London announces efforts to reduce impact of conflict on Kazakhstan

The UK seeks to minimize the negative economic impact of the conflict in Ukraine on Kazakhstan as much as possible, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said in an interview with the Kazakhstani edition of Vlast.

“We know the economic price this war is paying countries around the world, including Kazakhstan, with price spikes and supply chain disruptions. <...> We will continue to do everything we can to minimize the economic impact,” Cleverly said.

The Foreign Minister added that the main goal of the UK is to provide Ukraine with "the necessary support to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity" in the conflict with RUSSIA. He noted that Kazakhstan is not trying to circumvent the sanctions imposed against Moscow and supports the sovereignty of Ukraine.

Cleverly will visit Kazakhstan for the first time on March 18, ahead of elections to the country's lower house of parliament. He is to meet with President of the Republic Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, as well as with the leadership of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry. Within the framework of the visit, it is planned to open a square named after Elizabeth II in one of the parks of Astana.

In early March, BLOOMBERG reported that Kazakhstan was "struggling" to look for oil to EXPORT to the European Union, bypassing Russia. Previously, exports went through Russian territory, since the republic does not have direct access to the oceans. Deliveries were carried out through the pipeline system of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium to Novorossiysk, when deliveries through Russia and Poland to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline began at the end of February this year.

For European buyers of Kazakh oil, the Druzhba pipeline is convenient because the volumes received through it are chemically similar to the Russian brand of Urals fuel.

On June 15, 2022, Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan would comply with all the restrictions that the world community would impose on Russia, despite the allied obligations with Moscow, which the republic does not refuse.