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The Astana Times (3 February 2020)

The visit was part of Pompeo’s multi-country tour, which began Jan. 29 in London. He them visited Kyiv and Minsk before coming to the Kazakh capital. His tour will finish in Tashkent.

While in Nur-Sultan, Pompeo met with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, First President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi and other senior officials. For Pompeo and Tileuberdi, this was their third meeting since September after the two met in New York and in Washington in December.

Tokayev, who met U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September, and Pompeo stressed the need to deepen cooperation in trade, investments, IT technologies, the promotion of democratic values and the fight against terrorism.

“The U.S. was the first country to recognise the independence of Kazakhstan, and we will always remember this historical fact. Our countries have very close relations in many areas, including non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the fight against international terrorism and economic cooperation. At the same time, I believe that we have a good potential that can be used to further expand cooperation,” said Tokayev.

During the meeting, Pompeo praised Kazakhstan’s Jusan operation that returned 600 Kazakh citizens, including more than 400 children, from Syria. He said the effort is a model for other countries. Pompeo also noted Kazakhstan’s ongoing efforts to promote peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

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