Diplomacy - The Times Of Central Asia

Viewing results 1 - 6 of 146

Official Visit

Tokayev in Berlin: Ukraine, Putin, and Germany’s Growing Economic Interest in Kazakhstan

The war in Ukraine, Kazakhstan’s relations with Russia, energy, and Germany’s growing interest in Central Asia’s raw materials were all on the agenda during Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s visit to Berlin on September 29. The Kazakh president again called for a freeze on hostilities in Ukraine before moving toward diplomacy, while emphasizing Kazakhstan’s close ties with Russia. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Moscow had so far shown no willingness to engage in substantive peace talks. The two sides also discussed increasing supplies of Kazakh oil, critical minerals, German investment, and transport routes between Asia and Europe. After the meeting, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the two leaders had discussed Russia and its war against Ukraine “very intensively.” Berlin’s position is that Moscow must end the war and enter serious negotiations involving Ukraine and European states. “The aim of such peace negotiations must be a sovereign Ukraine in a secure Europe,” Merz said. Until Russia is ready for such a peace, he added, Germany will continue to support Kyiv. Reiterating his position, Tokayev advocated a different sequence. He said he did not consider a rapid end to the war realistic under current conditions and called for first freezing hostilities in Ukraine and then moving toward diplomacy and negotiations. The Kazakh president also reaffirmed his commitment to the UN Charter and respect for the territorial integrity of states, while stressing his respect for the Ukrainian people, their culture, history, traditions, and language. A similar position was set out in a joint declaration by Tokayev and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The two expressed support for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the UN Charter and underscored their respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of states. At the press conference with Merz, however, Tokayev also emphasized Kazakhstan’s close relationship with Moscow. He said he had “very good contact” with Putin, and described the Russian president as an “outstanding political figure.” Tokayev also explained Kazakhstan’s relationship with Russia in geographical and demographic terms. The two countries share a border of more than 7,500 kilometers, and Kazakhstan has a large ethnic Russian population. “Whatever may happen on the territory of Ukraine, we never forget that both Russia and Ukraine are our good friends,” Tokayev said. Merz thanked Kazakhstan for helping prevent the circumvention of sanctions against Russia, describing this as “work for peace.” Kazakhstan has not joined Western sanctions against Russia, but has repeatedly said it will not allow its territory to be used to circumvent them. For the European Union, controls on re-exports through third countries have taken on greater importance since 2022, as Russia’s trade with several Central Asian states increased sharply. Oil featured prominently in the economic discussions. Merz said Germany was interested in receiving more crude from Kazakhstan to replace Russian oil. “We are looking for ways to diversify our supply relationships, and Kazakhstan is an important building block in this region of the world,” the chancellor said. Kazakhstan began supplying crude to the PCK refinery in Schwedt in...

UN General Assembly

At the UN, Mirziyoyeva Champions “Human Dignity” as Central Asia Seeks a Greater Voice

Uzbekistan called for a more effective United Nations and sought support for its Security Council candidacy during the General Assembly’s September 23 debate. Delivering the national address, presidential administration chief Saida Mirziyoyeva urged countries to work together despite deepening international divisions. “Our choice is human dignity,” said Mirziyoyeva. “Openness does not mean weakness.” Speaking in Uzbek at the Assembly’s 81st session in New York, she argued that a country’s strength should be judged by its ability to protect people’s rights and interests. The message offered a basis for cooperation beyond competing geopolitical camps, with particular emphasis on young people’s opportunities to study and shape their futures. [caption id="attachment_56825" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: Saida Mirziyoyeva/Telegram[/caption] A Larger Role at the UN Mirziyoyeva sought support for Uzbekistan’s candidacy for a nonpermanent Security Council seat in 2035–2036. She also highlighted the country’s forthcoming chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement in 2027, presenting it as an opportunity to widen dialogue during a period of international tension. She backed the secretary-general’s UN80 reform initiative and an expanded Security Council, arguing that the organization needed greater capacity to prevent conflict and implement its decisions. Her appeal was for international rules that apply consistently, rather than changing with the interests of powerful states. That concern also ran through Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov’s address, although he focused on unilateral sanctions and their impact on developing countries. The two speeches approached the issue differently, but both sought stronger multilateral protections for states with limited influence over the restrictions and conflicts affecting them. Kyrgyzstan has already secured its first Security Council seat for 2027–2028, giving Bishkek a vote on the sanctions and security decisions Japarov criticized. Afghanistan and Regional Cooperation Mirziyoyeva pointed to improving relations among neighboring Central Asian states as evidence that political will can help resolve longstanding disputes. She said disagreements over borders and water had increasingly given way to cooperation, with countries coming to see one another as partners. She applied the same argument to Afghanistan, warning against treating the country solely as a source of danger or abandoning its people to their difficulties. Her emphasis was on giving Afghans the prospect of peaceful development. Kazakhstan’s UN agenda also extends to Afghanistan through the regional Sustainable Development Goals center in Almaty, established to serve Central Asia and Afghanistan. Alongside its longstanding nuclear disarmament priorities, Kazakhstan is promoting cooperation on water security and has proposed an international water organization within the UN system. Measuring Progress in People’s Lives Mirziyoyeva linked her foreign policy message to Uzbekistan’s domestic reforms, citing economic growth and wider access to education. She said the economy had expanded from $50 billion to $147 billion over a decade and that poverty had fallen to 4%, presenting the figures as evidence of improvements in living standards. “The true value of reforms is reflected in people’s lives. Especially in children’s lives,” she said. She outlined forthcoming discussions with the UN Population Fund on demographic stability and human capital, and an international gathering in Samarkand in October focused on children’s...

UN General Assembly

Central Asia at the UN: Iran Threats and Sanctions Disputes

U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to “annihilate” Iran brought the vulnerability of Central Asia’s southern trade routes into focus as the UN General Assembly’s general debate opened in New York. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov challenged unilateral sanctions, while diplomacy over Ukraine raised the prospect of a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure. For landlocked Central Asia, these developments carry consequences far beyond the speeches. Iranian ports provide access to overseas markets, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan rely heavily on fuel from Russian refineries, and restrictions on international payments can complicate commerce even where transport links remain intact. Iran and Access to the Sea Addressing the General Assembly on September 22, Trump presented a choice between reaching an agreement with Tehran and carrying out his threat to “annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly.” He also predicted that an agreement could follow the U.S. midterm elections, while defending U.S. military action against Iran. [caption id="attachment_56719" align="aligncenter" width="1774"] Image: UN[/caption] That framing leaves Central Asian countries facing costs regardless of their position on Tehran. Iran provides overland connections to ports serving the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Damage to Iranian infrastructure can therefore disrupt trade between Central Asia and countries that are not parties to the conflict. Uzbekistan’s exposure illustrates the distinction. According to its Ministry of Economy and Finance, goods worth $3.9 billion entered Uzbekistan through Iran in 2025. That represented about 9% of total imports, including approximately $1 billion in technological equipment. Uzbek exports transiting Iran were worth another $1.4 billion. Those figures measure transit, not simply purchases from Iranian suppliers. Pressure intended to isolate Tehran can also obstruct Uzbekistan’s access to equipment and customers elsewhere. Kazakhstan has also sought a larger southern outlet. A 27-year agreement provides for a Kazakh transport and logistics terminal at Shahid Rajaee Port in Bandar Abbas. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Trade says the project would expand access to Gulf markets and destinations in Asia and East Africa. The risks differ by port. Bandar Abbas faces the Strait of Hormuz, while Chabahar sits on the Gulf of Oman, outside the strait. Both depend on Iranian infrastructure and remain exposed to the wider conflict and sanctions environment. Developing alternative routes does not make these southern connections dispensable. Nor is exposure uniform. Kazakh officials have emphasized the limited existing role of Persian Gulf shipments in the country’s logistics. For Astana, the threat concerns future diversification as well as current trade. For Uzbekistan, the transit figures show a substantial flow already at risk. Tajikistan, meanwhile, has sought 2.55 million tons of Iranian crude oil and fuel following shortages in Russian supplies. Its search for an alternative leaves Dushanbe exposed to two conflicts, with attacks on Russian refineries disrupting its established supplier, and the conflict involving Iran threatening a potential replacement. Japarov Challenges Sanctions In his General Assembly address, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov argued that unilateral sanctions harm smaller developing states and can become instruments of political pressure. “The right to impose sanctions against a particular state should, in our view,...

UN General Assembly

Central Asia at the UN: Saida Mirziyoyeva to Represent Uzbekistan

Saida Mirziyoyeva, the head of Uzbekistan’s Presidential Administration and daughter of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is expected to deliver the country’s address at the UN General Assembly’s general debate in New York. Her appearance comes as Central Asian delegations seek support for regional development and prepare for a larger role in UN diplomacy. On September 22, Gazeta reported that Mirziyoyeva would represent Uzbekistan in the debate. Her father delivered the country’s address last year. The report did not specify the proposals she would present. Mirziyoyeva met UN Secretary-General António Guterres on September 21. Her public account described discussions on cooperation with the UN, but provided no detailed negotiating agenda. The assignment follows her appointment as administration chief in June 2025, when the president restored a post abolished two years earlier. She had previously served as his assistant. This month, Mirziyoyev also appointed her to head the planned Tashkent International Financial Centre, which aims to attract private capital through tax incentives and a legal framework drawing on English common law principles. Mirziyoyeva’s UN appearance adds a major diplomatic assignment to her domestic responsibilities. She has addressed UN events before, including a water conference in 2023. Delivering Uzbekistan’s national statement in the General Assembly would give her a broader platform to present government policy. What is On the Agenda The general debate runs from September 22 to 26 and resumes on September 28. It is the centerpiece of the General Assembly’s high-level week, when world leaders address the UN and hold bilateral talks on the sidelines. The gathering is based at UN headquarters in New York, with additional events around the city. This year’s theme is “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all.” Practical discussions include reforming the organization and financing development. The European Council’s published priorities call for a more effective, cost-efficient UN and stronger international peace and security mechanisms. The week also brings diplomacy over the war in Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in New York to press for a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, Reuters reported. Those talks take place amid continuing strikes on power facilities and refineries. The week’s program includes separate meetings on climate action and a just transition on September 23, according to Kazakhstan Today. Pandemic prevention and preparedness will be discussed on September 25. Central Asia in New York The region’s countries are attending at different political levels. Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov is in New York after visiting Utah. His announced program combines participation in the UN gathering with meetings with national leaders and U.S. businesses. On September 21, Japarov met financial services group StoneX. The meeting produced memoranda involving Kyrgyzstan’s Finance Ministry and Eldik Bank, following discussions about precious metals trading and access to international financial services. Kyrgyzstan is also preparing for its 2027–2028 Security Council term. In a recent interview with The Times of Central Asia, Shumkarbek Adilbek uulu, director of the National Institute for Strategic Initiatives, described efforts to secure financing for...

Nuclear Disarmament

Central Asian States Call for New Arms Controls as Nuclear Framework Weakens

Foreign ministers from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan have called for new, verifiable arms control mechanisms to prevent a nuclear arms race, warning that international disarmament efforts are losing ground. In a joint statement issued on September 8 to mark 20 years since the signing of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, the five governments expressed concern over stalled disarmament, the end of key agreements, and the modernization of nuclear arsenals. They urged nuclear powers to resume negotiations. The statement comes seven months after New START, the last U.S.-Russian strategic nuclear arms treaty, expired on February 5. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said its expiration left the two countries without binding limits on their strategic nuclear arsenals for the first time in more than half a century. President Donald Trump has criticized New START as a “badly negotiated deal” and called instead for a new, modernized arms control treaty that would include China. The ministers also cited the failure of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which ended without a consensus outcome on May 22. Kazakhstan had already advanced a similar position. As TCA reported, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev used the August 29 anniversary of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site’s closure to call for negotiations among nuclear powers, the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and renewed multilateral action to reduce nuclear risks. Kazakhstan’s connection to the issue extends beyond diplomacy. The Soviet Union conducted 456 nuclear tests at Semipalatinsk between 1949 and 1989. Kazakhstan closed the site in 1991 and subsequently relinquished the nuclear arsenal it had inherited after the Soviet collapse. The regional treaty was signed in Semipalatinsk on September 8, 2006, and entered into force in 2009. It established the first nuclear-weapon-free zone located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere, directly bordering two nuclear-weapon states, Russia and China. That history gives Kazakhstan a distinctive place in regional nuclear diplomacy. Uzbekistan originated the proposal for the zone, presenting it at the UN General Assembly in September 1993. The September 8 statement explicitly acknowledges Uzbekistan’s initiative while crediting all five countries with establishing the zone. The statement also recognizes Kyrgyzstan for initiating the International Day for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Awareness, observed annually on March 5, and Turkmenistan for chairing the December 2024 anniversary meeting in Ashgabat. Kazakhstan has also helped coordinate cooperation beyond Central Asia. In August 2024, it hosted a conference in Astana with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs to strengthen cooperation among nuclear-weapon-free zones, following an earlier meeting in 2019. The five states also renewed their appeal for the United States to ratify a protocol providing security assurances to the region. In May 2014, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States signed the protocol on negative security assurances, committing not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the five Central Asian treaty members. The other four signatories have ratified it. Washington has not. The request is longstanding. The five governments made the same appeal...

Russia's War in Ukraine

Why Tokayev Urged Putin to Freeze the War in Ukraine

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has delivered his most direct public appeal to Vladimir Putin for an end to Russia's war in Ukraine. Speaking alongside the Russian president during the 22nd Kazakhstan-Russia Interregional Cooperation Forum in Omsk on July 25, Tokayev called for freezing the war and returning to what he described as the "Istanbul Formula 2.0." For many observers, the statement marked a significant departure from the cautious language traditionally used by leaders across the post-Soviet region. Although Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly criticized the war and reaffirmed support for Ukraine's territorial integrity, Tokayev's intervention was notable because he advanced a concrete proposal directly to Putin on Russian territory. Tokayev's remarks were consistent with Kazakhstan's long-standing foreign policy, which has emphasized negotiated settlements and diplomatic conflict resolution. While Russia remains one of Kazakhstan's largest trading partners and a crucial infrastructure partner, Astana has not recognized Moscow's annexation of Ukrainian territory. The war has also become a direct economic concern for Kazakhstan. More than 80% of the country's crude exports move through the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), whose Black Sea export route has recently been affected by attacks on tankers and related security incidents. Those disruptions have highlighted Kazakhstan's continued dependence on the CPC corridor and the risks posed by an expanding conflict zone. Tokayev's Proposal According to the Kremlin transcript, Tokayev told Putin that he had been receiving “many signals” from Europe and the United States regarding the current state of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and had already discussed them with the Russian president by telephone. Tokayev also stressed that he regarded the conflict as an interstate war rather than a civil war. He added that Kazakhstan had always treated the Ukrainian people, their culture and their language with respect. He further said Putin had demonstrated “maximum diplomatic flexibility” during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Anchorage, Alaska. “This is simply my humble opinion, since people keep asking me: perhaps the conflict should already be frozen, and we should return to the ‘Istanbul Formula 2.0,’ because significant results had been achieved there. Then, naturally, under guarantees from the major powers, including Russia, it would be possible to move toward long-awaited peace,” Tokayev said. Tokayev also made clear that he did not intend to serve as an official mediator in any future negotiations. Tokayev did not define the formula in detail. Russia and Ukraine held talks in Istanbul in 2022 and resumed direct negotiations there in 2025, but neither round produced a settlement. It remains unclear whether he envisaged a ceasefire along the current front line, how occupied territory would be treated, or what guarantees any major powers would provide. Planned or Spontaneous? Major strategic decisions in the post-Soviet space have traditionally been shaped behind closed doors. That is one reason why Tokayev's remarks, delivered while sitting beside Putin, immediately attracted the attention of political analysts. Several experts argue that such a proposal was unlikely to have been made spontaneously. Tokayev's call to freeze the fighting and resume negotiations...