Kazakh president urges Putin to freeze Ukraine war

Bloomberg News on Jul 25, 2026

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Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev urged Russian leader Vladimir Putin to consider freezing the war in Ukraine and returning to a revamped version of the 2022 Istanbul talks, in a rare public nudge toward peace from one of Moscow’s closest partners.

Tokayev, speaking at a meeting with Putin in the Siberian city of Omsk on Saturday, said he was receiving numerous signals from Europe and the U.S. regarding the state of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. He said he decided to voice his opinion, “because people know about our meeting and they asked me to pass this along.”

“Perhaps it’s time to freeze this conflict and return to the Istanbul formula 2.0, since significant results were achieved there,” Tokayev said, referring to the failed negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in the first weeks of the war.

Any settlement should come “under the guarantees of the great powers, including Russia,” and move toward a “long-awaited peace,” Tokayev said.

The Kazakh leader stopped short of offering to help broker a deal, saying he declined to serve as a mediator between the two countries. “I refuse to be a mediator, because I know that Russia is a great country, the Russian people are a great people, and, as they say, it will manage on its own without intermediaries,” Tokayev said.

Putin responded to Tokayev’s proposal by describing to him details of the military operation, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said later on Saturday, according to Interfax. Such a freeze is impossible, given Kyiv’s position, he added.

Kazakhstan, a major Russian trade partner, has walked a careful line since the invasion began. It’s repeatedly called for a diplomatic settlement — including after Tokayev met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the U.N. General Assembly in September — while stopping short of calling to a ceasefire.

Russia has hardened its stance and is no longer willing to return some occupied territories to Ukraine as part of any deal to end the war, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing people close to the Kremlin. Putin has previously rejected calls to accept a truce during peace talks, arguing that it would give Ukraine time to rearm and strengthen its defenses.

Zelenskyy claimed on Saturday that Russia wants 30,000 North Korean troops and additional ballistic missile launchers from North Korea, without stating the source of the information.

Kim Jong Un’s regime has been supplying troops and weapons to back Russia’s war against Ukraine, U.S. and South Korean officials have said. North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui met with Putin and Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov during a recent visit to Moscow and reaffirmed Kim’s support.

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(With assistance from Se Young Lee.)

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