the world about a possible invasion. Throughout 2021 and 2022, Russia and the West engaged in a diplomatic tussle related to Ukraine.
Likewise, the West kept accusing Russia of a military buildup on the border of Ukraine. Whilst Russia kept objecting to NATO’s expansionist agenda that is considered a threat to its strategic security.
Consequently, tensions escalated between the two countries and led to strained bilateral relations. Moreover, despite the United States and EU sending strong messages to warn Russia, the threat of economic isolation couldn’t deter Russia to compromise on what it considers its national interest.
