Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev are meeting in Moscow this week to discuss gas cooperation and the impact of U.S. sanctions on Russian oil majors with operations in Kazakhstan.
The talks come as the Kremlin faces tighter restrictions on Lukoil and Rosneft, both sanctioned last month by the Trump administration. Lukoil holds stakes in Kazakhstan’s Tengiz and Karachaganak projects, which are operated by Western majors and remain dependent on the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) for exports. The CPC—controlled in part by Russia—was briefly disrupted earlier this year when Moscow shut two of its three moorings, temporarily cutting Kazakhstan’s crude export capacity in half.
Kazakhstan, which exports most of its oil through Russia, has maintained close ties with Moscow while carefully avoiding direct endorsement of its war in Ukraine. Tokayev has also been courting Western investment and deepening cooperation with the United States. His visit to Washington last week alongside other Central Asian leaders was seen as a step toward diversifying economic ties and reducing dependence on Russia.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian side is “extremely interested” in hearing Tokayev’s account of those meetings.
At home, Kazakhstan is also advancing projects meant to bypass Russian infrastructure altogether, including a U.S.- and EU-backed fiber-optic cable and power link across the Caspian Sea, yet another example of Tokayev’s balancing act between Moscow and Western partners at a time when both sides are competing for influence in Central Asia.
For now, Kazakhstan’s oil still moves through Russian ports—but Tokayev appears determined to make sure that won’t always be the case.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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