Russian President Vladimir Putin has been warmly received in Kazakhstan, where he and Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev discussed boosting energy and industry ties.
Putin arrived in Astana on a state visit on November 27 and was greeted by Toqaev with a handshake, according to images released on social media.
Toqaev said he had "carefully read" Putin’s commentary published in state newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda ahead of the visit and said he had published his own commentary on the state of the relationship between Moscow and Astana in the Russian media.
"I think that we have very thoroughly, as if in unison, outlined our approaches to the development of cooperation aimed at the future," Toqaev said.
He emphasized in his article that Kazakhstan "remains a reliable strategic partner and ally of Russia in this very difficult time," Toqaev's press service quoted Toqaev as saying.
Putin thanked Toqaev "for his careful attitude toward the Russian language," a reference to the lower house of parliament's ratification of an agreement to create the International Organization for the Russian Language a few days before Putin's arrival.
Kazakhstan has tried to distance itself from Moscow's war in Ukraine but remains highly dependent on Russia for exporting oil to Western markets and for imports of food, electricity, and other products.
Underscoring that more than 80 percent of Kazakhstan's oil is exported to foreign markets via Russia, Putin said he and Toqaev always focus on "a specific result" in their talks.
"Our countries are...constructively cooperating in the oil and gas sector," Putin wrote in his article, which was also featured in the Kremlin's website.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists on November 26 that Putin and Toqaev would sign a protocol on extending an agreement on oil supplies to Kazakhstan. He did not give details.
The two leaders said after their meeting that they had discussed plans to increase the transit through Kazakhstan of Russian natural gas to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, part of Moscow's pivot away from European energy markets. They also said they talked about joint projects in hydroelectric power, car tires, and fertilizers and other areas.
Putin said in his article that Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom was "ready for new large-scale projects." The company already is involved in some projects in Kazakhstan, which in October voted in favor of constructing its first nuclear power plant. Neither leader mentioned the nuclear project after their talks.
Toqaev said he had raised the issue of agricultural trade following a Russian ban on imports of grain, fruit, and other farm products from Kazakhstan in October. Moscow imposed the ban after Kazakhstan barred Russian wheat imports in August to protect its producers.
"Our countries should not compete on the Eurasian Economic Union market or foreign markets," Toqaev said, referring to agricultural exports within and outside a Moscow-led post-Soviet trade bloc.
