Scholz came to Kazakhstan to persuade Tokayev not to help Russia circumvent sanctions

Kazakhstan intends to comply with Western sanctions against Russia. This was stated by the President of the Republic, Kassym Zhomart Tokayev, at a press conference following talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Source: moscowtimes.eu

"We have contacts with the relevant organizations regarding the observance of the sanctions regime, and I do not think there should be any fears of the German side regarding possible actions aimed at circumventing the sanctions regime," Tokayev said.

At the same time, according to the president, Kazakhstan maintains "regular friendly contacts" with Russia and has no concerns about territorial claims by its northern neighbor.

Tokayev said that since the beginning of the year, Kazakhstan has supplied 500,000 tons of oil to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline instead of Russian oil and is ready to increase supplies next year to 1.2 million tons. The two countries plan to further expand cooperation, particularly in the development of rare metal deposits.

Following the talks, Scholz expressed hope that Kazakhstan could help Germany become more independent of energy supplies from Russia. The Chancellor called the decision of the Kazakh government to prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions "useful".

"It is good and useful that the government of Kazakhstan supports us in our efforts to prevent the circumvention of sanctions and has taken active measures to counteract this," Scholz said.

During the tête-à-tête talks, Tokayev and Scholz agreed to cooperate more actively in trade, economic, investment, transport and logistics, green energy and other areas, the press service of the Kazakh presidential administration reports. It is not known what projects the two leaders discussed.

Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan would comply with Western sanctions against Russia in the summer of 2022. "Sanctions are sanctions, we must not violate them, especially since we are receiving reports that in case of violation of sanctions, the West will impose so-called secondary sanctions on our economy," he explained.

Background. As a reminder, according to a journalistic investigation, Russia receives Western technology through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan despite the sanctions. Kyrgyz and Kazakh companies export microchips, telecommunications equipment and other electronic components to Russia.