Duma has never made any territorial claims to Kazakhstan, this is Ukrainian media invention - Slutsky
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - Head of the State Duma International Affairs' Committee Leonid Slutsky has said that nobody in the Duma is raising the issue of territorial claims to Kazakhstan, the issue does not exist.
"In the past few days the media, primarily Ukrainian, have widely reproduced the remarks of State Duma deputy, member of the Committee for CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Ties with Countrymen Pavel Shperov made at a January 26 roundtable at the State Duma attributing to him territorial claims to Kazakhstan. I daresay that nobody meant to revise Russia's borders with Kazakhstan," Slutsky said to journalists on Wednesday.
He said the quotation is clearly taken out of the context of the deputy's speech and is accompanied by clearly far-fetched conclusions of journalists.
"Kazakhstan is a fraternal state for Russia, its closest partner in the Eurasian Economic Union and also in political, trade, economic and humanitarian spheres. There cannot be and should be no tensions between our countries especially on such an invented and groundless pretext," Slutsky said.
Shperov "by no means meant the revision of the existing borders in the framework of the EAEU between Kazakhstan and Russia or territorial claims attributed to him," Slutsky said.
"The idea was never expressed in the State Duma. I assure you that such proposals could not arise in either parliamentary factions or relevant committees - on international affairs and CIS affairs. There are no grounds for them," he added.
At the roundtable meeting Shperov said that Russia is a great nation and should protect its interests globally. The issue of countrymen, including those living in Kazakhstan, was also raised, the press service of the committee head said. The Ukrainian media carried such headlines as "The State Duma starts speaking of territorial claims to Kazakhstan."