RUSSIA KAZAKHSTAN DIPLOMACY

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hand with his Kazakhstan’s counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (L) after a signing ceremony in the Kremlin in Moscow on November 28, 2022. – Kazakhstan warned Monday it could nationalise struggling energy companies in the oil-rich Central Asian country after the latest blackout there left thousands without electricity in freezing temperatures. The vast ex-Soviet country is a net exporter of energy, but high gas prices this year fuelled historic and bloody protests, and ageing infrastructure leads to persistent electricity disruptions.

(Photo by Mikhail Klimentyev / SPUTNIK / AFP)