MOSCOW, October 9 (Itar-Tass) —— Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan came out on Tuesday with a joint statement to proclaim their countries’ commitment to “preserve and strengthen eternal friendship between the two nations as a guarantee of their national security, political stability, international accord and prosperity.”
The two presidents instructed their governments to prepare in 2013 a new Treaty on Good-neighborly and Ally Relations between Russia and Kazakhstan in the 21st Century.
President Nazarbayev’s working visit to Russia was timed to mark the 20th anniversary of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between Russia and Kazakhstan and the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two states, the statement notes.
The presidents “discussed in detail key issues of the Russian-Kazakh cooperation and international problems,” the statement says. “The sides expressed satisfaction with the level of cooperation in bilateral and multi-party formats. The heads of state attach great significance to the further development and expanding mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. They stressed that the large-scale events held in both countries on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations marked in 2012 have contributed to improving mutual understanding and strengthening the social base of bilateral ties, to creating new channels of communication.
“Proceeding from the understanding that friendship, good-neighborly relations and strategic partnership have major significance for both states, that they are a factor of international stability and closer cooperation in the Eurasian space, the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan state the following:
“Russia and Kazakhstan undertake to preserve and strengthen eternal friendship between the two nations as a guarantee of national security, political stability, international accord and prosperity;
“Russia and Kazakhstan reiterate their commitment to the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance between Russia and Kazakhstan of May 25, 1992 and consider it as a firm legal base for the current and future development and deepening of comprehensive ties, allied relations between the two brotherly states and peoples;
“Russia and Kazakhstan build their relations on the basis of large-scale cooperation and mutual trust, respect to the independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of state borders, peaceful settlement of disputes and non-use of force or threats of force, principles of non-interference into domestic affairs of each other, equality and mutual benefit;
“Russia and Kazakhstan, as good neighbors, will respect each other’s lawful interests in the political, economic, military and other spheres;
“Russia and Kazakhstan will continue close cooperation in the area of foreign policy, pooling their efforts to ensure peace and security in Eurasia and globally;
“Russia and Kazakhstan will expand mutually beneficial cooperation in trade-and-economic, investment and research areas in a bid to promote Eurasian economic integration between the two countries;
“Russia and Kazakhstan attach paramount significance to further development of equal and mutually advantageous strategic cooperation in the areas of the production and transportation of hydrocarbon resources to global markets, and in the area of the peaceful use of atomic energy through closer economic ties, industrial cooperation and creating maximally favorable conditions for such cooperation;
“Russia and Kazakhstan attach great significance to the formation and development of a unified transportation system and creating for these ends necessary legal, economic and organizational conditions to ensure obstacle-free shipment of cargoes and passenger traffic;
“Russian and Kazakhstan will actively cooperate on the bilateral basis in the framework of international programs in the area of peaceful space exploration,” the presidents said in the statement.
Putin and Nazarbayev also reiterated the importance of the further use of the Baikonur space ground and development of its research potential in the interests of Russia, Kazakhstan and other countries.
Russia and Kazakhstan have pledged to develop research cooperation in the top-priority areas of science and technology that are of mutual interest. The two states are committed “to expand ties and strengthen cooperation in the defence and military-technical area as a key component of strategic partnership relations in the interest of ensuring regional and global security,” “to expand cooperation in the fight against international terrorism, transnational organized crime, illegal drug and weapon trafficking, and against any form of extremism,” the statement says.
“The presidents reiterate their commitment to outlaw in their states the activity of organizations and groups or individuals who seek to stir up interethnic hatred or instigate violence against people on the ground of their nationality;
“Russia and Kazakhstan will grant equal rights and freedoms to their citizen regardless of their nationality. Ethnic Russians residing in the multi-ethnic Republic of Kazakhstan and ethnic Kazakhs living in the multi-ethnic Russian Federation have always made and will further make their worthy contribution to the development of Russia and Kazakhstan as independent, democratic and prosperous states and are one of the factors bringing the two countries closer together, a factor of the stability of the Russian-Kazakh relations in the strategic perspective;
“Russia and Kazakhstan will spare no effort to preserve spiritual and cultural ties between the two nations, to expand ties in the areas of culture, education and information;
“Russia and Kazakhstan will encourage broader contacts between scientific, creative and other associations and funds working in line with their national laws;
“Russia and Kazakhstan will ensure conditions to preserve and strengthen the common cultural space on the basis of history-long ties and contacts between creative unions and associations, people of culture, literature and arts, preserving ethnic and language identity of peoples,” the document notes.
The two president stress that “cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan is based on a long-term and reliable base,” confirm their commitment “to coordinate closely their states’ efforts towards still closer relations between the two countries and express confidence that “the agreement reached will serve the interests of both nations.”