From its independence to the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kazakhstan is one of Russia’s closest partners, with which it shares nearly 7,000 kilometers of border, and a considerable part of its economic flows. About 20% of the country’s population is ethnically Russian.
The first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev (1991-2019) was at the initiative of the Eurasian Economic Union, an economic and customs agreement which unites several former countries of the USSR.
Kazakhstan is also a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), another Russian-dominated regional military organization.
Worried about the consequences of the invasion of Ukraine, Kazakhstan today seeks to deepen its relations with other powers such as China, Turkey, the European Union and the United States, while maintaining a close dialogue with Russia.
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