On his May 27-29 state visit to Kazakhstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, planting an oak tree and signing more than a dozen agreements. “Eternal friendship, stable good-neighborliness, and mutual trust—these are not propaganda slogans, but the essence of the relationship between our peoples, a solid guarantee of their success in all spheres of public life. And we in Kazakhstan understand this well,” Tokayev said at a press conference following his meeting with Putin.
The visit effectively threw a monkey wrench in the various attempts by the Western nations, including the United States, to create a rift between Russia and this crucial Central Asian nation. Both countries are cooperating more closely on space and on energy. The building of a new launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome and the joint work on the new Soyuz space launch vehicle, which was recently launched from there, signal a new era of cooperation between the two countries in space.
There will also be a major discussion regarding the crucial North-South Transport Network, the eastern portion of which transits Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to Iran. “Kazakhstan and Russia are simultaneously removing administrative barriers and creating favorable conditions for carriers,” Russian Transportation Minister Andrei Nikitin told reporters. “The creation of a joint Russian-Kazakh-Turkmen logistics operator is being considered. Work is underway to establish an end-to-end transportation service and reach agreements with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan—both bilaterally and multilaterally,” the minister said.
“Transport interconnectedness in Eurasia largely depends on our countries,” Tokayev said at the May 28 press conference. “Kazakhstan and Russia are working productively on the development of transcontinental corridors connecting the North and the South, the East and the West.” Last year, the volume of cargo operations grew to 92 million tons, a 3.5% increase. Putin noted that there are 23,000 business organizations in Kazakhstan operating with Russian capital: Russia is the largest foreign investor in Kazakhstan.
Moscow and Astana are also working on a rail network from Europe to Asia, envisioned as a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative. Trade has increased over this route, given the instability created in Southwest Asia by the Israeli actions in Gaza and the U.S. attacks on Iran. Tokayev has also been a strong defender of the Russian language against the attempts by European nations to outlaw it. They also discussed an Autonomous Motor Truck Line linking the two countries by trucks.
On May 28 evening, both Presidents were to attend a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Forum, which is the main business and policy event of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), a very important regional organization, but the event occurred too late for EIR to obtain reports of what was discussed and acted upon.