Kazakh president Tokayev urges Putin to freeze Ukraine war
Kazakh President Tokayev told Putin on July 25 the Ukraine war should be frozen, with talks returning to the 2022 Istanbul format under great-power guarantees. Putin rejected it, citing Kyiv's position. One of Moscow's closest allies broke from that line in public. Per Bloomberg.
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev told Vladimir Putin in person on July 25, at a Russia-Kazakhstan forum in Omsk, that the war in Ukraine should be frozen and that negotiations should return to the 2022 Istanbul format, under guarantees from major powers including Russia. Putin did not accept the idea, saying a freeze is impossible given Kyiv's current position and that military action could stop today if Kyiv made different decisions. What makes the exchange notable is who made the appeal: Kazakhstan is one of Russia's closest remaining allies and a member of the same regional security and economic blocs as Moscow, not a Western government or Ukraine pressing the issue. A public call for a freeze from inside that circle suggests support for an open-ended war effort may be narrower among Russia's own partners than Moscow's official position lets on. Per Bloomberg and US News.