Moscow and Astana Inch toward Cooperation on Second Trans-Border River Flowing into the Caspian

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 15 – A serious controversy has arisen between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan over the state of the Volga River which feeds the Caspian Sea (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2025/08/russians-outraged-kazakhstan-wants.html ). Now the two countries are edging toward cooperating on a second such river, the Ural.

            The Ural, which arises in Russia’s Ural Mountains and flows through Kazakhstan before emptying in the Caspian, makes a significantly smaller contribution to the water levels of that sea than does the Volga; but progress on cooperation there could lead to progress on the other (altyn-orda.kz/rossiya-obratilas-k-kazahstanu-za-pomoshhyu-v-spasenii-reki-ural/).

            Moscow is pressing hard for an agreement that will require the two countries to work together on the Ural between 2027 and 2032, and Astana officials say they want to be involved. Complicating this situation and making it far more fraught is the effort of Orenburg Oblast officials to involve Kazakhstan specialists in this effort.

            Orenburg, on the border of Russia and Kazakhstan, was once the capital of Kazakhstan; and some argue that its recovery is essential if the nations of the Middle Volga are to achieve independence from Moscow. (On this, see windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/orenburg-corridor-arose-because-kazakhs.html).