Kazakhstan Offers To Play Peacemaker For U.S., Russia & China

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced last week that the central government is ready to launch an international platform to support negotiations between China, Russia, Europe and the United States in the face of growing tensions.

“Today, many people may suffer from an anxiety being unaware of what will happen in the future,” Nazarbayev said on November 21 during a meeting with diplomats in Kazakhstan. “That is why I put forward a proposal with an aim to make these countries feel responsible for the entire planet so that they would begin talks at the highest level.”

“Kazakhstan is ready to provide its platform for such negotiations,” Nazarbayev added, according to 24Khabar.

The Kazakhstani government may view its role as a peacemaker between the parties in part due to Kazakhstan’s geographic proximity between China, which lies to the east, and Russia to the north. Aside from location and economics – it has strong trade relations with both – Nazarbayev may be looking to further brandish the country’s credentials on the international stage as an enabler of dialogue and international peace.

Nazarbayev has played a significant role in mitigating conflicts and maintaining peace in Syria and Central Asia. Afghanistan is a major concern for Kazakhstan given its close proximity to that country’s borders. Terrorist activities by extremist groups operating throughout the region are seen as a threat to regional stability, and Nazarbayev has been a vocal leader in Central Asia when it comes to admonishing citizens from joining extremist groups that encourage youth to fight in Syria and Afghanistan.

“We are watching the processes that are taking place there — negotiations are underway between the Taliban and the government, and we would very much like them to have success. Our country contributes to the socio-economic establishment of Afghanistan, we support all formats for the establishment of an intra-Afghan dialogue,” Nazarbayev said.

Kazakhstan has acted as a mediator for parties to the Syrian conflict since January 2017. Ten rounds of meetings have been held in Astana thus far and have included representatives from the Syrian government, the armed opposition, representatives from the three guarantor countries of the current ceasefire – Russia, Iran and Turkey – and the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as well as observers from Jordan and the U.S. The next round of talks will be held November 28-29 in Astana.

“We support the continuation of the Astana format, thanks to which the Syrian government and the opposition talk to each other, we agreed to the next round of talks, and support the efforts to form the Syrian constitutional committee under the auspices of the United Nations,” Nazarbayev said.

Wednesday’s meeting in the Kazakhstani capital focused on another issue near and dear to Nazarbayev: nuclear nonproliferation. The 78-year-old leader, who has led Kazakhstan since its independence from the USSR in 1991, is a staunch supporter of efforts to reduce nuclear arms stockpiles and the number of countries capable of producing enriched uranium.

“I believe that the parliaments of all states should be actively involved in the global process of strengthening the non-proliferation regime. One of the key goals of the global community’s position is to create a global anti-nuclear movement that advocates peace and serenity on Earth,” Nazarbayev said Wednesday.