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US seeks to minimize impact on Kazakhstan from sanctions imposed on Russia — Blinken

US Secreatry of State and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi plan to stay in close contact, the statement said

WASHINGTON, May 21 /TASS/. The US is committed to minimizing the impact on Kazakhstan from the sanctions imposed on Russia, US Secreatry of State Antony Blinken told his Kazakh counterpart Mukhtar Tileuberdi during talks on Friday.

The secretary of state confirmed US "commitment to minimizing the impact on allies and partners, including Kazakhstan, from the sanctions imposed on Russia" in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, US State Department Spokesman Ned Price said in a statement following the meeting. "Secretary Blinken also thanked Foreign Minister Tileuberdi for Kazakhstan’s generous humanitarian assistance, both at the government level and by individuals, to the people of Ukraine," according to the statement.

Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Tileuberdi plan to stay in close contact, the statement said.

Blinken "reiterated the United States’ unwavering support for Kazakhstan’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity," the statement said. He described Kazakh president’s political and economic reforms "as a positive step in promoting prosperity, strengthening security, and protecting human rights in Kazakhstan and Central Asia," Price said in the statement.

On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country. The US and its allies retaliated by imposing sweeping sanctions. Some Western politicians admitted they essentially represented an economic war on Russia. Putin said on March 16 that Western sanctions on Moscow bore signs of an aggression and that the policy of deterring Russia was a long-term Western strategy.

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