On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu, who is in Moscow on an official visit. This is the first meeting between the foreign ministers of Russia and Kazakhstan since Nurtleu was appointed to a new post, he was previously the head of the presidential administration of the republic.
It is noteworthy that the new head of the MFA of Kazakhstan makes his first foreign visit to Russia. The Russian diplomatic mission stressed the day before that Moscow highly appreciates such a step by its Kazakhstani friends. "Choosing the Russian Federation for the first foreign visit meets the spirit of alliance and strategic partnership of the two countries, joint work aimed at strengthening good-neighborly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation," stated the Russian foreign ministry.
Nurtleu is expected to lay a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall.
Smolenskaya Square informed that during the talks the ministers will discuss the entire range of bilateral agenda, including the economic, cultural and humanitarian dimensions. The sides are expected to "compare notes" on key regional and international topics. "It is important to continue the course of coordinating efforts within the framework of such integration associations as the EEU, CSTO, CIS and SCO," the Russian foreign ministry stressed.
Aibek Smadiyarov, the official representative of the foreign ministry of Kazakhstan, said on Monday that Nurtleu also plans to meet with Yuri Ushakov, the assistant to the Russian president for international affairs, in addition to talks with Lavrov during his visit.
The foreign ministers of Russia and Kazakhstan will meet on the eve of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers (CMFA) meeting, on April 14 in Samarkand. The Russian foreign ministry notes that Kazakhstan is one of the key partners of Russia in the CIS. The signing ceremony of the Action plan for cooperation between the Russian MFA and the MFA of Kazakhstan for 2023-2024 is expected to take place during Nurtleu's visit to the Russian Federation.
International agenda
The Russian foreign ministry noted that great attention will be paid to political issues, which are becoming particularly relevant against the backdrop of the difficult situation in the world.
As part of the discussion of the international agenda, the sides will address the crisis around Ukraine. Lavrov will brief his colleague on the progress of Russia's special military operation. Kazakhstan has previously noted the need for a diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. In February, following a telephone conversation between the presidents of Kazakhstan and Ukraine, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Vladimir Zelensky, which was initiated by the Ukrainian side, it was reported that "Tokayev confirmed Kazakhstan's position on the diplomatic resolution of the armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine on the basis of the UN Charter and universally recognized norms of international law.
However, there are no prospects for negotiations yet. As Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov pointed out earlier, the United States "is literally maniacally determined not to allow the Ukrainians to even think about the hypothetical possibility of reaching a peaceful settlement track, so the special military operation continues." In addition, Western countries continue to supply weapons to Kiev, which does not provide stability to the situation.
Continued momentum
The countries are actively developing cooperation in the economy. The result of such work of the two states is the trade turnover figures for 2022 - mutual trade reached a record $28.2 billion. Despite the sanctions pressure from the West, there is every reason to expect that this dynamic will be maintained and that the current joint projects will be implemented fully, the Russian foreign ministry stressed.
The negotiations may cover the creation of a trilateral gas union. The presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan discussed the creation of a "trilateral gas union" with Uzbekistan on November 28, 2022. Then, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the first stage would involve the creation of a coordinating mechanism at the initiative of the Russian president. Later it became known that it was a question of cooperation in processing and supply of gas, including the new export destinations. For this purpose it is necessary to develop the gas infrastructure of the three countries. It could also be the creation of a more extensive gas network in Russia at a cost of 260 billion rubles. Last December, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told TASS that Astana and Tashkent were ready to cooperate with Moscow to create a gas union.
Eurasian integration
Moscow has repeatedly praised cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. In February, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted on the sidelines of a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) intergovernmental council that Russian-Kazakh cooperation is based on the principles of brotherhood and friendship as well as strategic partnership and that strengthening relations between the two states is an unconditional priority for Moscow.
Besides, Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during telephone conversation on March 6 confirmed the intention to further strengthen allied relations of two countries and agreed to continue contacts.
Tokayev, during a recent meeting with the Russian ambassador to the republic, Alexei Borodavkin, noted the importance of the upcoming visit of the Russian president to Kazakhstan in 2023, as well as the XIX Forum of interregional cooperation in Kostanay in autumn 2023.
Bilateral cooperation is regulated by an extensive contractual and legal framework that includes more than 300 treaties and agreements.
Russia highly appreciates the level of interaction with Kazakhstan within the EEU. The Russian foreign ministry stressed that one of the main "locomotives" of Eurasian integration is the Russian-Kazakh strategic partnership and alliance. "They are a guarantee that the unprecedented war of sanctions, unleashed by the 'collective West' against Russia and Belarus, as well as the attempts of Westerners to prevent the cooperation of our Union, will fail inevitably," stressed the diplomatic mission. - "Moscow looks forward to Astana's active participation in the work of the association during the presidency of the Russian Federation."
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry
Based on materials from TASS