Putin seeks to boost ties in two-day visit to Kazakhstan
- 27 November, 17:01
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kazakhstan on Wednesday on a two-day visit aimed at boosting ties between Moscow and the Central Asian country.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed Putin at Nursultan Nazarbayev International Airport, according to a Kremlin statement. Prior to Putin’s visit, the Kremlin said on Tuesday that Putin will hold talks with Tokayev and address the plenary session of the 20th Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum via videoconference.
Putin will also attend the meeting of the Russian-led military bloc, the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which will include talks on interaction within the alliance during the past year, according to a Kremlin statement. The CSTO meeting will see an exchange of views on international issues.
Prior to the visit on early Wednesday, Putin described Russia as one of Kazakhstan’s largest economic partners, stressing that Moscow was ready for new large-scale projects with the Central Asian nation. “Rosatom (Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation) provides practical assistance in the implementation of nuclear fuel cycle projects and the development of the uranium industry in Kazakhstan. The Russian state corporation … is ready for new large-scale projects with Kazakhstan,” Putin told in an interview with a Kazakh newspaper.
The Russian leader also spoke about “constructive” cooperation in oil and gas sector, with more than 80% of the Central Asian nation’s exports passing through Russian territory. “Good prospects are also opening up for cooperation in the field of alternative and clean energy, environmental protection, and combating climate change,” Putin added.
Among the prospective mutual economic projects, Putin mentioned the efforts to expand the eastern part of the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), a 7,200-kilometer network of ship, rail, and road routes between Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Central Asia, India and Europe.
