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Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday summoned Russia’s ambassador to the Central Asian country for a “serious talk” following Moscow’s requests to expel the country’s envoy to Ukraine.
Relations between Russia and Kazakhstan have been strained since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as Astana seeks to balance itself with the West and its best friend, Moscow.
Kazakh Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has publicly clashed with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Ukraine.
It also provided protection to thousands of Russians fleeing to Kazakhstan after the call of Moscow’s army was announced.
Read more: A Look at Russia’s Losses in Ukraine Amid Annexation Boasting
“The ambassador has been summoned to the Foreign Ministry for a serious meeting. We are talking about Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who does not correspond to the spirit of an equivalent strategic partnership,” Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said in an Array.
“It was a complicated conversation,” the ministry added.
Earlier this week, Zakharova said Kazakhstan had made good on its promise to expel Ukraine’s ambassador to Kazakhstan, Petro Vrublevsky, who in an interview had made comments about “killing” Russians.
He later apologized.
Zakharova said in a Tuesday that Kazakhstan “promised Vrublevsky to leave Kazakhstan irrevocably as soon as possible. “
He added that, to Moscow’s “greatest regret,” Vrublevsky “reappeared in the capital of Kazakhstan” and “clearly not to pack his bags and bring his circle of relatives home. “
The Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Zakharova’s comments were “discordant with the nature of allied relations between Kazakhstan and Russia. “
He added that Astana had communicated Vrublevsky’s “unacceptability” to Ukraine and that an agreement had been reached for his withdrawal through Kyiv.
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