Kazakhstan ruled out the possibility of the republic joining the union states

Kazakhstan does not intend to create any union states or join them. This statement was made by the press secretary of the President of the Republic Ruslan Zheldibay.

“Indeed, today the two members of the EAEU – Russia and Belarus – demonstrate a higher and closer level of rapprochement. <...> As for our country, Kazakhstan does not intend and does not plan to create or join any allied states,” he wrote on Facebook (owned by Meta, which is banned and recognized as extremist in the Russian Federation).

Zheldibay called the current situation a unique precedent. At the same time, it is important to separate initiatives within the framework of two integration projects, “which have completely different goals,” the spokesman added.

During the II Eurasian Economic Forum in Moscow, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized that integration within the EAEU should be only economic, Zheldibay recalled. Going beyond it violates the goals and principles of the association, the spokesman added.

According to Tokayev, economic integration is not the “ultimate goal.” This is “one of the key tools” for developing the economy and improving the well-being of the peoples of the EAEU member countries, Zheldibai drew attention to the words of the President of Kazakhstan.

During his speech at the plenary session of the II Eurasian Economic Forum, Tokayev indicated on the “phenomenon” of the Union State of Russia and Belarus in the structure of the EAEU and the presence of “one nuclear weapon for two”. In this regard, the Kazakh leader proposed to discuss the problem of different levels of integration of countries.

The Kremlin called the Union State of Russia and Belarus “an order of magnitude more advanced integration” than the EAEU. According to the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, such a “unique situation” should be taken into account.