Nur-Sultan drew conclusions from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
from Russia, writes The Wall Street Journal. Nur-Sultan increased the defense budget by 441 billion tenge (about $918 million). Part of the funds will be used to increase military reserves, said a high-ranking military official.
“Kazakhstan has drawn conclusions from Ukraine's fierce struggle. We need an army reform to make the troops more mobile and ready to fight hybrid threats, which include both classic combat operations and hybrid methods: cyber attacks, disinformation, interference in elections,” he emphasized.
In Kazakhstan, they also plan to rethink the role of the Russian Federation in its foreign policy and strengthen the dialogue with Turkey, China and the USA. In Nur-Sultan, they fear that they may become the next target of attack.
Despite a restrained position at the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia's key ally in Central Asia has made it clear that it plans to develop relations with Europe, and not focus on Moscow.
Read also: The President of Kazakhstan instructed to create conditions for the relocation of foreign companies that left the Russian Federation
On June 18, the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zhomart Tokayev refused to recognize the “independence” of ORDLO strong>. Publicly, during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which was attended by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
Kazakhstan supported sanctions against the Russian Federation and planned to increase exports oil to Europe, for which it is preparing transit routes bypassing the territory of the Russian Federation (after the accident at the largest oil field).
The Kremlin has not yet announced an official position, but an unofficial one has been reported through its propagandists. Thus, the husband of RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan Tigran Keosayan said: “Look carefully at Ukraine. Think seriously.”
For more information on whether Moscow will open a new front for the “protection of Russian speakers” in the north of Kazakhstan, read Volodymyr Kravchenko's article “Putin was humiliated: how Russia responded to Kazakhstan” .
