President Tokayev receives U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken

ASTANA. KAZINFORM President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has received today U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken who arrived in Astana for an official visit, Kazinform has learned from the Akorda press service.

Welcoming the American diplomat, the Head of State said that since the moment of establishment of diplomatic relations, Kazakhstan and the U.S. had built exemplary interaction both in bilateral and multilateral formats.

Addressing the guest, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev noted the importance of giving additional impulse to building the strategic cooperation between Washington and Astana. He commended the reliable long-term partnership relations in such strategically important areas as security, energy, trade and investments. The Kazakh leader expressed readiness for further development of the cooperation, expressing gratitude to the U.S. side for constant and firm support of Kazakhstan’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Speaking on economic cooperation, the President said that the U.S. is one of the largest investors of Kazakhstan with the total amount of investments at 62 billion US dollars.

The President of Kazakhstan also welcomed the efforts of the U.S. in advancing the C5+1 cooperation and emphasized the importance of holding the meeting of the foreign ministers of Central Asia and the U.S. in Astana.

For his part, the U.S. Secretary of State thanked Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for hospitality and conveyed good wishes to him on behalf of the U.S. President.

Antony Blinken noted the importance of boosting the achievements reached in more than 30 years of bilateral relations, deepening and strengthening the Kazakhstan-U.S. partnership at the bilateral level.

The U.S. Secretary of State said Kazakhstan and the U.S. are linked by strong relations and they will keep strengthening. The U.S., in his words, will stay committed to this course.

«At the same time we are thankful to you and your team for gathering the Central Asian leaders here in Astana. I hope that together with our colleagues – foreign ministers – we will participate in a more specific work on unification of the region, by creating stronger ties and closer interaction. I believe that this will be of great significance for the people of Central Asia and the U.S. We intend to interact at the highest level. I am glad to be here and contribute to the strengthening of our cooperation,» he added.

Besides, the U.S. Secretary of State highly praised the political and economic reforms taking place in Kazakhstan.

Upon completion of the meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev extended his best wishes to the U.S. President Joe Biden.