Washington top diplomat Antony Blinken yesterday met in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
According to Reuters, Tokayev told Blinken, "We have built very good and reliable long-term partnerships in so many strategically important areas like security, energy, trade and investments.”
According to the US Department of State, Blinken expressed the United States’ full support for the aims of President Tokayev’s reform agenda and looked forward to full implementation of the reforms for the benefit of Kazakhstan’s people.
He also reiterated the U.S. commitment to working with government, civil society, and other Kazakh partners to advance the values shared by our two countries.
According to The Astana Times, President Tokayev stressed Kazakhstan’s readiness to develop the bilateral cooperation with the United States further, noting that the US is one of the country’s top investors, with a total investment of more than US$62 billion already committed.
“I would like to express our appreciation for the continuous and firm support of the United States for our independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” Tokayev said.
Blinken reportedly earlier told Kazakh Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tleuberdi that Washington supports the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Kazakhstan.
Tleuberdi said at the news conference that Kazakhstan retained a "multi-vector" foreign policy that balances its ties to Russia with other nations. “We do not see or feel any risks or threats from the Russian Federation at the moment,” he said.
