President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev: Mr Putin, every visit of yours to Kazakhstan is a major event for us.
Russia has always been and will always be a close neighbour, friend, ally and partner in economic and political relations with Kazakhstan.
The CIS is working and the Eurasian Economic Union has been created thanks to Russia’s support and our joint efforts. Despite the challenging international situation, the EAEU is working and we are here today to discuss the current issues of its operation. The agenda has been agreed upon. Kazakhstan as the presiding country has prepared this meeting and I believe we will have the opportunity to talk about these topics.
On this occasion, I would like to thank you once again for inviting me to the Victory Day celebrations, which I was happy to attend.
This year we marked an important date, 25 years of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In Kazakhstan, we will celebrate the 25th anniversary of independence of all EAEU member countries, and Russia Day is only several days away. I would like to congratulate you on all these holidays.
I believe the council meeting will proceed as we planned. We will have an opportunity to discuss bilateral issues.
As you know, we have a packed agenda of meetings this year. There will be an SCO meeting next month, to be followed by a CIS meeting and interregional meetings. I plan to attend the St Petersburg International Economic Forum at your invitation.
These intensive meetings are evidence of the trusting relations between our two countries. During our discussions we are always able to settle any problems, and our relations continue to develop quite well.
President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Thank you, Mr Nazarbayev, primarily for coming to Moscow on May 9. We see this as evidence of our special relations, and this is indeed the case. Kazakhstan is our closest partner and most reliable ally.
We have very good economic relations. Despite current economic difficulties, which are evident and can be explained by objective and on-going challenges, we have no doubts that the economic development system that you have created, and the previous years, during which you gained momentum and laid the foundation for Kazakhstan’s economic development, will provide a basis for dealing with these current problems.
Of course, I do not doubt for a second that our integration, primarily the Eurasian Economic Union, will definitely help us deal with our current challenges, although we do not expect miracles from our close cooperation.
Discussing bilateral relations is never out of place in this context, considering the large volume of our countries’ interaction.
Thank you for inviting me to this meeting.
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