Russian official accuses West of ‘manipulation’ in Kazakhstan
manipulation’ in Kazakhstan Russia’s Security Council has accused the West of trying to drive a wedge between Russia and Kazakhstan by interfering in the affairs of sovereign nations, Russia’s TASS news agency reports. The comments published on Friday come as Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev visits Kazakhstan to meet his counterparts from across the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. “The United States and their allies are trying to support nationalist sentiment, spreading lies, manipulating public opinion, including through the internet and social networks,” TASS quoted Patrushev’s deputy, Alexander Shevtsov, as saying in Almaty. Oil-rich Kazakhstan, Russia’s longtime ally and close economic partner, has treaded carefully since Moscow’s troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Kazakh officials regularly call for diplomacy to end the war and say the country will comply with – but not join – Western sanctions against Russia. Kazakh citizens have provide