Kazakhstan President receives Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

Kazakhstan and Russia are allies and strategic partners. The agenda of our cooperation is very rich and requires a lot of work in terms of implementing the agreements reached. Therefore, I believe that during your visit, and in the course of further contacts at the level of heads of departments, and, of course, at the highest level, we will achieve our goals. During a conversation with Vladimir Putin on March 23, we talked about the importance of holding an interregional meeting. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it had been postponed. We agreed that in any format, preferably in person, but if this is not be possible, then it is necessary to hold this meeting via videoconference, because it is very important," the President said.

We are grateful to the Russian leadership and the President of the Russian Federation for the assistance and understanding in the joint efforts to tackle the pandemic. In the same conversation on March 23, I raised the question of the Russian side providing us with an additional 4 million doses of the vaccine. My request was received with understanding. Before that, we agreed on the joint production of the vaccine at the Karaganda factory. Production is already established there. By the way, recently, I got vaccinated with "Sputnik V" produced in Kazakhstan. I recently had a meeting with the Government and instructed them to speed up the vaccination of the population and ensure its mass distribution. Firstly, this task involves the supply of the proper amount of the vaccine to the market. And of course, we are doing vaccination for free. And, secondly, it is very important to encourage our citizens to get vaccinated, because not everyone now understands the importance of this action. I myself constantly say that there is no other way out, you need to be vaccinated," the Head of State stressed.

Next month, the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council is planned to be organized in the virtual format. This is also an important milestone, an important stage on the way to organizing our common efforts to continue cooperation in the post-coronavirus era. And, as you mentioned, in any case, we are aiming to hold the 17th Interregional Forum with the participation of the presidents depending on the epidemiological situation either in live or virtually. We have very good contacts, which did not stop even during the pandemic. Our Prime Ministers have met twice, and the deputy Prime Ministers are regularly communicating on trade and economic cooperation. We are celebrating the 60th anniversary of Gagarin's flight, this is our joint contribution to the peaceful exploration of space, the work on Baikonur is in full swing to develop our joint further cooperation and to develop Kazakhstan's space potential," Sergey Lavrov said.