ASTANA (Reuters) – Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to abandon the idea that Russia can be defeated on the battlefield and support China's peace plan for Ukraine, a suggestion Scholz rejected.
Scholz is on his first official trip to Central Asia as Berlin looks for new sources of energy and minerals after Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Kazakhstan remains very close to its former Soviet sovereign Russia, although the government in Astana has not taken sides in the conflict or supported Moscow's claims to other parts of Ukraine.
“It is true that Russia cannot be defeated militarily,” Tokayev told Scholz in Astana.
“The escalation of the war will lead to irreversible consequences for all of humanity and above all for the countries involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he added.
Scholz disagreed in terms of communication, saying that Germany supported Ukraine because Russia attacked it.
“It is and will remain so, so that the country can defend itself and protect its integrity and sovereignty,” he said.
“It is also clear to us that, at the same time, it is still necessary to continue to look for opportunities for peaceful development.”
Scholz said that the peace conference supported by the West in Switzerland needs to be followed by another one that will include Russia.
“And it is clear to me that it will not work the way Russia is moving forward with everything, moving forward with the war, continuing to attack Ukraine with great violence,” he said.
“That is why this is something that should not be ignored in everything we discuss. It is Russia that not only started the war, but continues it and can contribute to ending it at any time by stopping its violence.”
