Kazakhstan's diplomatic defiance: Tokayev's language choice surprises Putin
The Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, during his visit to Astana, remarked that Kazakhstan is a "Russian-speaking country." Putin and his delegation were quite surprised when, during a briefing, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev began speaking in his native language, even though he is fluent in Russian.
During the summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Vladimir Putin threatened to use Oreshnik ballistic missiles to target decision-making centres in Ukraine.
Putin surprised by the response
"If a country we are at war with becomes a nuclear power, what will we do? In such a case, we will use all, I want to emphasize, absolutely all means of destruction available in Russia. We will not allow it. We will monitor their every move," Putin declared in the capital of Kazakhstan.
A significant part of the CSTO meeting was the session of the Collective Security Council, attended by the leaders of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia.
Fourteen documents were signed, including a declaration reflecting changes in the international situation, though the content has not yet been published. They also discussed joint celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in 2025, known in the countries of the former USSR as "the victory over fascism."
Putin, during a press conference in Astana, stated that Kazakhstan is a "Russian-speaking country." The leader is partially correct, as Russian is an official language there.
"Trolling at a high level"
However, Tokayev's subsequent response showed that relations between the countries are not optimal.
During a joint briefing with Putin, Tokayev began speaking in Kazakh, contrary to the expectations of Putin and his delegation.
During Tokayev's speech, Putin picked up a headset to hear a translation of the conversation. The Russian delegation hurriedly followed suit.
"Trolling at a high level," commented former advisor to Zelensky, Anton Gerashchenko.
"This is what diplomatic humiliation of the Russian delegation in Kazakhstan looks like under Putin's leadership," commented the Krym Wind channel.
Putin mocked the Kazakh president twice
Putin—likely intentionally—distorted the name of the President of Kazakhstan twice. The first instance was on 17 June 2022 when Tokayev announced that Kazakhstan would not recognize Putin's proxies in the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics.
Putin called the President of Kazakhstan Kamyzham Ishemilevich, while his actual name is Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich Tokayev.
Putin incorrectly pronounced the Kazakh president's name in the same way on 9 November 2023.
At the end of October 2024, the government of Kazakhstan announced its firm opposition to the use of its territory by Russia to bypass international sanctions.
Summit without Armenia, once again
Yet again, the leader of Armenia, a country that has long signalled its withdrawal from the CSTO, was absent from the meeting of the alliance's heads of state. In February 2024, Armenia suspended its participation in the alliance, stopped co-financing the organization, and has not taken part in any joint maneuvers since.
The absence of Armenia at the summit was commented on by the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, who stated that "it characterizes the current geopolitical situation in the region and to some extent our organization."
