Kazakh president to pay official visit to Russia late this year

ASTANA. Sept 8 (Interfax) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has said he will pay an official visit to Russia and Uzbekistan late this year.

"My official visits to Russia and Uzbekistan will be paid at the end of this year," Tokayev said in the annual address to the people of Kazakhstan at a joint meeting of parliament chambers on Monday.

Visits of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkmenistan to Astana are being prepared, and meetings and talks with the heads of a number of Asian, European and African states have been planned, he said.

"The Kazakh-U.S. dialogue is actively developing, and our diverse contacts with the European Union are being developed too," Tokayev said.