The government of Kazakhstan announced on Sunday that it would suspend all foreign exports of “weapons, military equipment, and military products” for a full year until the end of August 2023—a development thought to be related to political pressures surrounding neighboring Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The decision to suspend exports came after a meeting between members of the Kazakhstan Commission on Defense Industry, overseen by prime minister Alikhan Smailov. At the meeting, the participants “considered the proposal of the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development to suspend the export of weapons, military equipment and military products until the end of August 2023,” according to a Russian-language statement on the prime minister’s website.

“That proposal was supported by the members of the Commission,” the statement read without elaboration. It also noted that the group had discussed plans to “conduct an audit of legal entities that have licenses” for such exports.

The statement did not provide an explanation for the decision to suspend its arms exports but it is thought to be related to political pressure from Russia following accusations in Russian-language media that the country was exporting arms and ammunition to Ukraine through the United Kingdom. Weapons exports through third countries have been used by other nations to transfer weapons to Ukraine; Bulgaria, for instance, has officially denied sending military equipment to Kyiv but is thought to have transmitted as much as 4,000 tons of equipment through Poland.

Kazakhstan has an advanced domestic arms manufacturing industry. The country produces armored vehicles, artillery, machine guns, grenades, and other weapons, as well as protective gear and night-vision goggles. The Kazakh government has not indicated that these items are being exported.

Like other former Soviet republics in Central Asia, Kazakhstan has avoided taking a stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, although Russia is Kazakhstan’s main economic partner, the country also has broad ties with Kyiv and has repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. While the government has remained officially neutral, many Kazakhs support Ukraine, condemning Russia’s invasion as a war of aggression and noting parallels between Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s historical negationism concerning Ukrainian statehood and similar denials of Kazakh national identity.

Kazakhstan’s weapons export ban comes after a meeting between Putin and Kazakh president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the Russian resort city of Sochi on August 19. However, the Russian and Kazakh readouts of the meeting did not mention weapons exports.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

Image: Reuters.