“Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Moscow’s leader Vladimir Putin signed a declaration in Moscow on the transition of bilateral relations to the level of “comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance”.”, — write: www.pravda.com.ua
Tokaev and Putin. Photo of the Kremlin Source: regional service of RFE/RL “Azattik”, Russian mass media TASS
Details: According to Radio Svoboda, Tokayev called the signing of the document one of the main goals of his visit to Moscow, and the visit itself was the main event for him this year.
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According to him, the document “will open a new era in bilateral relations, confirm an unprecedented level of mutual trust and joint readiness for closer work in all directions.”
Putin said that Astana and Moscow are “each other’s closest partners, friends and reliable allies.”
Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov previously reported that Putin and Tokayev had a 3-hour face-to-face conversation.
Tokayev arrived in the Russian capital a week after a trip to Washington, where he and the presidents of four Central Asian countries met with the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
Radio Svoboda verbatim: “The US has shown interest in mineral resources and deepening cooperation with the region, where Russia and China have strong positions. For the Central Asian states, the meeting in Washington, according to observers, became an opportunity to diversify foreign relations and continue balancing relations with major powers.
At the same time, Astana seeks to maintain ties with Moscow, on which it depends economically and geopolitically. Kazakhstan is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union (its members include, in addition to Russia and Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization.