Russia and Kazakhstan’s issues are related to increasing cooperation - presidents

    President of Russia Vladimir Putin met with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev and said that recent problems have appeared between Moscow and Astana due to the large scope of cooperation between the two countries, RIA Novosti writes.
    “We have met just recently, but nevertheless there are a lot of issues pending. We discussed these issues by phone several times, but this is normal because the cooperation volume is very high, and I am pleased to note it is constantly growing,” Putin said.
    There have been a lot of media reports on the possibility of Russia and Kazakhstan ceasing their cooperation in all joint space projects as a result of the recent restrictions imposed by Kazakhstan on Russian rockets launches from Baikonur and the review of cooperation on joint projects, including Dnepr program and the Baiterek project.
    Putin noted that growth of connections between Russia and Kazakhstan had a positive effect on the economies of both countries and their citizens.
    “We are gaining very good integration experience. I am glad to see you, and I thank you for coming. We have several more key issues we would like to discuss with you,” the president of Russia said.
    Nazarbayev in turn declared that a new treaty on friendship and cooperation between the countries might be signed next autumn in Yekaterinburg.
    “We have ordered the preparation of a new treaty on friendship and cooperation. I hope we will sign it in Yekaterinburg this autumn,” the President said.
    Earlier, the Kremlin tagged preparation ofthe new agreement on good-neighborly and allied relations aimed for the 21^st century a priority for improving the regulatory basis for bilateral cooperation.
    The tenth interregional cooperation forum will be held in Yekaterinburg in autumn. It is traditionally attended by presidents of both countries.
    Nazarbayev arrived in Russia on February 7 to discuss key issues of bilateral relations under the plan for joint actions of two countries for 2013-2015 adopted in December 2012, www.tengrinew.kz said.