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Kazakhstan says it won’t recognize referendums in eastern Ukraine
Kazakhstan, one of Russia’s close ex-Soviet partners, will not recognize the possible annexation of Ukraine’s eastern regions by Russia through referendums held there, the Central Asian nation’s foreign ministry said on Monday (Sep 26).
Russia launched referendums on Friday (Sep 23) aimed at annexing four occupied regions of Ukraine, raising the stakes of the seven-month-old war in what Kyiv called a sham that saw residents threatened with punishment if they did not vote.
Earlier, Ukrainians have reported armed soldiers going door-to-door in occupied parts of the country to collect votes for self-styled "referendums" on joining Russia.
Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said: “As for the holding of referendums ... Kazakhstan proceeds from the principles of territorial integrity of states, their sovereign equivalence and peaceful coexistence.”
Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has repeatedly called for the resolution of the Ukrainian conflict in line with the United Nations charter.
Smadiyarov said: “We reconfirm our readiness to provide all possible assistance to the establishment of a political dialogue."
“At the same time, our country believes that maintaining stability at either regional or global level is the most important goal.”
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Kazakhstan, a Central Asian country and former Soviet republic, extends from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Altai Mountains at its eastern border with China and Russia.
Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union from 1988 to 1991.
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