Astana, Sep 24 (EFE).- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said Wednesday that his country is willing to host a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to find a solution to the war in Ukraine.
“If the leaders of Russia and Ukraine express a desire to travel to Kazakhstan, we will create all the conditions to ensure the success of the negotiations,” he said in an interview with local media outlet Tengrinews.
Earlier, Zelensky told US network Fox News that Kazakhstan could be one of the venues for a possible meeting with Putin, while the Kremlin has repeatedly stated that it sees no point in such a summit without prior preparation.
The Kazakh leader also stressed that “meetings at the highest level are carefully prepared at the expert level between diplomats and other institutions; this is an axiom, it is ABC.”
“To expect a practical outcome in terms of military action without a ceasefire, with differences on all the main issues on the agenda, is, frankly speaking, an unrealistic approach,” he said.
He emphasized Astana’s strong support for direct high-level negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, but noted that “preliminary work is necessary to achieve mutual understanding.”
A position to discuss all issues
Tokayev pointed out that Kazakhstan is not an intermediary between Russia and Ukraine, and considered that both parties “are in a position to discuss all issues in dispute bilaterally and at various levels.
“I have always believed and publicly stated that the Ukrainian crisis is highly complicated and cannot be simplified,” he said, highlighting the territorial issue as the most difficult due to the divergence of opinions between the parties.
However, he added that “it is necessary to continue negotiations, as I said in my speech at the UN (General Assembly).”
In recent years, Astana has hosted negotiations between the now-deposed Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and the rebels.
The Kazakh president met earlier with Zelensky in New York, the first meeting between the two since 2019, and called for “continuing diplomatic work to find ways to end the conflict.”
Kazakhstan, which has a Russian-speaking minority, has never recognized Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories. EFE