Kazakh foreign minister, U.S. presidential aide discuss Ukraine crisis
ASTANA. June 17 (Interfax) - Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrisov and Special Assistant to the U.S. President and Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia on the National Security Council Celeste Wallander have discussed cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States in politics, trade and business, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said in a press release on Tuesday.
During their meeting in Monday, Idrisov and Wallander also exchanged opinions on key problems of international politics and regional security, including the situation in Ukraine and the stabilization efforts in Afghanistan as the International Security Assistance Force prepares to leave this country, the ministry said.
"The sides reiterated the importance of enacting as soon as possible the protocol on the "nuclear five countries'" negative guarantees to the signatories to the Treaty on the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon Free Zone signed in New York on May 6, 2014, a step which will significantly enhance the security of countries in this region and bolster the global non-proliferation system in general," it said.
The U.S. president's assistant, for her part, displayed her interest in measures to bolster the investment climate that were announced by the Kazakh president at the 27th session of the Foreign Investors' Council.
"Wallander assured [the Kazakh side] that the administration of [President Barack] Obama will closely work with business circles in the U.S. in order to encourage them to pursue cooperation with Kazakhstan both in investments and projects such as EXPO-2017," the Kazakh ministry said.
