MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Moscow on Saturday, the Kremlin press service said in a statement.
"The parties are expected to discuss key issues related to Russian-Kazakh relations of strategic partnership and alliance, as well as a number of pressing regional issues, particularly in light of the situation in Afghanistan," the statement reads.
Kazakh Presidential Spokesman Berik Uali said on Facebook earlier that the heads of state would exchange views on regional security issues and integration processes in Eurasia.
Putin and Tokayev last met in person in Moscow on June 2020. At the same time, they have held more than ten telephone conversations since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
After the US announced the end of its operation in Afghanistan, the longest military campaign in American history, the Taliban movement (outlawed in Russia) launched an offensive on government forces and entered the country’s capital of Kabul on August 15, meeting no resistance. Later, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani stepped down and left the country. Western nations are now evacuating their citizens and diplomatic personnel from Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said that Russia’s embassy continued to operate normally. Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev in an interview with the Izvestia daily emphasized the need to resolve the situation in the country through peaceful dialogue. The Kazakh Foreign Ministry, in turn, stated that Kazakhstan called for the creation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan, respect for the rights of ethnic minorities and women and compliance with international law.