Part 7. Defense of the country.
Correspondent of the “BBC”:
– Please tell me, Mr. President, even if you take a neutral position towards Russia, do you consider the threat of Russia’s invasion of Kazakhstan to be real? We can see from Mr. Putin’s rhetoric that he sees his mission in the reconstruction of the “great Russian empire”, including as a “collector of lands”. Do you admit the idea that the question of the ownership of northern Kazakhstan may be put back on the agenda by the Russian leadership?
President Tokayev:
– No, I don’t allow such a possibility. In any case, it is absolutely inappropriate for Russia to raise this issue now. And I believe that in the future such a question will never be raised by the leadership of this country.
However, as the President of the country and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, I want to assure the citizens of the country that we are taking all necessary measures to ensure the military security of our country.
Correspondent of the “BBC” TV channel:
– Do you think that in case of military aggression, Kazakhstan with its numbers and military equipment will be able to resist this aggression?
President Tokayev:
– We have to be realistic. We all perfectly understand the ratio of large countries in terms of population, territory and financial resources with small countries, such as Kazakhstan. And we are well aware that, with all the desire, Kazakhstan will not be able to create an army comparable in size and equipment with the largest armies in the world. Therefore, I repeat once again, we are doing everything necessary and possible to maintain the defense capability of our country, but to the best of our capabilities. At the same time, we are well aware that the main argument in such international conflicts on our part will be not so much the power of weapons, but the power of influence of the entire world community. Therefore, we need to have as many friends as possible, as few enemies as possible, conduct a competent foreign policy and be right. The one who is right will eventually win.
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