Putin praises Kazakh leadership's role in organizing talks on Syria in Astana
ASTANA. March 17 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed an interest in further strengthening bilateral cooperation with Kazakhstan, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry's press service said.
"Kazakhstan is our reliable friend and strategic ally. The mutual striving to bolster interaction in a wide variety of areas on the basis of the Treaty on Good Neighborly Relations and Alliance in the 21st Century was confirmed during recent talks with [Kazakh] President Nursultan Nazarbayev," the Kazakh Foreign Ministry quoted Putin as saying when accepting credentials from Kazakh Ambassador to Russia Imangali Tasmagambetov on Friday.
"Russia highly assesses President Nazarbayev's leadership in the integration processes on former Soviet soil. We also highly appreciate the Kazakh leadership's role in hosting the negotiating process on Syria in Astana," Putin said.
The Russian president also said he was satisfied with the state of relations between the two countries and their interaction within multilateral institutions and integration processes.
Russia and Kazakhstan are also actively working together within the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Eurasian Economic Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organization and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, he said.
Putin also reaffirmed that Russia would participate in the EXPO-2017 international exhibition in Astana.
"Russia will take part in the EXPO-2017 international exhibition in June, and we look forward to welcoming Kazakh partners at the traditional 14th Interregional Cooperation Forum in Chelyabinsk in the fall," he said.