Tokayev: Russia is “Militarily Invincible”
During a meeting in Astana with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev spoke about resolving the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to Tokayev, further escalation of the war will only lead to irreparable consequences for all mankind and, above all, for all countries directly involved in the war. Tokayev said: “The fact is that Russia is militarily invincible. Unfortunately, a good chance to achieve at least a truce was lost with the refusal to conclude the Istanbul Agreement. But the opportunity for peace still exists. We need to carefully consider all peace initiatives put forward by various states, come to a decision to stop hostilities, and then move on to discussing territorial issues. In our opinion, the peace plan of China and Brazil deserves support.” Tokayev reminded the public that Kazakhstan has the world's longest delimited land border with Russia. He further stated that “cooperation between our countries is developing within the framework of strategic partnership and alliance. In Kazakhstan, we have genuine sympathy for the Ukrainian people and their distinctive culture. There have never been any disagreements between our states. The embassy of our country continues to function in Kyiv.” While his comments about seeking peace before discussing territorial issues may seem like Tokayev is backing Russia, in 2022, he said that Kazakhstan would not recognize the independence of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (“DNR” and “LNR”). Speaking about the 'republics', he noted that the two basic principles of the UN Charter -- the right to self-determination for nations, and the territorial integrity of states -- have come into mutual contradiction. On this topic, Tokayev noted: "It is estimated that if the right of self-determination for a nation is realized on the globe, then instead of the current 193 states, more than 500-600 states will emerge on Earth. It will be chaos. For this reason, we do not recognize Taiwan, Kosovo, South Ossetia, or Abkhazia. We will apply this principle to all quasi-state territories, which, in our opinion, includes Luhansk and Donetsk.”
