Astana, Nov 11 (EFE).- Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev announced Tuesday that he will sign a declaration of alliance and strategic partnership with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his official visit to Moscow.
“The key point of my visit to Moscow will be the signing of a declaration on elevating relations between Kazakhstan and Russia to the level of a comprehensive alliance and strategic partnership,” Tokayev wrote in an article published in Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Tokayev, who arrives in Moscow on Tuesday, made the announcement five days after attending the U.S.–Central Asia summit in Washington chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“A new era” in relations
Tokayev said the document “will open a new era,” confirming “an unprecedented level of trust and a shared will” for closer cooperation “in all areas.”
The Kremlin confirmed that the two leaders will meet on Tuesday afternoon and hold joint government sessions on Wednesday.
“If the president of Kazakhstan considers it necessary to inform our president about the content of the contacts that took place in Washington, of course, that will be extremely interesting for the Russian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during his daily conference call.
Strong economic partnership ties
Russia remains among Kazakhstan’s top three trading partners, with bilateral trade totaling nearly $30 billion, according to official figures.
It is also a major investor, with $4 billion in projects involving Russian firms such as Gazprom and Lukoil—the latter currently under U.S. sanctions.
Tokayev said talks will include the construction of Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, to be built by Russia’s Rosatom, including technology transfer and specialist training.
Ukraine war briefing and regional strategy
Putin will also brief Tokayev on the military campaign in Ukraine, where Russian forces have recently advanced.
“Kazakhstan—located between two major powers, China to the east and Russia to the north—has pursued a multi-vector foreign policy since independence,” Kazakh political analyst Eduard Poletayev told EFE.
He said the policy has proven effective and positioned Kazakhstan as a reliable partner that maintains close relations with China, the United States and the European Union, which held a summit with Central Asian leaders in April in Samarkand.
U.S. investment deals
During his U.S. visit, Tokayev agreed with Trump to establish a joint venture between Cove Capital (70%) and Tau-Ken Samruk (30%) to develop the world’s largest untapped tungsten deposit, estimated at 410,000 tons.
Tokayev has referred to rare earth metals as “the second oil.” He noted Kazakhstan’s significant reserves of rubidium, cesium, lithium and beryllium, as well as the world’s largest tungsten and major uranium and chromium deposits.
The United States and Kazakhstan also signed more than $17 billion in commercial agreements, including:
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U.S.-made trains
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15 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft
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John Deere agricultural machinery
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A rare earth mining project
EFE