Kazakh President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, at the congress of the ruling party, expressed the opinion that the war in Ukraine was caused by the fact that the Minsk agreements remained on paper. He called on Ukraine and Russia to negotiate and offered mediation if necessary.

"The Minsk agreements remained on paper, which led to military action in Ukraine. The geopolitical situation has escalated in an unprecedented way and now it is time to talk about the irreversibility of this trend, unfortunately," he said.

"We call on both states to find a common language at the negotiating table, to reach an agreement and consent, there is no other way, a bad peace is better than a good quarrel. For its part, Kazakhstan is ready to provide all possible assistance, including mediation services, if they are needed," Tokayev continued.

The President also said that he instructed the government to prepare the economy to reflect the sanctions challenges.