The meetings took place at the White House and were devoted to economic cooperation between the countries. Kazakhstan, in particular, officially joined the Abraham Accords, dedicated to the normalization of relations between Israel and countries with predominantly Muslim populations.
Tokayev, among other things, signed a memorandum with Trump on cooperation between the United States and Kazakhstan in the field of “critical materials”, after which he stated that the Trump administration has a “completely different attitude” towards the leaders of Central Asian countries than Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden (who in 2023 met with Central Asian politicians not in the White House, but in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly).
Tokayev believes that the current US leadership “has a greater understanding of the importance of Central Asia” and praised Trump for his “more accommodating approach to Russia.”
According to the President of Kazakhstan, his country is ready to host peace talks in Ukraine. Tokayev himself calls a ceasefire in Ukraine “possible.”
He also stated that the illegitimate Russian President Vladimir Putin will not soften his territorial demands on Ukraine “more than he has already done” because he supposedly “has to take into account” the opinion of the Russians.
Tokayev claims that “Putin has shown maximum flexibility” and “Putin has taken quite a big step forward.” We are talking about a statement by the head of the Kremlin about his alleged readiness to freeze the front line if Ukraine transfers control over the still unoccupied part of Donbass to the Russian Federation.
Commenting on the statements of the head of Kazakhstan, The New York Times notes that Russia is a close ally for Kazakhstan, but Tokayev seeks to remain neutral regarding the war in Ukraine.
Context
In September, Tokayev said that the world had entered a new historical era, which “will not be easy for all humanity.” According to him, mutual contradictions between global powers and interstate associations are growing.
