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Putin ally calls for Ukraine war halt in rare public appeal · INSIGHT TODAY

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The president of Kazakhstan, has said he believes a peace
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: deal might be reached between Russia and Ukraine if both
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: sides freeze their conflict. Cassim Jomart Tokaiyev was speaking directly
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was sitting alongside him
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: at a bilateral meeting in the eastern Russian city of Omsk.
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  Speaker 2: So let's listen in to what Tokayev said.
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  Speaker 3: We've always held the Ukrainian people, their culture and their
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: language in high regard, and we believe that the nature
• 0:35
  Speaker 3: of this conflict is not entirely clear to many, including ourselves.
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  Speaker 3: No one knows how to resolve the situation because each
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  Speaker 3: side has its own position. But on the other hand,
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  Speaker 3: there's the option of putting the whole matter on hold.
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  Speaker 3: This is a tried and tested approach in international practice,
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  Speaker 3: and all of this must be halted because what's happening,
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  Speaker 3: in my firm opinion, plays into the hands of and
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  Speaker 3: delights the opponents of both Russia and the Ukrainian state.
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  Speaker 1: All right, for more on this, let's speak now with
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  Speaker 1: DW correspondent Lisa Lewis in Riga. Lisa, great to see you,
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  Speaker 1: so how significant is it that Kazakhstan's president is calling
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  Speaker 1: for a peace deal in front of Vladimir Putin.
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  Speaker 4: Well, I think it's fair to say that this is
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  Speaker 4: quite an extraordinary moment to see a close ally of
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  Speaker 4: Russia's speak out publicly in a televised speech, really, you know,
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  Speaker 4: which was life television.
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  Speaker 2: Vladimir Putin didn't seem.
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  Speaker 4: To be in the know about this, and Kazakhstan isn't
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  Speaker 4: really an important one of the most important allies of Russia.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's a large country. It's got huge.
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  Speaker 4: Raw material reserves, oil and petrol, and has been asked
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  Speaker 4: also to help out with oil deliveries to Russia recently.
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  Speaker 4: Mind you, the president of Kazakhstan has spoken out Beforehunt
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  Speaker 4: he has never really supported the Russian war in Ukraine,
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  Speaker 4: the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He has spoken out against Russia,
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  Speaker 4: so that indicates that he has some kind of liberty
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  Speaker 4: to speak out. But he was also very cautious in
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  Speaker 4: his way of wording what he said tonight. He said
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  Speaker 4: that Putin had been showing maximum diplomatic flexibility. He clearly
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  Speaker 4: wanted to be very kind to the President of Russia
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  Speaker 4: to convince him.
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  Speaker 2: To agree to this freeze in the war in Ukraine.
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  Speaker 1: Does it suggest then that there's growing support for a
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  Speaker 1: negotiated settlement, Well.
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  Speaker 4: It could suggest that really, you know, mind you, when
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  Speaker 4: you look at you know, in Russian history, revolutions have
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  Speaker 4: not come from the bottom up like in countries such
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  Speaker 4: as France, but they've happened top down. Really, they've been
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  Speaker 4: initiated by the lead by politicians, intellectuals, you know, business people.
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  Speaker 4: So it seems that more and more people are unhappy
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  Speaker 4: about this war that is now in its fifth war,
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  Speaker 4: fifth year, and doesn't seem to be going forward very quickly.
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  Speaker 4: At least there seems no end in sight, and there's
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  Speaker 4: this little music that is mounting. Maybe what we heard
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  Speaker 4: tonight is an indication that now more and more.
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  Speaker 2: People will be speaking up.
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  Speaker 4: There was also an instance of you know, a very
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  Speaker 4: well known actor that came out recently saying, you know,
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  Speaker 4: Putin should stop the war, while he is actually that actor.
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  Speaker 2: Is rather pro government.
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  Speaker 4: So all these are indications that there might be a push,
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  Speaker 4: a hidden push so far, to push Putin to end
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  Speaker 4: the war.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So these remarks then from Kazakhstan's president could
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  Speaker 1: reflect broader diplomatic pressure then on Russia from countries in
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  Speaker 1: the region that are concerned, say about the costs of
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  Speaker 1: this prolonged war.
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  Speaker 4: I think there's a degree of satisfaction that seems to
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  Speaker 4: be mounting.
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  Speaker 3: You know.
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  Speaker 4: So in Russia you can see the scars of the
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  Speaker 4: war more clearly since a few months ago, because Ukraine
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  Speaker 4: has been hitting targets in this vast country with long
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  Speaker 4: range missa. It has been hitting refineries. There's a few
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  Speaker 4: crisis now underway in Russia. The Ukrainian drones have also
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  Speaker 4: hit you know, Russia's largest online retailer.
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  Speaker 2: All this has an economic impact.
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  Speaker 4: That economic impact is also spreading to Allied countries and
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  Speaker 4: countries in the region, and so it seems that there
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  Speaker 4: is more pressure pressure on ladiber put In, the president
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  Speaker 4: of Russia. Also when you look at his pollings, his
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  Speaker 4: ratings and the polls, they've also gone down slightly. So yes,
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  Speaker 4: there might that might be an indication that there is
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  Speaker 4: that the wind is turning somehow.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, And I mean, like you mentioned there there's been
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  Speaker 1: as well Ukrainian drones hitting target deep inside Russia. And
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  Speaker 1: I mean what you're saying there is the pollings, So
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: could that on some level edge the country towards I
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  Speaker 1: don't know where Putin towards ending the war.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it remains to be seen.
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  Speaker 4: You know, analysts have been speculating about this for months,
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  Speaker 4: really actually saying, you know that the cost of the
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  Speaker 4: war is going up, political pressures rising, economic pressures rising,
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  Speaker 4: and they've been saying maybe that will push President Putin
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  Speaker 4: towards the negotiation table. So far, though he's digging his
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  Speaker 4: heels in actually at the Kremlin has already reacted to
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  Speaker 4: what the President of Kazakhstan said tonight. He has been
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  Speaker 4: saying it's impossible to freeze the conflict as it is
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  Speaker 4: because of Kiev's position.
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  Speaker 2: Russia needs to.
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  Speaker 4: Obtain his goal, his goals, and that is an indication
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  Speaker 4: that so far, at least publicly, Russia is still sticking
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  Speaker 4: to its maximists demands, just as a reminder of Vladimir
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  Speaker 4: Putin has been asking for Ukraine to be demilitarized, to
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  Speaker 4: give up its native ambitions, to hand over territory in
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  Speaker 4: the Donbas, Kirkov and Zaporija region. So it doesn't seem
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  Speaker 4: that Petain so far has changed its mind.
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  Speaker 1: His mind, all right, we'll leave it there, Lisa, great
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  Speaker 1: to get that update from you in Riga, dw's Lisa
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  Speaker 1: Lewis in Regan, the Latvian capital.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks so much,