Russian President Vladimir Putin And His Kazakh Counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev Will Meet In Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties and prospects for promoting integration processes in the Eurasian space

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd April, 2019) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss bilateral ties and prospects for promoting integration processes in the Eurasian space.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and Kazakhstan were established on October 22, 1992. Bilateral relations and cooperation are regulated by an extensive number of treaties and legal basis, which includes more than 300 documents.

The main documents on which Russian-Kazakh cooperation is based are the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance (1992), the Declaration on Eternal Friendship and Alliance Oriented Toward the 21st Century (1998), the Protocol on Amendments to the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance of May 25, 1992 (2012), as well as the Agreement between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Kazakhstan on Good Neighborly Relations and Alliance in the 21st Century (2013).

Russian-Kazakh relations include regular top- and high-level contacts. Telephone conversations between the leaders of the two countries and between heads of governments are held regularly.

In 2017, the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan met each other six times, and the heads of government met seven times. In 2018, the presidents of the two countries met nine times, the prime ministers saw each other seven times, and the foreign ministers held talks twice.

On March 21, 2019, Putin held a telephone conversation with Nursultan Nazarbayev, the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the chairman of the Kazakh Security Council, who led the country from 1990 to 2019, and with new President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

Putin thanked Nazarbayev for his great personal contribution to the development of bilateral allied relations and for the successful implementation of the Eurasian integration project. The Russian president also congratulated Tokayev on assuming the office and wished him success.

On February 1, 2019, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met with his Kazakh counterpart Bakytzhan Sagintayev on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council's meeting. Members of Russian and Kazakh delegations were also among the participants of the talks.

On January 28, 2019, Kazakh Foreign Minister Beibut Atamkulov paid an official visit to Moscow. During the talks, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Atamkulov exchanged views on relevant issues of Russian-Kazakh relations, integration processes, bilateral cooperation and cooperation in key associations such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Atamkulov's visit to Moscow was his first foreign trip after he assumed the office.

In 2010, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus formed a customs union.

The Common Economic Space has been in place since January 1, 2012. It gave an additional impetus to wider integration processes in the post-Soviet space.

The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union, which entered into force on January 1, 2015, was signed in Astana on May 29, 2014.

The Russian-Kazakh strategic partnership is developing successfully. It covers all new areas of trade and economic cooperation, as well as cooperation in the areas of energy, transport and space.

Russia and Kazakhstan signed a joint plan of action for 2019-2021, which defines the priority tasks of bilateral cooperation. It was approved by the presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan on November 9, 2018, and became an indication of a common interest in further convergence between Moscow and Nur-Sultan.

The two countries have been traditionally developing close trade and economic ties. Russia ranks first among the main trade partners of Kazakhstan, with its share in Kazakh foreign trade exceeding 20.

5 percent. Kazakhstan ranks 11th among Russia's trading partners, and first in terms of Russia's turnover with CIS countries.

In 2017, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service, Russian-Kazakh trade amounted to $17.5 billion. Russian exports totaled $12.5 billion, while imports reached $5.02 billion.

In 2018, the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries totaled $18.2 billion, including $12.9 billion in Russian exports and $5.3 billion in imports.

Russia's exports to Kazakhstan include machinery, equipment and vehicles, mineral products, metals and products made of them, chemicals, food products and agricultural raw materials, wood, pulp and paper products, textile goods and footwear.

Russia's imports from Kazakhstan consist mainly of mineral products, metals and products from them, chemicals, food products and agricultural raw materials, machinery, equipment and vehicles, textile goods and footwear.

There is a lively economic exchange between Russia's federal subjects and regions of Kazakhstan across the 4,700-mile Russian-Kazakh border.

The Russian-Kazakh Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation has been operating since 1997. Its 20th meeting was held in Kazan in October 2018.

The key area of the bilateral economic cooperation is the fuel and energy sector. Cooperation in energy and atomic energy, such as joint uranium mining projects in Kazakhstan, and in the oil and gas sector is actively developing.

The Russian-Kazakh cooperation in the space industry is also successfully developing. Russia leases the Baikonur cosmodrome located in Kazakhstan.

In August 2018, during the Army 2018 forum, Russia and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to build the Baiterek launch facility at the Baikonur cosmodrome for the new Soyuz-5 missile.

Russia and Kazakhstan cooperate in the military and defense industry spheres. Russian-made weapons are exported to Kazakhstan, and Russia also provides assistance in the repair and modernization of Kazakhstan's military equipment. Russia leases military testing sites in Kazakhstan.

In January 2019, the Russian Helicopters holding signed a contract with NK Kazakhstan Engineering of the Ministry of Defense and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and with Aviation Repair Plant No. 405 to set up an assembly line for Mi-8AMT and Mi-171 helicopters in Kazakhstan. A life cycle support system for helicopters was created, and training of local specialists was conducted. Kazakhstan will receive 45 Mi-8AMT and Mi-171 helicopters over the next five years.

The production of an upgraded version of the Il-103 light multipurpose aircraft has also started on the territory of Kazakhstan. The corresponding agreement was signed in November. The joint venture will be launched in 2019, and the deliveries will start in 2022.

The Russian-Kazakh Joint Air Defense System is being modernized. The number of joint combat training activities has increased in recent years, and more than 700 Kazakhstani military personnel are studying in the best Russian military universities for free.

It has become traditional to hold annual thematic interregional cooperation forums with the participation of the heads of state. The 15th Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum was held in the city of Petropavl in northern Kazakhstan on November 9, 2018.

Cooperation in education plays an important role in bilateral relations. There are branches of several Russian universities on the territory of Kazakhstan, including Kazakhstan Branch of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Almaty Branch of St. Petersburg Humanitarian University of Trade Unions, Ust-Kamenogorsk branch of Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, and others.