On October 5, Kazakhstanʼs authorities rejected Russiaʼs demand to expel Ukraineʼs ambassador Petro Vrublevsky because of his comments about the killing of Russians.
Reuters writes about it.
In an interview with Kazakh blogger Dias Kuzairov on August 21, the ambassador of Ukraine said: "We are trying to kill them as much as possible. The more we kill Russians now, the less our children will have to kill." After that, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan summoned Vrublevsky and protested to him. Subsequently, the ambassador of Ukraine apologized for his statements.
Russia demanded that Kazakhstan expel the diplomat, but Astana instead asked Kyiv to replace him, saying such comments were unacceptable for a country with a large Russian minority.
The press secretary of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Maria Sakharova said on October 4 that Moscow was "outraged" that Vrublevsky was still in Astana, and summoned the Kazakh ambassador.
On October 5, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Aibek Smadiyarov, called Sakharovaʼs tone "not consistent with the nature of allied relations between Kazakhstan and Russia as equal strategic partners." He added that Astana will summon the Russian ambassador.
Smadiyarov also said that Vrublevsky will leave Kazakhstan when a new ambassador of Ukraine is appointed.
- On May 20, Kyiv activist Roman Ratushny, who died in the battle near Kharkiv on June 9, published a post on Twitter where he wrote: "The more we kill Russians now, the less our children will have to kill." His words were quoted by the ambassador of Ukraine in Kazakhstan.