Relations between Russia and Kazakhstan will remain in line with the strategic partnership, despite the opposition of non-regional players, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told the first Deputy Director-General of TASS Mikhail Gusman.
"It is important for us, <...> that Russia remains a strategic ally for Kazakhstan, with which the new leadership of this country intends to continue building relations aimed at the future. And here we and the Kazakh people are hostages, in quotation marks, of the fundamental interests of the peoples of our countries, which are based on historical ties, on good-neighborly ties. And I am sure that our relations will continue to follow this paradigm, despite the attempts of, let's say, non - regional players to prevent such a partnership," he said.
Rudenko recalled that Russia and Kazakhstan played a crucial role in the processes of Eurasian integration, "the founder of which is the first President of Kazakhstan [Nursultan Nazarbayev]." "We are effectively cooperating within the CIS, in the CSTO [Collective Security Treaty Organization], I will not talk about bilateral ties. <...> Russia ranks first among Kazakhstan's main trading partners: our share in Kazakhstan's foreign trade turnover was over 20% in 2019, " the Deputy Foreign Minister said.
At the same time, Rudenko expressed confidence that, despite the serious impact of the pandemic on the situation in the country, "Kazakhstan will be able to find answers to all challenges." "Russia will help, not only in the fight against the pandemic, but also help, provide assistance within the framework of economic cooperation and cultural events," he added, expressing hope that the coronavirus would not prevent the implementation of all plans for this year's Russian - Kazakh events.
"It is true that sometimes there are ripples on the general calm sea of our relations, but it seems to me that this is not decisive," said Rudenko. "We trust the new leadership of Kazakhstan, support it in every possible way, and hope that Russia and Kazakhstan will continue to be exactly the strategic allies that the presidents agreed on in the early 1990s."
20 draft agreements between Russia and Uzbekistan
Russia and Uzbekistan are preparing to sign about 20 draft intergovernmental agreements, Rudenko said.
"Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we had to postpone the state visit of Mr. [President of Uzbekistan Shavkat] Mirziyoyev to Russia for a later date, but we hope that it will still take place. We have about 20 projects of intergovernmental agreements that we are ready to sign, " he said.
The high-ranking diplomat positively assessed the trends in the dialogue between Moscow and Tashkent. According to him, relations in the field of economy, politics and military-technical cooperation are developing at a good pace, including thanks to the efforts of the President of Uzbekistan.
Rudenko drew attention to the fact that the Uzbek side had expressed a desire to obtain observer status in the EEU. "We hope that in the near future this status will be granted to Uzbekistan, which will open up opportunities for it to deepen integration within the framework of the EEU, including the opportunity to gain experience of cooperation with other countries in the context of this organization and eventually become a full member of the Union. Again, the sovereign choice should remain with the leadership of Uzbekistan, and we will respect it, " the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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Based on materials from TASS