Kazakhstan urges Belarus to correctly assess Astana’s position

Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs with Belarus’ Ambassador Pavel Utyupin (mfa.gov.kz)

By Kuban Andymen

ASTANA: Kazakhstan’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Murat Nurtleu has summoned Belarus’ Ambassador Pavel Utyupin and emphasized the need for an objective assessment of Astana’s foreign policy position by Minsk.

During the meeting, the diplomats discussed current issues of Kazakh-Belarusian cooperation at the bilateral and multilateral levels.

“Our country is firmly convinced that all disagreements between states should be resolved by political and diplomatic means. In the current geopolitical conditions, the foreign policy course of the country developed by the head of state has proven its effectiveness,” the minister said, quoted by the press service of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.

In this regard, the deputy minister called on the Belarusian side to objectively assess Astana’s position regarding the ongoing processes, the press service added.

Nurtleu emphasized that Kazakhstan adheres to a balanced and peaceful position in foreign policy in accordance with the UN Charter and the fundamental norms of international law.

The controversy arose after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that several post-Soviet countries are constantly trying to take something from Russia without offering anything in return.

He mentioned Kazakhstan, which during the mass unrest in January 2022 turned to Moscow and Minsk for help, leading to the rapid deployment of Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeepers to the country.

The CSTO operates under a similar premise to that of NATO: an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all others, and each state is obliged to support other members.

Lukashenko expressed confidence that in the event of an emergency, post-Soviet countries will again turn to Russia and Belarus for support.