Kazakh, Russian FMs meet in Almaty

    Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Kazykhanov met last week with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov who arrived in Kazakhstan for the regular session of the Foreign Ministers Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on May 14.
    The two parties focused on progress with the fulfillment of the instructions given by the Kazakh and Russian presidents, including the implementation of the 2011-2012 Joint Action Plan, urgent bilateral political, trade-economic and cultural-humanitarian cooperation issues.
    The Kazakh Minister informed his Russian colleague on preparations for the SCO jubilee summit, to be held in Astana on June 15 and the main approaches for Kazakhstan's upcoming OIC chairmanship.
    Issues related to the Customs Union's operation and adoption of the regulatory-legal framework for the Single Economic Space of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus were discussed.
    In addition, the ministers focused on preparations for the 8^th Interregional Cooperation Forum with the participation of both countries' presidents scheduled for autumn in Astrakhan.
    Cooperation within the UN, security in Central Asia, the Afghan problem and the legal status of the Caspian Sea were on agenda of the meeting as well.
    "Russia appreciates strategic partnership with Kazakhstan, in particular within the SCO", Lavrov noted.
    The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is a permanently operating intergovernmental and international organization founded on June 15, 2001 in Shanghai (PRC) by Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Kazinform reports.