French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in uranium-rich Kazakhstan on Wednesday on the first leg of a trip to Central Asia, a region long regarded as Russia's backyard that has drawn fresh Western attention since the war in Ukraine began. His main aim: securing raw materials and possibly a lucrative contract for a nuclear power plant. But many in Kazakhstan are not happy.
Oil-rich Kazakhstan has already emerged as a replacement supplier of crude to European nations turning off Russian supply and an important link in the new China-Europe trade route bypassing Russia.
