Kazakhstan Says It Does Not Recognize Separatist-Controlled Territories In Ukraine As Independent

[Rogue Valley]

Kazakhstan Says It Does Not Recognize Separatist-Controlled Territories In Ukraine As Independent

Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said his country does not recognize districts in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk controlled by Russia-backed separatists as independent.

www.rferl.org

4.5.22
NUR-SULTAN -- Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi said his country does not recognize districts in Ukraine's eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk controlled by Russia-backed separatists as independent. "We, at this point, do not recognize either the Luhansk People's Republic (LNR) or the Donetsk [People's] Republic (DNR)," Tileuberdi told RFE/RL on April 5. Answering a question about Kazakhstan's decision to abstain from voting on two UN resolutions condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine, Tileuberdi said "abstaining is also a position that was outlined with taking into account Kazakhstan's national interests." Just days before starting its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Moscow recognized the territory controlled by Russia-backed separatists as independent republics and justified its war on Ukraine by saying it was "defending" the two regions. A close Russian ally, Kazakhstan has not openly criticized Moscow over its invasion. Last month, Kazakhstan sent a humanitarian shipment to Ukraine under the slogan: "Ukraine, We Are With You."

Kazakhstan itself is a bifurcated country thanks to Moscow. The southern half is mainly populated by Kazakh's who speak Qazaq while the northern half, due to orders by Stalin, is populated mainly by ethnic Russians who speak Russian.