Kazakhstan’s President comments on the situation in Ukraine

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev commented on the situation in Ukraine following his participation in the global nuclear security summit in the Hague, according to his Press Service. Head of State reminded about the standoff between the West and Russia over the Crimea. “All have been talking of the international law in the recent days. We’ve seen dangerous precedents of this law transgressed. Any such breeches result in the economies involved rolling back to decades ago in terms of development. When it comes to Ukraine, back in the Soviet times it was the second largest economy after Russia. At the time Ukraine had a vast potential. However, in the recent years the country’s leadership has been hesitating trying to choose between closer ties with the EU and ties with Russia, between participating in the CIS and staying away from the integration. In fact, the people have stayed divided. All that resulted in an unconstitutional change of power. Today’s task is to get back to the legal and legitimate field, which means holding elections. The nation should elect a legitimate president, legitimate parliament and government. Then there should be peaceful talks on how to exit the situation”, Head of State said. Kazakhstan’s President also emphasized that Ukraine had’ delimitated its border with Russia yet, with the issue to be a stumbling block in the further relations of the two nations. He reminded that Kazakhstan had finalized all the border-related issues both with Russia and China. “Kazakhstan’s foreign policy is balanced and multi-vector, whereas the internal policy rests on equality of rights of all citizens regardless of their language, religion and culture background. Such an approach guarantees accord and stability. That is the foundations for any nation to build on successfully. Our policy has proved right once again. Successful development calls for peace, accord, unity of the nation. Therefore, I have been calling all my foreign counterparts to hold peaceful talks”, President said. He also said that the recent developments in Ukraine would have no impact on the ongoing integration processes and assured that the works were still under way to launch the Eurasian Economic Union. “Integration enables to remove customs barriers and raise the competitive edge. We are guided by purely economic interests. We seek to boost economy and increase the country’s GDP. When it comes to our political independence, Kazakhstan will never give up its sovereignty. But we will be voluntarily transferring certain powers to supra-national bodies, just like it has been done in the EU. The European Commission handles customs issues, regulates trade, tariffs, issues related to oil and gas shipments, electric power, railways and motor roads. We will also have a supra-national body to handle a range of issues. Any final decision will call for consent of all the member states involved. There is no reason to be concerned; the integration is of interest to all the member states, much more so amidst crisis times. The integration processes will only bolster our independence”, Nazarbayev stressed. Earlier Kazakhstan’s President had a telephone talk with Presdent Vladimir Putin of Russia and spoke in favor of a peaceful solution to the situation, with the Ukraine’s sovereignty respected. He added that he understood the stance taken by Russia protecting rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine and maintaining its national safety interests. Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry stated that Astana perceived the Crimean referendum [on joining Russia] as a free expression of will of the Crimea’s population. Ukraine expressed great concerns over the Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry’s statement, labeling it as “unfriendly”.