ASTANA – The Astana Times has selected articles from international media outlets covering Kazakhstan. This week’s foreign media digest highlights the country’s plans to launch Central Asia’s first air taxi service, developments in energy security, transport connectivity and regional diplomacy.
Photo credit: Fatima Kemelova/ The Astana Times Speaking alongside Putin, Kazakh President calls for freeze of Ukraine war Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said on Saturday that a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine might be reached if the sides froze the conflict and resumed negotiations, reported Reuters on July 25.
Speaking alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Russia-Kazakhstan forum in the Siberian city of Omsk, Tokayev praised Putin’s “utmost diplomatic flexibility.” “If I may offer my humble opinion, since I have been asked, perhaps it is time to freeze this conflict and return to the Istanbul formula 2.0,” he said.
Moscow and Kyiv participated in talks in Istanbul soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion in early 2022 and again in 2025, though the discussions failed to produce a breakthrough. Tokayev proposes launching digital transport corridor between Kazakhstan and Russia Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has proposed launching a pilot digital transport corridor between Kazakhstan and Russia to further develop logistics and boost bilateral trade, reported Trend on July 25.
According to the press service of the President of Kazakhstan, Tokayev made the proposal while addressing the 22nd Kazakhstan-Russia Interregional Cooperation Forum in Omsk. The president said Kazakhstan and Russia have unique opportunities to shape Eurasia’s transport and logistics architecture.
“Kazakhstan and Russia, which share the world’s longest continuous land border, are destined to play a leading role in developing the transport and logistics architecture of the Eurasian continent,” Tokayev said.