“There is no clear strategy, and this is noticeable” – Kommersant FM

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev responded to accusations of flirting with the West. According to him, Astana is firmly committed to cooperation with Moscow. Earlier at a press conference, Tokayev stated a clear intention to comply with anti-Russian sanctions. The head of the republic is in Berlin, where the Germany-Central Asia summit is taking place. The parties, in particular, are discussing various options for cooperation in the current difficult conditions. Kommersant FM political commentator Dmitry Drize believes that the former Soviet republics have received a unique chance.

Germany, following America, convened a summit using the “5+1” formula: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the leaders of the former Soviet republics and now independent states of Central Asia. The meaning is clear: dear gentlemen, you do not need either Russia or China; turn towards the Western world – you will not regret it. You have natural resources, we have investments, technologies, technical progress. We are the future, let’s go together.

Actually, no one is against it. In general, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan can be congratulated. Moreover, they can even be envied.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, you receive so much attention from the leading world powers. They invite, they offer – it would be a sin not to take advantage of it.

And if we somehow manage to simultaneously maintain good relations with both Moscow and Beijing, then we can talk about fabulous success, nothing less. But we are not in a fairy tale yet. It makes sense to get down to earth.

And here is a typical example: upon arrival in Germany, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave a press conference, where, among other things, he tried to be considered a great peacemaker – he called on Ukraine and Russia for real negotiations, nevertheless he promised to comply with the regime of anti-Russian sanctions.

These considerations did not go unnoticed. Russian state media have subjected Mr. Tokayev to less than friendly criticism, and that is putting it mildly. So the next day the President of Kazakhstan was forced to explain himself. Naturally, he was misunderstood – we are not anti-Russia. Moscow is our friend and reliable partner—that’s what we stand for.

However, it is impossible not to pay attention to the fact that such cases of misunderstanding are becoming more and more frequent. It is very likely that not now, but sooner or later the respected allies will have to decide who they are with. The answer is simple: whoever is stronger, they will support in the end. And now you can say one thing to some, and another to others. Very comfortably.

In fact, the problem is in the West – it itself does not really understand how to act and what to do next. He doesn’t have a clear strategy, and it’s noticeable. For example, such a difficult issue as human rights in these five countries. To what extent do they correspond to high Western standards? Corruption, transparency of power… All this complicates full cooperation. After all, in the West they have budgets, public discussions – you can’t just quietly come to an agreement there.

It’s a similar story with Ukraine now; there are certain difficulties there: a lot of funding, but there is no proper control. But Russia knows how to act in such a situation, and China too. However, it is clear that the United States and Europe are trying to reconsider something in the area of ​​approaches and somehow understand the situation and draw the right conclusions. Indeed, better late than never. One cannot help but notice, of course, that all this had to be done before, and then everything would have gone completely differently. Maybe.

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