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During the official visit to Russia by the President of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed the Declaration on the 30^th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

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Beginning of meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr President, Kazakhstani friends, colleagues,

We are happy to welcome you all to Russia.

Of course, we meet with the President of Kazakhstan regularly, we have met very recently, and we always use our meetings to discuss current affairs. Above all, of course, we talk about the economy, because that is the foundation of all our success in all areas.

But today's visit is of particular importance: it is the first visit after Mr Tokayev’s re-election as President of Kazakhstan, and in this sense, it has a symbolic meaning. It emphasises the special nature of our relations. We deeply appreciate it.

We have participated in the Interregional Forum, which is held on a regular basis. I am sure that our colleagues will achieve significant, tangible results there as well, because a considerable volume of trade takes place in the border areas. People communicate with each other, they even know each other's capabilities better than the centre does, and they develop these relations. I do not remember the volume, but I think more than 50 percent of trade comes from the border areas.

We saw an increase in trade in 2021. It is growing steadily in 2022, too. We are also working on our traditional areas, and on high-tech, which is extremely important for the future.

So, we are glad to see you.

Welcome.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Thank you, Mr President.

First of all, I would like to express my gratitude for your personal congratulations on my re-election as President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Indeed, my first foreign visit after that is to the Russian Federation, which in itself has deep meaning, political significance and, of course, certain symbolism.

On the other hand, it is quite natural, as long as we are talking about cooperation between our two countries. This year we celebrated 30 years of diplomatic relations, and today we are signing a declaration on this historic date.

For Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation has been and remains our main strategic partner, a country with which we have deep ties in a wide range of sectors.

You have in fact just mentioned the opening of another meeting of the Interregional Cooperation Forum. This time it is taking place in Orenburg, and I believe that there is a very solid foundation for moving forward.

The volume of trade between our countries, despite all the pandemic-related difficulties, has reached $24.5 billion. There are very big plans for Russian capital in our country. I, as the head of state, and my government will do everything possible to make sure it is present on a permanent basis, naturally, in terms of mutual benefit.

I think there is no point in enumerating all the sectors that are involved in our cooperation. Virtually everything that exists in international cooperation as such, on a global scale, is reflected and present in our bilateral relations.

Therefore, there is every reason to be satisfied with how cooperation between our countries is developing. But at the same time, we should look ahead, and that is why I have come here.

Thank you for your hospitality, for the invitation to visit Moscow.

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