United States of America supports political reforms in Kazakhstan

Astana, February 28, 2023. Today, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken paid his first official visit to Kazakhstan.

As part of his visit, Mr. Blinken met with President Tokayev of Kazakhstan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi, as well as high-level meetings in the C5+1 format with the foreign ministers of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

At the meeting with U.S. Secretary of State, President Tokayev noted that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Kazakhstan and the United States have built exemplary cooperation both in bilateral and multilateral formats.

“Your visit is extremely important in terms of giving additional impetus to our strategic cooperation. We have built a very good and reliable long-term partnerships in so many strategically important areas like security, energy, trade, and investment. So we are ready to have a follow up on this cooperation. Taking this opportunity, I would like to express our appreciation for the continuous and firm support of the United States for our independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the President of Kazakhstan said.

In relation to economic cooperation, President Tokayev underscored that the United States is one of Kazakhstan's largest investors, with a total investment of over $62 billion.

The Kazakh leader welcomed the United States' efforts to enhance cooperation within the C5+1 format, noting the importance of the meeting between the heads of foreign ministers of Central Asia and the U.S. in Astana.

In turn, the U.S. Secretary of State thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for his hospitality and conveyed warm greetings from the U.S. President Joe Biden.

“It is important, of course, on a bilateral level, to build on the remarkable work that has been done now over more than 30 years, to deepen and strengthen our partnership. And I think just in the last couple of years, we have made further important strides in that direction. The relationship is strong, it will only get stronger”, Antony Blinken said.

At a meeting at the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mukhtar Tileuberdi and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed issues of the bilateral and international agenda and cooperation between the two countries in the economic and investment fields.

The two sides stressed the importance of developing the bilateral political dialogue and further intensifying an array of relations between the two countries.

“The current mechanisms of enhanced interaction - the Enhanced Strategic Partnership Commission and the High Level Dialogue on Human Rights and Democratic Reforms - help strengthen the bilateral partnership between Kazakhstan and the United States”, Mr. Tileuberdi said.

U.S. Secretary of State noted the strong support for the political and economic reforms of President Tokayev, and reiterated his willingness to cooperate in the area of democratic development, strengthening the rule of law and expanding the role of civil society.

In addition to this, the sides reached a mutual understanding on the need to promote cooperation on energy security, climate change, diversification of transport routes and mutual trade in the context of sanctions restrictions.

On the same day, the Foreign Ministry of Kazakhstan hosted another high-level C5+1 meeting with Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and the foreign ministers of Kyrgyzstan Jeenbek Kulubaev, Tajikistan Sirodjiddin Mukhriddin, Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov and Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Saidov.

The ministerial meeting discussed a wide range of issues, including economic and energy cooperation, climate change and counter-terrorism.