Kazakhstan's President expresses hope for 'new level' in relations with US

    Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed hope for the intensive development of relations with the United States during meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the president's press service said in a statement Monday.
    "[Nazarbayev] expressed hope that the cooperation between Kazakhstan and the United States on many aspects will move to a qualitatively new level," the statement read.
    According to the document, Nazarbayev and Tillerson exchanged the opinions on the key international issues.
    "During the meeting, Nursultan Nazarbayev and the state secretary of the United States discussed the current state and prospects of the development of a number of aspects of the bilateral cooperation," the statement added.
    The meeting of the two leaders took place on the sidelines of the Arab Islamic American Summit held in Saudi capital of Riyadh.
    The relations between the United States and Kazakhstan are mainly based on cooperation in the spheres of security and nuclear non-proliferation. Apart fr om that, according to the White House, Kazakhstan is the 83^rd largest importer of goods from the United States and the 69^th largest exporter of goods to the United States, with a total of $2.4 billion in two-way trade in 2014. Between 1993 and 2013, the US companies invested more than $42 billion in Kazakhstan, according to the official figures.
    Nazabayev met with leaders of several states while in Riyadh, wh ere he arrived on May 21 for the US-Islamic World Summit.
    Nazarbayev met with U.S. President Donald Trump, Emir of Kuwait Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, President of Yemen Ali Abdullah Saleh Al-Sanhani Al-Humairi, President of Mauritania Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif.
    He also met with Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Youssef Ahmed Al Othaimeen.
    Reported by Sputniknews, AKIpress.