Tokayev proposed the parties return to the 2022 Istanbul agreement to advance toward peace in Ukraine.

WHY THIS MATTERS · This matters because the overland freight route linking China to Europe increasingly runs through Kazakhstan and the Caspian instead of Russia, reshaping who controls east-west trade and giving Beijing and Ankara leverage Moscow used to hold—while unresolved Fergana Valley water and border disputes could still ignite fighting between neighbors.

Part of the monitored dynamic Central Asia Realignment · VUCA INDEX 49/100