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Kyrgyz president sees revival of relations with Russia as major result of his tenure

Atambayev is now on an official visit to Russia

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

KAZAN, June 23. /TASS/. Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev has described the resurgence of ties with Russia as one of the main outcomes of his tenure.

"A major result of my presidency in Kyrgyzstan is the fact that we have brought relations with fraternal Russia to the proper level, because at some point our relations were not at their best, and today we have built brotherly and friendly relatioins," he said on Friday during his working meeting with President of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, in Kazan.

Kyrgyzstan’s presidential election will be held in October 2017. Atambayev was elected the head of state in 2011 and, according to the country’s legislation, he cannot run for a second term.

Official visit

Atambayev is paying an official visit to Russia. Kyrgyzstan’s president arrived in Kazan today, and on Thursday he visited Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan. During Atambayev’s visit to Moscow and his talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the two sides signed nine documents, including the protocol to the intergovernmental agreement on the settlement of Kazakhstan’s debts to Russia under the previously granted loans of September 20, 2012. Also, an agreement was signed on the development of military-technical cooperation.

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Putin applauds Russian-Kyrgyz relations as developing consistently

The two countries also signed a memorandum on technical cooperation between Russia’s Federal Treasury and Kyrgyzstan’s Finance Ministry, a memorandum on mutual understanding and cooperation between the Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography and the State Service of Cartography and Geodesy of Kyrgyzstan, an agreement on cooperation in education and training personnel for Kyrgyzstan’s system to counter the legalization of criminal incomes and financing terrorist or extremist activities.

In addition to that, they signed a memorandum on cooperation in the exchange of statistical data on mutual trade, an intergovernmental agreement on the legal status of representative offices of the competent authorities in the field of migration.

The two countries’ leaders signed the Declaration on strengthening the alliance and strategic partnership between Russia and Kyrgyzstan. It envisages, in particular, efforts to accelerate the process of establishing the United Regional Air Defense System.

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