Article Website: Germany wants trade with Kazakhstan, won’t circumvent Russia sanctions, Scholz says | Reuters
Kazakh President, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, met with German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Astana, as Germany wants to expand trade in oil, rare earth, lithium, and other raw materials. The EU placed sanctions on Russia after they invaded Ukraine in 2022, causing Moscow to take indirect trade paths, and as Germany is a part of the EU, they want to make sure that trade with Kazakhstan won’t help them bypass the sanctions. Kazakhstan has stepped up as a supplier of raw materials for Germany in the past after Russia failed to supply, and now after Putin threatened to stop sales of metals to “unfriendly” nations, such as Germany. Scholz believes trade would benefit both countries as it would help diversify their economies and would still abide by the sanctions.
The idea of Kazakhstan trading with EU nations such as Germany is very significant because of how it’s helping abide by the sanctions against Russia. One of Russia’s biggest economies is exporting oil and other energy sources, and if Germany locks in trade with Kazakstan it could lessen the demand for Russian energy, ultimately hurting their economy. Because of its geographical position, the materials it produces, and the sanctions in place, Kazakhstan has the potential to become a very important trade partner with many more EU countries, boosting its economy and global influence.
Because of Russia’s economic ties with Kazakhstan, they could try to convince Kazakhstan not to grow strong trade agreements with Germany. But if instead, their trade relationship continues to strengthen, other European countries could follow in Germany’s steps and trade with Kazakhstan. As I know Kazakhstan has remained neutral throughout the war and promotes peace plans, I think that it’s also helping their economy grow as Russia keeps lessening itself as a supplier to other countries.
I would still consider Russia to be a global actor currently, however, if they continue to lose economic relations with other European countries, I think that their global influence and power will ultimately decline. If Russia does drop down, I think it’ll allow other Soviet states such as Kazakhstan to grow their economy and become one of the bigger competitors in the energy industry. On the other hand, the main reason that Germany is taking the sanctions against Russia so seriously is because Russia is trying to take away Ukraine’s sovereignty through the war, and Germany believes Ukraine has the right to defend its sovereignty and its powers as a state.