ASTANA, Kazakhstan, February 12. Kazakhstan and Russia discussed expanding cooperation in the economy and defense and strengthening cooperation in the security sector, Trend reports via the press service of Kazakhstan’s President.
Kazakhstan’s President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev met with Russia's Secretary of the Security Council, Sergei Shoigu. During the meeting, issues of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia in various areas of bilateral partnership and regional security were discussed.
"I believe your visit is of great importance in terms of deepening cooperation between our countries, which is developing on an upward trajectory. The state visit of the President of the Russian Federation to Kazakhstan last November was of immense importance. It is very important that economic interaction between our countries is also developing successfully. We have reached agreements on 171 projects, and more than 50 projects are already at the final stage of implementation. Russia is now one of the main investors in the Kazakh economy. I believe that cooperation between our law enforcement agencies and defense ministries is also successfully developing. I think your visit is a great opportunity to take stock of what is being done in our cooperation and agree on new directions for interaction between our countries," said the President.
Kassym-Jomart Tokayev conveyed greetings to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Secretary of the Russian Security Council thanked the Kazakh President for the opportunity to meet and discuss the most urgent issues of regional security.
"The relationship between our brotherly peoples and our countries is constantly maintained at a very high level. The volume of trade and our joint projects is impressive. Of course, our interaction is not limited to bilateral cooperation. We are actively working within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, CSTO, CIS, and EAEU. Projects initiated, including by Kazakhstan, are successfully and actively developing," said Sergei Shoigu.
In the course of the meeting, the sides exchanged views on enhancing the effectiveness of security cooperation between the countries.
To note, earlier, Sergei Shoigu held a meeting with the Secretary of the Security Council of Kazakhstan, Gizat Nurdauletov, during which the parties discussed issues of bilateral relations, current challenges and threats to international and regional security, the situation in Central Asia, Syria, and Afghanistan.
