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Russian, Kazakh top diplomats to discuss bilateral integration cooperation

This is first visit of Beibut Atamkulov to Russia after assuming office last December

MOSCOW, January 28. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will hold talks with his Kazakh counterpart Beibut Atamkulov on Monday. This is his first visit to Russia after assuming office last December.

The two top diplomats will discuss integration cooperation in multilateral formats, the implementation of the agreements that were reached at the Caspian summit in August 2018 and exchange views on joint work in the fight against terrorism. The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that Atamkulov’s visit was consistent with the spirit of strategic partnership.

Agenda

The two ministers will exchange views on a wide range of bilateral issues and integration cooperation within the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the CIS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the UN and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The parties will pay special attention to regional security.

According to Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, it is planned to sign a cooperation plan between the two countries’ Foreign Ministries for 2019-2020. "The discussion will concern cooperation in the fight against terrorism and extremism and illegal spread of drugs. Russia highly appreciates the work as part of the Astana process, which contributes to efforts to resolve the conflict in Syria," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Intense cooperation

Moscow noted that political contacts were traditionally intense in 2018, with the heads of state meeting nine times, the heads of government - seven times, while the foreign ministers met twice.

"Russia continues to be Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner. The trade turnover continues to grow, having reached $16.6 bln in the first ten months of last year," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed. "Strategic partnership between Russia and Kazakhstan is developing dynamically, covering new areas of trade and economic cooperation, cooperation in the high-tech sphere of the energy sector, transport and space.".

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