Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held extended format talks in Astana. Vladimir Putin commended the "impressive" achievements Kazakhstan has made under President Tokayev's leadership, emphasizing the significant increase in mutual cooperation between the two nations, which has now reached $30 billion.
"Kosym Zhomart Kemelevich, I would like to thank you for the invitation, for such a warm welcome. Indeed, Kazakhstan is our strategic partner and a truly reliable ally. Of course, when we discussed all our issues of interaction in a narrow format, we paid attention to the problems that arise within the framework of such a large bilateral process. Some issues require, as you said, attention from our side, from the Russian side, and you expect certain decisions from the Russian side, from Russian partners. There are the same questions from our side. But the most important thing is that, and this was noticeable during the discussion in a narrow format, there is a desire to seek answers to all these questions and find them, and they are being found. I do not know of a single issue that we could not resolve together.
So, with such an attitude, we will achieve great success. What Kazakhstan is doing today under your leadership, the fact that Kazakhstan is achieving impressive results, this, of course, also makes us very happy, because the volume of mutual cooperation is already increasing by $30 billion of interaction and, despite all the difficulties of today, this interaction is only expanding and becoming more interesting and mutually beneficial for both parties. We talked not only about industry and finance, but tomorrow we will also talk about such an important component of today as security. Already within the framework of the CSTO, we are grateful to all of you. I am now speaking on behalf of the Russian delegation. You see, half of the Russian government has come to Kazakhstan today. We are grateful to you for the atmosphere that has been created for our joint work. And I am sure that all the documents that colleagues have prepared for our meeting today, they will strengthen the regulatory framework and will be a good basis for further progress ", Putin stressed.
