Kazakhstan–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. Before 1918, both countries were part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and until 1991 they were part of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1991. Kazakhstan has an embassy in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Kyi ...

and an honorary consulate in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

. Ukraine has an embassy in

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

and a consulate-general in Almaty. There are between 895,000 and 2,400,000 ethnic

Ukrainians Ukrainians ( uk, Українці, Ukraintsi, ) are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine. They are the seventh-largest nation in Europe. The native language of the Ukrainians is Ukrainian. The majority of Ukrainians are Eastern Ort ...

living in Kazakhstan. Both countries are full members of

TRACECA TRACECA (acronym: Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) is an international transport programme involving the European Union and 12 member states of the Eastern European, Caucasus and Central Asian region.Baku Initiative The Baku Initiative is an international initiative of the European Union. It is a policy dialogue on energy and transport cooperation between the European Union, Turkey, and the former Soviet republics, undertaken as part of the INOGATE energy ...

, of the

Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) is a post–Cold War, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) institution. The EAPC is a multilateral forum created to improve relations between NATO and non-NATO countries in Europe and Central Asi ...

Partnership for Peace The Partnership for Peace (PfP; french: Partenariat pour la paix) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) program aimed at creating trust between the member states of NATO and other states mostly in Europe, including post-Soviet state ...

and of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization with observer status at the United Nations. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, pro ...

. They are only apart at their closest points.

History

On 14 October 2013, Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister

Leonid Kozhara Leonid Oleksandrovych Kozhara ( uk, Леонід Олександрович Кожара, Russian: Леонид Александрович Кожара, born 14 January 1963) is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. In 2013 he was th ...

. The two discussed furthering bilateral cooperation amongst the two nations. Also, Ukraine holds the seat for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and shared what they can learn from Kazakhstan when they held the seat in 2010. Finally, Minister Kozhara announced Ukraine's President

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

would visit in 2014.

Post-Maidan and Russo-Ukrainian War

Yanukovych was overthrown as Ukraine's leader in 2014. Although Kazakh ally

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

vehemently opposed the post-revolutionary government in Kyiv, Astana has maintained its own ties despite the change in power.

Tokayev presidency

On 4 December 2019, on the eve of a state visit to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, he gave an interview to '' Deutsche Welle'', in which he drew controversy in Ukraine by saying that he did not believe that the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was an invasion while also saying that he believed in the "wisdom of the Russian leadership", drawing condemnation from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who issued a demarche in response. After the

Russian Invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

in early 2022, representatives of the Kazakh leadership, including President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi condemned the invasion and refused to recognize the Donetsk People's Republic and

Luhansk People's Republic The Luhansk or Lugansk People's Republic (russian: Луга́нская Наро́дная Респу́блика, Luganskaya Narodnaya Respublika, ; abbreviated as LPR or LNR, rus, ЛНР) is a disputed entity created by Russian-backed ...

. Since the war, the government has participated in sending aid to

. Ukraine praised Tokayev’s statements at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he stated that Kazakhstan would not recognize “quasi-state entities” that were the DPR and LPR. On August 21, 2022 Ukrainian ambassador to Kazakhstan Petro Vrublevskiy gave an interview to a Kazakhstani blogger Dias Kuzairov, in which he commented on Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying "the more Russians we kill now, the fewer of them our children will have to kill in the future." Soon after, Vrublevskiy was summoned by Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry, which deemed these words as "inappropriate for the activities of the ambassador." He had been dismissed on October 18, 2022 by President of Ukraine,

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

Trade

Bilateral trade in 2012 between the two countries is according to officials more than doubled compared with 2010 and reached $4.4 billion.

References

External links