MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. A delegation of the Russian Federation Council, headed by its Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, will pay a two-day visit to Kazakhstan, which is going to be the first trip abroad since the start of the pandemic, the upper house’s press service announced on Sunday.

"The delegation of the Federation Council, led by its Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, will visit Kazakhstan on June 27-28", the press service said.

"This is going to be the first official visit of Russian senators abroad since the start of the pandemic. I am very glad, we are making it to Kazakhstan. Personal meetings will allow us to discuss in detail all topical issues of both the bilateral agenda and the current international situation," according to Matviyenko.

During the trip, the Russian delegation will meet Kazakhstan’s leadership and parliamentarians. In particular, negotiations will be held with Chairman of the parliament’s Senate (upper house) Maulen Ashimbayev and Chairman of the Mazhilis (lower house) Nurlan Nigmatulin. According to the press service, the Russian delegation also plans to meet Kazakhstan’s first President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"The Federation Council’s Speaker will take part in an expanded meeting of the commission on cooperation between the Federation Council and Kazakhstan’s Senate of the Parliament," the press service noted. It will also include members of the Federation Council committees on international relations, defense and security as well as members of Kazakhstan’s Senate committees on the same fields.

As expected, Valentina Matviyenko is going to visit the Astana International Financial Center. The Federation Council’s speaker will also lay a wreath at the monument to the Fatherland’s Defenders in Nur-Sultan.

The Russian delegation includes Federation Council First Deputy Speaker, Co-Chairman of Russia’s commission on cooperation between the Russian upper house and Kazakhstan’s Senate Andrey Yatskin, Federation Council Deputy Speaker Konstantin Kosachev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Defense and Security Viktor Bondarev, Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs Grigory Karasin and other senators.

Rescheduled visit

The visit of the Russian Federation Council’s delegation, headed by Matviyenko, planned earlier for April 29-30, was postponed after Chairman of Kazakhstan’s Senate Maulen Ashimbaev reported that he had contracted COVID-19. On May 11, Ashimbaev announced his recovery.