MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/. Kazakhstan has significantly reduced the intensity of military contacts with the US, Russian envoy to Kazakhstan Alexey Borodavkin said on Tuesday in an article published in the International Affairs Journal.

"At the same time, Kazakhstan, realizing the degree of toxicity of cooperation with the US in the military sphere in terms of protecting regional security, has significantly reduced the intensity of relevant contacts with Washington," he said.

"The international exercises with the participation of US and other NATO contingents ‘Steppe Eagle’ were terminated. In the context of the flight of Americans from Afghanistan the Pentagon was given a firm refusal to allow US combat aircraft to fly through the airspace of the country [Kazakhstan], to deploy elements of their military and intelligence infrastructure on the Kazakh territory, and to accept the Afghan refugees, who could include terrorists and other undesirable elements," the diplomat added.