Nazarbayev will hold talks with his Ukrainian and Belarus counterparts in the wake of sanctions-caused slump of the Russian ruble that has started to affect currencies of neighboring post-Soviet states, Ukraine Today reports. 

The shockwave of Russia’s economic crisis is expected to hit Kazakhstan’s industrial and agricultural sectors due to their being flooded with low-cost Russian produce, while the implications of oil-export dependency on Russia suggest additional damage to the country’s economy.

Astana’s stance on Russian intervention in the east of Ukraine prevented Kazakhstan’s geopolitical isolation, although Russia has started implementing embargos on Kazakh foodstuffs.

The talks in Kyiv come less than two weeks before the Customs Union expands to to include Armenia and Kyrgyzstan on January 1, 2015.

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