Although Kazakh ally Russia vehemently opposed the post-revolutionary government in Kyiv, Astana has maintained its own ties despite the change in power.

[2] On 4 December 2019, on the eve of a state visit to Germany, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave an interview to Deutsche Welle, in which he drew controversy in Ukraine by saying that he did not believe that the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was an invasion while also saying that he believed in the "wisdom of the Russian leadership", drawing condemnation from the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who issued a demarche in response.

[3] After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, representatives of the Kazakh leadership, including Tokayev and Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi condemned the invasion and refused to recognize the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic.

[citation needed] Ukraine praised Tokayev’s statements at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where he stated that Kazakhstan would not recognize “quasi-state entities” that were the DPR and LPR.

Soon after, Vrublevskiy was summoned by Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry, which deemed these words as "inappropriate for the activities of the ambassador.