President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, during a conversation with Vladimir Putin, stated to him that he does not understand the nature of the Russo-Ukrainian war and proposed freezing it based on modified parameters of the Ukrainian-Russian negotiations conducted in Istanbul in the spring of 2022.
“I will not hide that I receive many signals – I informed you about them by phone from Europe, from the United States of America – signals concerning the current situation, the conflict situation between Ukraine and Russia. From the very beginning, I said that this is an interstate conflict; there is no question of any civil war. We have always treated the Ukrainian people, their culture, and language with respect, and we believe that the nature of this conflict is not quite clear to many, including us. Suppose there was a conflict, including a frozen conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the essence of that conflict, the origin of that conflict were completely clear to us – they went deep into history. But here, it is very difficult to fathom,” Tokayev said during a meeting with Putin in Omsk, Russia.
He proposed that Putin return to the revised 2022 Istanbul agreements, which, according to Russian media reports, included freezing the war along the current front line, an all-for-all prisoner exchange, non-aligned status for Ukraine until 2040, consent from the aggressor state to Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, and holding referendums in Ukraine and in the territories occupied by Russia.
“I understand, and I know that you displayed maximum diplomatic flexibility during the meeting in Anchorage, Alaska. And it is simply my humble opinion, if I am being asked, perhaps this conflict should already be frozen and return to the Istanbul Formula 2.0, since significant results were achieved there. And then later, of course, under the guarantee of major powers, including Russia, move further,” Tokayev added.
Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Daria Zarivna denied the validity of such a revised proposal based on the Istanbul agreements, calling it Russian disinformation. Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergei Lavrov back in 2022 stated that Ukraine presented a new draft agreement in which Russia saw a departure from the agreements reached in Istanbul, calling Ukraine’s new proposals unacceptable, but added that “despite all provocations, the Russian delegation will continue the negotiation process.”
As reported, Kazakhstan may halt oil transportation via pipeline to the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal near Novorossiysk (Russia) due to concerns among tanker companies about sending vessels to the facility amid strikes on tankers. According to Bloomberg, the CPC terminal on Russia’s Black Sea coast was scheduled to stop receiving oil transported by pipeline as early as Tuesday, though it remains unknown whether this process has already begun. The publication noted that risks to tanker shipments have threatened Kazakhstan’s exports.