The United States will "fundamentally stand" with post-Soviet Central Asian nations to protect their territorial integrity and independence, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, sending a signal to Russia after its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. Russia's seizure of the Black Sea peninsula two weeks ago sent jitters across Central Asia, whose mainly autocratic rulers tacitly accepted Moscow's actions, fearing their former overlord may use a similar tactic in their states.

Developed by Western Oil Companies, Giant Project Off Kazakhstan Is Years Late, More Than $30 Billion Over Budget. Kazakh workers were recuperating from the frigid temperatures of the Caspian Sea over cups of tea when their Italian supervisor interrupted their break, demanding they return to work.  The workers restrained the supervisor— a manager working for Eni ENI.MI +0.17% SpA, a company building a giant oil development here—and put a plastic bag over his head. He fled, packed his bags and left Kazakhstan.

Should EU and US sanctions hit Russian energy exports, Kazakhstan will suffer collateral damage via their participation in a regional oil pipeline consortium, according to Oil & Energy Insider. What might Putin's actions in Crimea mean for Kazakhstan, where foreign investors since 2005 have poured more than $170 billion in FDI into the country, primarily in the energy sector? In 2013 Kazakhstan's oil production surged to roughly 1.64 million barrels per day. Kazakhstan has three percent of the world's raw materials, with nearly 40 billion barrels of oil reserves and two percent of global production.

A senior U.S. official will travel to two countries in Central Asia next week to emphasize U.S. support for the independence of post-Soviet states after Russia's annexation of Crimea. Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Biswal, Washington's point person for South and Central Asia, will visit Kazakhstan from March 31 to April 2 and Kyrgyzstan from April 2-4.

Central Asian states have responded to the events in Ukraine by staying silent or issuing cautiously worded statements. With his biggest prize escaping his grasp in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is likely to turn to the autocrats of Central Asia, particularly Kazakhstan’s Nursultan Nazarbayev, to further his aim of erecting a Eurasian Union of former Soviet states.

Rakhat Aliyev's name is back in a Maltese court even though he may be thousands of miles away in some other country. This is because two former bodyguards have launched a fresh challenge for the Police Commissioner to investigate their claims that they had been tortured on orders of the millionaire and Kazakhstan's former Vice Foreign Minister and later, Ambassador to Austria. The new challenge was made after a court had thrown out a first challenge for the police in Malta to investigate him for alleged crimes against humanity.