Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev warns that further escalation of the Ukraine conflict could have “irreversible consequences”
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has claimed that Russia is “militarily invincible,” warning against any further escalation of the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
He also suggested that the path to peace is still open, singling out the Sino-Brazilian peace initiative as a viable option.
Soon after the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022, Western leaders proclaimed that they hoped to inflict a “strategic defeat on Russia.” Earlier this month, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that this was the reason for then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson visiting Ukraine in the spring of 2022. This effectively derailed the Istanbul peace deal, which had previously been agreed by representatives of Kiev and Moscow.
During a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday, Tokayev said that “it is a fact that in military terms Russia is invincible.”
“Further escalation of the war will lead to irreversible consequences for the entire of mankind, and, first of all, all the countries that are directly involved in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict,” the Kazakh president warned.
He claimed that the Istanbul agreement had represented a good opportunity to end the bloodshed at an early stage, but was squandered. However, according to Tokayev, a peaceful settlement can still be achieved.
“Various countries’ peace initiatives should be carefully considered and a decision to cease the fighting should be made,” the Kazakh president stated, adding that territorial disputes could be resolved thereafter.
“In our opinion, the peace plan [presented by] China and Brazil is worthy of support,” he added.
Tokayev described ties between Kazakhstan and Russia as a “strategic partnership,” but added that Astana also maintains friendly relations with Kiev.
Last week, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky dismissed Beijing and Brasilia’s joint six-point peace roadmap as “destructive,” accusing the two nations of siding with Russia. The plan emphasized “dialogue and negotiation” as the only “viable way out of the crisis.”
Meanwhile, last Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy had urged the Ukrainian leadership behind closed doors to “come up with a more realistic plan.”
According to the media outlet, Kiev’s Western backers are concerned that Ukraine’s maximalist plans to restore its 1991 borders “would require the West to provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of support, something neither Washington nor Europe can realistically do.”
Back in July, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban stated that a “Russian defeat is difficult to imagine,” taking into account the “balance of soldiers, equipment and technology.”
