On Monday, Russian authorities will close a terminal in the Black Sea through which two-thirds of Kazakh oil exports flow. According to state media, the official reason is that World War II naval mines were found in the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. However, the timing of this announcement is suspicious.
Shortly before that, the Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev explains that, unlike Russia, he does not recognize the eastern Ukrainian separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk. He made this statement in the presence of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin, who promptly hit back. “What is the Soviet Union? This is historical Russia,” Putin said. According to observers, this was a thinly veiled threat that the former Soviet Republic of Kazakhstan, like Ukraine, could be invaded.
No oil flow until the end of the month
Two days later, according to the newspaper Kommersant, Russia announced that about 50 duds had been found in the port of Novorossiysk. Ironically, for the terminal of the CPC consortium, which operates the oil pipeline between Kazakhstan and Russia’s Novorsiysk. This is the main route for transporting the raw material from Kazakhstan to western countries. The demining campaign should last at least until the end of the month – then there will be no oil exports.
According to a report by the Ukrainian news agency Unian, Kazakhstan is already taking revenge for the involuntary split. The country is blocking the export of 1,700 train cars with Russian coal. However, the Kazakh Ministry of Industry dismissed such reports as “fake”. Everything is running normally on Russian railways, there are no delays in exports, it said in a statement.
Russia and Kazakhstan need each other
If the blockade of the terminal is in fact Russian revenge for the rebellion of Kazakhstan, it could strain relations between the Allies. On Friday, Putin described the neighboring country as a “brotherly nation”. In any case, the two states are interdependent and important political and economic partners. Russian troops also managed to secure the power of the Kazakh head of state at the beginning of this year after mass popular protests.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
