President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and American President Barak Obama has discussed the situation in Ukraine as well as the sanctions against Russia during a phone call initiated by the US president, Tengrinews reports citing the press office of Akorda.
President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and American President Barak Obama has discussed the situation in Ukraine as well as the sanctions against Russia during a phone call initiated by the US president, Tengrinews reports citing the press office of Akorda.
During the phone conversation, the presidents discussed bilateral relations between Kazakhstan the the United States. They also exchanged opinions on pressing issues on the agenda. In particular, Nazarbayev and Obama talked about the situation in south-eastern Ukraine.
Nazarbayev stressed his personal participation in the settlement of the issue. The Kazakhstani President expressed a firm belief that the crisis could be solved through negotiations of the Presidents of Urkaine, Russia, Germany and France.
Earlier, Nazarbayev offered to host the Norman format summit in Astana. The meeting was unofficially scheduled to January 15. However, the parties decided to postpone the summit to the end of January. During a phone call with Nazarbayev, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that foreign ministers of the Norman Quartet (Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine) and a contact group of Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE would meet in the coming days to discuss the agenda of the summit in Kazakhstan’s Astana.
In the discussion with Obama, Nazarbayev also stressed the effect sanctions against Russia have on the Central Asian region.
Depreciation of the Russian ruble made Russian goods more affordable for citizens of neighboring Kazakhstan and more attractive then their domestic products.
In turn, the American president stressed his adherence to diplomatic methods of solving international conflicts. In the Ukrainian case, according to Obama, the Minsk agreement had to be implemented.
Obama highly appreciated the efforts Kazakhstan put into finding a peaceful solution for the crisis. The American president also expressed hope for Nazarabayev’s continuous work in that direction.
By Gyuzel Kamalova