Nazarbayev, Obama discuss potential solutions to Ukraine crisis

    By Zhanar Abdulova
    President Nursultan Nazarbayev held a late night telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama on January 21 upon the initiative of the United States, the Ak Orda presidential residence announced.
    The two leaders talked about the situation in the southeastern Ukraine.
    According to the Ak Orda, Obama assured Nazarbayev he is committed to finding a diplomatic solution to the situation in Ukraine, having stressed that it is important to implement the Minsk agreements to resolve the conflict.
    Obama praised Kazakhstan’s efforts in strengthening international security and expressed his hope the Kazakh President will continue to actively contribute to finding a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine, Ak Orda added.
    Nazarbayev, in his turn, informed the U.S. leader that he is dealing with the issue personally, which, in the opinion of Kazakhstan, can be resolved through peace talks between the heads of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France.
    He noted that economic sanctions against Russia have been affecting the entire Central Asian region as well, and asked his U.S. counterpart to get involved more actively in the search for compromise on Ukraine.
    During the conversation, the two leaders also discussed the current state and future prospects for bilateral relations between Kazakhstan and the U.S., as well as a number of other topical issues on the international agenda.
    In the meantime, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, Russia, and Ukraine met in Berlin on January 21 to discuss the conflict in south-eastern Ukraine.
    According to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, progress has been made during the talks and an agreement has been reached on establishing security zones between the Kyiv military and eastern Ukrainian militia. The four foreign ministers agreed to strongly support the pullback of heavy artillery by both sides in the Ukrainian conflict.
    Against this backdrop, Kazakhstan remains committed to continuing its efforts to help stabilise the situation in Ukraine, actively participating in the negotiation process and rendering humanitarian assistance to that country, officials in Astana have noted.
    Nazarbayev has recently reiterated Kazakhstan’s readiness to provide a dialogue platform in its capital Astana for the continuation of peaceful negotiations in the Normandy format.
    As part of its humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, earlier in January Kazakhstan sent $400,000 worth of aid to Ukraine’s southeastern regions to help ease the crisis following months of military conflict. In October 2014, Kazakhstan also donated $30,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross’s humanitarian effort in Ukraine, according to the Astana Times.