Kazakhstan and Russia Renew Friendship Vows

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin flew to Astana on May 27 to carry out bilateral talks and to take part in a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Union.During a bilateral meeting with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on May 28, Putin said that he is confident that mutual trade will break the $30 billion mark this year, making Russia the largest single trading partner of Kazakhstan. “The bulk of Kazakhstan's oil exports to global markets passes through Russia.Russian oil, in turn, is pumped through Kazakhstan to China and other Asian countries,” Putin said.Regarding diplomatic issues, Putin said that “on most of them the positions of Russia and Kazakhstan are very close, practically identical.” Tokayev called Putin an “outstanding statesman,” and hailed his counterpart’s focus on national interest.