Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a working visit to Astana held talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu. This is reported by the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry. According to the Russian Foreign Minister, the relations between the two states are on the rise. He also noted that the parties are expanding multilateral forms of cooperation in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and BRICS.

“Kazakhstan has received an offer to join BRICS as a partner country. We hope that this will enrich our contacts on acute global problems in the era of change we are witnessing and living in”

Sergey Lavrov
Russian Foreign Minister

The invitation of Kazakhstan to join the group as a partner was one of the key issues of the meeting, according to the Delovoy Kazakhstan news agency, a partner of TV BRICS. Lavrov and Nurtleu also reviewed trade, economic, cultural, humanitarian and energy projects between Moscow and Astana, including the modernisation of the Central Asia-Centre gas pipeline. They also discussed preparations for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Kazakhstan, scheduled for 27 November.

The BRICS member states agreed on a list of the group’s partner countries at the BRICS summit held on 22-24 October. According to Putin, this list will be made public after receiving a positive response from these countries to the invitation to participate in the group in this format.

Photo: Russian Foreign Ministry