Russian banks and companies are increasingly choosing Kazakhstan for currency operations needed to conduct payments with China after US sanctions made them overly complicated at home, according to people familiar with the matter.

Germany is interested in expanding trade with Kazakhstan while also ensuring such trade is not used to circumvent EU sanctions on Russia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on a visit to the Central Asian nation.

Several Central Asian leaders urged Germany to normalize relations with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan at a summit with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Kazakhstan on Tuesday. Germany has been critical of the hard-line Islamist Taliban group,

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday described the deepening of relations with the republics of Central Asia as a "strategic goal for Germany" as he continued a visit to Kazakhstan for a regional summit.