Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Mikhail Galuzin, III of the Valdai Discussion Club. In his speech at the Central Asian Conference, he said that some Central Asian countries may participate in sanctions against Russia because they are not ready to take risks.
According to the Deputy Minister, the positions of Russia and the Central Asian states that unilateral economic sanctions are unacceptable and illegitimate coincide.
“However, some Central Asian countries are unwilling to take on the risks involved, making it clear that they are ready to follow the restrictive measures of the West,” the politician said.
According to Galuzin, Moscow does not dictate to other states what course they should follow in foreign and domestic policy, “as long as it does not contradict mutual obligations, including under the CSTO, EAEU and CIS.”
“We are confident that the Central Asian capitals see and understand this well: the artificial destruction of ties with Russia could cause more serious harm than the costs of notorious secondary sanctions,” the deputy foreign minister said.
He also emphasized that Moscow is determined to continuously strengthen its strategic partnerships with the Central Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The threat of sanctions from the EU and the USA
In early May, Bloomberg reportedThe European Union is discussing measures against countries that help Russia circumvent sanctions. The agency drew attention to the growth of imports from Kazakhstan to Russia in particular. After the ban on the import of a number of goods from Western countries, Moscow legalized parallel imports, which is the import of goods without the consent of the trademark owner. The head of the Russian Federal Customs Service, Vladimir Bulavin, said that by the end of 2022, within the framework of this mechanism, 2.4 million tons of goods exceeding $ 20 billion were imported into the Russian Federation.
The Financial Times, on the other hand, claims that after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Russia imported $2 billion worth of goods from Europe under the pretext of transiting to other states, including Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. points not reach the target. European officials suspect that the goods remained in Russia.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said that in this context, the European Union is considering extending the ban on the transit of many goods through Russian territory.
Washington also warned Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, of the risks of sanctions for aiding Moscow. In April, Elisabeth Rosenberg, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Crimes, said there was an increased risk of secondary sanctions against banks and companies in Kazakhstan that would help Russia circumvent sanctions imposed on it.
In April, the US Department of Commerce also imposed export restrictions on companies from Uzbekistan, Armenia, China and some other countries as they “try to evade export controls” and purchase American goods for Moscow’s needs.
Kazakhstan has problems due to sanctions
Akylzhan Baimagambetov, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kazakhstan aforementioned About the problems arising from the sanctions against Russia.
“We are trying to maintain a neutral position towards Russia. Still, Russia is our biggest trading partner. We try to take a balanced approach because sanctions against Russia create problems for us as well,” he said.
According to him, the restrictions “have some degree of negative impact on economic activity in certain areas.”
Baimagambetov also said that the country’s government is trying to avoid situations where Russia would use the country as a tool to circumvent sanctions, but that doesn’t make the problem any less of an issue. According to him, there was no annual growth in exports in 2022 compared to 2021, but Kazakh producers risk exposure to secondary sanctions.
Since April 1, a system for tracking imported goods from the Russian Federation has been operating in Kazakhstan. The country’s government is trying to prevent the export of dual-use goods from the territory of Kazakhstan to Russia.
help from the USA
At the end of February, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken visited Kazakhstan and met with the country’s top officials and attended the Central Asian countries diplomatic summit in C5+1 format, which was also attended by Kazakhstan’s foreign ministers. , Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
During the meeting, Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi said that the sanctions “hardened” Astana due to the close economic relations with Russia.
Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union and we do not have customs borders between Kazakhstan, Russia and other members of the union. For this reason, it is sometimes very difficult to manage the processes of free trade in goods and services between our borders. “We are also trying to avoid the possibility of Russia or other foreign companies circumventing the sanctions,” Tleuberdi said.
Blinken, on the other hand, stated that Central Asian countries have taken a “more determined position” regarding Russia, but expressed his concerns that the entry routes of sanctioned goods to Russia may pass through their own territory.
The US Secretary of State promised that Washington would license companies or entities in countries associated with Russian companies under sanctions “so that they have time to curtail this activity and cut ties with Russia.”
In addition, the US has pledged to provide Central Asian countries with $25 million as part of the Economic Sustainability Initiative so they can “develop trade routes and attract investment from the private sector without being tied to a single country.”
The Kremlin has previously stated that Russia is a key economic partner for many countries in this region, that they are “organically” linked and that the West cannot break these ties.