At the 22nd Russia-Kazakhstan interregional forum in Omsk on 25 July, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said it was perhaps time to freeze the conflict and return to what he called the Istanbul Formula 2.0. He ruled out a mediating role for Kazakhstan.
Dmitry Peskov answered on 26 July. Putin had told Tokayev that freezing the conflict as such is impossible given Kyiv’s position, and that Russia intends to achieve its own goals first.
The forum’s own numbers show what Astana is protecting. Trade reached almost $28 billion last year and grew more than 4% in the first five months of 2026, by Putin’s count. He called Russia the largest investor in Kazakhstan’s economy, with about 70 projects worth some $30 billion. Tokayev cited 177 industrial projects worth $53 billion, 122 of them already implemented. Agreements worth 65 billion rubles were signed at the forum; Kazakhstan Today put the day’s total at $833 million.
Tokayev also proposed a pilot digital transport corridor between the two countries. Rail freight between them reached 92 million tonnes last year, up 3.5%. Container traffic on the China-Kazakhstan-Russia route has grown eightfold in five years. Road haulage moved 8.5 million tonnes in 2025 and 4.3 million in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
Kazakhstan is paying for this war in stopped pipelines and diverted cargo. It made the request on Russian soil, in public, with Putin standing next to it. The answer took less than a day.