Posted on 08/04/2022 7:57:14 PM PDT by Cronos
Kazakhstan has significantly boosted its defence spending while seeking to strengthen ties with China and Nato nations amid anxieties that Moscow could expand its geopolitical ambitions beyond Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has reported, citing a Kazakh official.
The ex-Soviet state is committing an additional Kazakhstani tenge (KZT) 441bn ($918mn) to its defence budget, marking a nearly 1.5-fold rise from last year’s budget of $1.7bn, the newspaper reported. Part of the money would go to increasing Kazakhstan’s military reserves, according to a the quoted senior official, who added that Kazakhstan has learned lessons from Ukraine’s fierce resistance to the Russian invasion of the country that began in late February. The army must be reformed to make it more mobile and skilled at combatting hybrid warfare that mixes conventional warfare with cyberwarfare, disinformation and election meddling, he was further quoted as saying.
While some in the West say Russia’s military has been exposed as a paper tiger, one senior official from a Central Asian country told the WSJ that fear was only growing over Russia’s ambitions. “It’s one thing when they deal with so many others and they have Eastern Europeans and Ukraine to spend their time abusing,” the official said. “Imagine if they don’t have Ukraine to abuse. Are we going to be next?”
Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has complicated ties between Russia and arguably its closest ally aside from Belarus. Kazakhs have long feared, even prior to the Ukraine invasion, that Vladimir Putin could attempt to annex northern Kazakhstan, similarly to how Russia grabbed Crimea in Ukraine. Around one-fifth of Kazakh citizens are ethnic Russians, largely residing in northern parts of Kazakhstan. Russian nationalists have long insisted that Kazakhstan’s north is Russian land. In 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea, Putin remarked that Kazakhstan had no history of statehood until the demise of the Soviet Union.
The jitters felt among some Kazakhs as to Russia’s ambitions were brought home on July 26 when bne IntelliNews picked up on rumours that Russia was moving troops to a part of Siberia near Kazakhstan. The chatter appeared to have been triggered by Russian and Chinese troop movements in relation to an International Army Games military drill in Zabaikalsk in Russia's Far East.
The WSJ report explored claims that Kazakhstan has been drawing closer to China, the US and Turkey in recent months, but Nur-Sultan has several times repeated lately that Kazakhstan would take care to fulfil its obligations to Russia as an ally.
When civil unrest broke out across Kazakhstan in January and speculation arose that President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev could be toppled in an associated coup, Tokayev approved the deployment of around 1,500-2000 Russian troops under a Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) pact. Their arrival helped to secure the prospects of his administration as the last of the unrest was quelled.
Kazakhstan has refused to take a side in the ongoing Ukraine war, declining to offer any official support to either Ukraine or Russia. Moreover, speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) alongside Putin in June, Tokayev said the Central Asian nation would not recognise the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk Peoples’ Republics as independent states. Putin has called for the “liberation” of the pro-Moscow separatist so-called republics as the main excuse for sending troops into Ukraine.
After the Kazakh leader’s comments, Russia alleged oil spill concerns in announcing that it would halt oil flows in the CPC pipeline, which ships the vast majority of Kazakh oil exports via the Russian port of Novorossiysk. The measure was, however, cancelled after Kazakh authorities announced plans to block sanctions-dodging parallel imports to Russia via Kazakhstan’s customs checkpoints.
After the Ukraine conflict began, Kazakhstan banned anti-war demonstrations that might anger Moscow, but also made it unlawful to publicly display the “Z” sign that has become a pro-war symbol in Russia.
Nothing could please me more than seeing "the liberal world order" and neoconism being crushed by the Russians. It's only when globalism dies that an American First foreign policy can emerge.
Ukraine also has no mountain range to stop the Russian army, yet they did just that.
Compare territory held by Russia on March 2nd with July 2nd and we see how much the Russians lost
Kyiv has ancient importance. But you are right, perhaps they should move the capital to Lviv
You think the Russians are “winning on all fronts “??
Is that why in day 160 they hold LESS territory than they did on day 16?
Is that why they lost hundreds of tanks, their black sea fleet flagship, thousands of soldiers?
Is that why their GDP has dropped 20% and is in free fall?
Is that why educated Russians are fleeing the Putin dictatorship?
Winning??!?
Ukraine won the moment it won the battle of Hostomel airport, they destroyed the elite VDV paratroopers, hundreds of tanks and thousands of Russian troopers.
Nice video. Thanks for sharing. Loved the actual dancing. They seem to have a good time there and it was quite pleasant to watch.
“You’re nuts. The Russians will control everything east of the Napier river and the entire Black Sea coastline by the time this is over...at minimum. The ONLY thing that could prevent that is unconditional Ukrainian surrender.”
Let’s look at your previous posts
4th march https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4043562/posts?page=154#154 “The Russian mission was to secure the pro-Russian, Eastern part of the country and that is close to being accomplished.”
7th march https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4044421/posts?page=192#192 “The Russians have a “cauldron” surrounding 60,000 Ukrainian troops and their neo-Nazi Azov battalion buddies in Eastern Ukraine. They have at least three more “cauldrons” formed in Ukraine. Cities are encircled. They have a stranglehold on Ukraine.
They a mass surrender and/or negotiated settlement to avoid the loss of life on both sides.”
And you said
Putin “wants neutralize Ukraine as a threat to his country and wants a new government installed that is Moscow friendly.”
16th March https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4047155/posts?page=41#41
“Russia is going to get what it wants because it has a stranglehold on the country.”
14th march https://freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/4046568/posts?page=53#53
Kazan “The Eastern half of the country is close to being under total Russian control, including the south part with access to the sea.
Kiev and Kharkiv are surrounded and the Russians will turn heat up a cauldron there but only if Zelensky doesn’t surrender.
Russian has only used about 15-30% of its troops.”
=====================================%=
21st march https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4048466/posts?page=67#67
Kazan “You’re going to look really stupid in a few weeks when this is all over. “
27th april https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4058350/posts?page=47#47
Kazan “Russia is grinding down the Ukrainian military in Donbass. It has absolutely no chance of surviving unless it surrenders. The Russian flag is going up throughout the region and local currencies are being converted to rubles.”
6th april “The 60,000 plus Ukrainian troops in the east are encircled, don’t have the capacity to move and will either surrender or die soon.”
17th june https://freerepublic.com/focus/news/4071692/posts?page=35#35
“But you such a Russophobic baboon, you want Ukrainians to continue to die and lose their entire country in futile and feckless attempt to harm Russia.
But, nit wit, Russia isn’t being harmed. It’s freed millions ethnic Russians that will soon be part of the Russian Federation. It’s gain Ukrainian most productive industrial and agricultural land. It’s collect a record amount of oil revenue. Gee, it’s like God is blessing Russia!”
Sorry Ivan, Rossiya weak,
“
How much do you boys in the St Petersburg’s troll farm pay Larry?
Or does it come directly from your bosses in the Kremlin?
Sure they are.
Your Putin troll farms have been repeating the same lies since April.
Ukraine is about to win.
Once gay marriage is legal, they will have total victory.
Video was from previous years. Besides the problem isn’t the ordinary Ruski, it is Putin
Well definitely not in your putinist fantasy universe. Don’t you get bored with your latest spiel from the Kremlin?
I'll take a pass.
Russia losing, lol.
Gee, Kazakstan is increasing military spending, it couldn’t be because we tried to overthrow their government earlier this year? Could it?
After the Russians took Severdonetsk (sp?), the Ukrainian army was combat ineffective.
I have to disagree here a bit. You see Biden was paid off by the Russians, he even gave the go ahead for the invasion, remember his “limited incursion“ speech? Biden also got someone to blame for his inflation.
If Russia took all of Ukraine, that would be a blow to Neoconism, but Putin is not going to do that.
Biden put sanctions on Russian oil, which is now making even more money on the black market, meanwhile Russian citizens are still enjoying $2.00 a gallon gas. So, Biden’s sanctions help Russia, and hurt us, pure perfection in Biden’s eyes. It is also creating a food / fertilizer crisis around the world, again perfect for Biden, because he can takeover food production here in the US using the Defense Production Act (Lever Act?).
Sorry to say it, but all of this only helps the Globalists and Neocons.
Kazakh Court Sentences Couple That Called For North Kazakhstan To Join Russia
A court in Kazakhstan has sentenced a couple to five years in prison each for calls that North Kazakhstan become part of Russia.
“While some in the West say Russia’s military has been exposed as a paper tiger, one senior official from a Central Asian country told the WSJ that fear was only growing over Russia’s ambitions. “It’s one thing when they deal with so many others and they have Eastern Europeans and Ukraine to spend their time abusing,” the official said. “Imagine if they don’t have Ukraine to abuse. Are we going to be next?”
It is clear this Central Asian official sees Putin’s behavior as “abusive” and fears they will be next. Is this because they think Putin is winning, or because they think he is losing and may give up and look for easier pickings in Russian speaking portions of the Stans? What does it signal that he was talking with the Wall St. Journal?
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