Meeting with President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev

Vladimir Putin and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had a meeting on the sidelines of the 22nd Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum to discuss Russia-Kazakhstan regional and international cooperation.

Prior to the meeting, the two leaders examined information stands on cooperation between the two countries. Explanations were provided by Deputy Prime Minister, Russian Co-Chair of the Intergovernmental Commission on Cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister – Minister of Artificial Intelligence of Kazakhstan Zhaslan Madiyev.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Tokayev,

Friends,

We are all happy to welcome you to Omsk, Russia. It was here that the first Forum of Regions was held in 2003, and since then work in this area has continued and made a significant contribution to the development of bilateral relations.

Our relations are progressing successfully. They are indeed – not in words, but in deeds – of a strategic nature. This is evidenced by the growing trade. Last year, it was almost US$28 billion, 27.8, to be exact, which is fairly good. And in the first five months of this year, it has added over 4 percent, at least according to our statistics.

This is a good momentum which shows that we have good prospects, and these prospects are determined, among other things, by investment. Investments today create conditions and benchmarks for the future. In fact, here too we have things to be proud of: we have 70 projects involving Russian enterprises and Russian businesses, totalling around US$30 billion.

In this sense, Russia is the largest investor in Kazakhstan’s economy, working in a wide range of areas. Our relations are well diversified and cover the metallurgical industry, engineering, energy, pharmaceuticals, and a number of other areas.

Our cooperation in terms of humanitarian ties is also very important. Of course, education is a priority here. Thousands of Kazakhstani citizens study at Russian universities. I want to point out that right here, in Omsk, a branch of the Kazakh National University has opened. We are grateful to you that Russian students have been granted 100 state scholarships – actually, they study for free.

We actively cooperate in the world arena; we take most active part in all our regional organisations. This year, Russia chairs the CSTO, and Kazakhstan holds the chairmanship of the EAEU. We have something to talk about and align our positions here too.

Direct ties are developing very actively. Our work at the regional level is also very important in this regard. I want to thank colleagues on both sides for their active work. Today’s event is attended by 650 participants, including high- and central-level politicians, governors from both sides, regional leaders, and entrepreneurs. I know that a number of agreements have been prepared and will be signed, as is always the case at events of this kind.

Once again welcome, we are glad to see you. I know that you visited a hospital this morning. Omsk for you is not an ordinary place in Russia. I will also speak about it when we talk with the colleagues. President Tokayev’s father was treated here after being seriously wounded in the winter of 1945. This highlights one again the importance we give to preserving the memory of the Great Patriotic War and the contribution of our nations to the victory over Nazism.

Mr President, we are happy to see you.

President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev: Thank you, Mr President, for inviting me to the lovely city of Omsk which holds a special place in Russian history and plays a major role in promoting cooperation between our nations. I literally travelled from Astana to Omsk in a little over 40 minutes, both cities are very close to each other, they are border cities.

As it was rightly said today, Kazakhstan and Russia share the longest continuous border in the world. Therefore, this is a border of friendship and cooperation.

You said everything right. Indeed, we are very large trade partners. In 2025, our trade amounted to about