After the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent Kazakhstan was Russia's closest ally next to Belarus, and the Kazakhs were perceived by the Russians as one of the most friendly nations in the world. The importance of Kazakhstan has grown even more after the sharp collapse of Russia's relations with the West in 2014 due to the Ukrainian crisis. The beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war caused a change in Kazakhstan's policy towards Russia. Kazakhstan, which is economically strongly integrated with Russia and bound by military and political arrangements, formally remains its ally. In practice, however, it distances itself from Russian policy, especially towards Ukraine, and demonstrates its will to implement a multi-vector policy and to cooperate on equal terms with all the most important centers of world politics.
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