Kazakhstan is pursuing a new line of sanctions against Russia, vowing to put its own economic interests first, as it deepens trade ties with countries from Iran to China, Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade and Integration, Serik Zhumangarin told Bloomberg, Paralel.Az reports.

“We will not allow our own producers to be banned from trade,” he said in an interview in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

According to him, the Central Asian country “will not blindly follow the sanctions” if they affect domestic companies that are major employers in their regions.

“This is a dramatic shift in rhetoric that reflects the maneuvering of Kazakhstan, the world's largest landlocked country, in seeking access to global markets for commodity and agricultural exports. But the challenges are only growing as the neighboring economies of Russia and Iran become the most sanctioned in the world, and Kazakhstan is under scrutiny by the West for facilitating the supply of restricted goods,” the publication writes.