London Ready To Cooperate With Acting Kazakh President After Nazarbayev's Resignation

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd March, 2019) The United Kingdom is prepared to cooperate with Kazakhstan's acting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev following the resignation of Nursultan Nazarbayev earlier this week, Alan Duncan, the UK minister for Europe, said in a statement on Friday.

Tokayev, who was the Kazakh Senate speaker, assumed the post of the country's acting president on Wednesday after Nazarbayev announced his resignation a day prior. The new presidential election is scheduled for December 2020.

"My best wishes to Nursultan Nazarbayev as he steps down from his position as President of Kazakhstan. As the first President of the country he has shown an enduring commitment to developing a strong and dynamic relationship with the United Kingdom .

.. I look forward to working in partnership with President Tokayev to realise our shared ambitions for Kazakhstan's future development," the statement read.

Nazarbayev, 78, held a number of senior posts in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Nazarbayev remained in power, becoming president of the independent Republic of Kazakhstan. He was the last leader of a post-Soviet state heading his country since the Soviet era.

Tokayev, 65, previously held positions of the country's foreign minister and prime minister, as well as UN under secretary-general and director-general of the UN Office in Geneva.