The Caspian must remain a zone of peace and cooperation, Russian FM Lavrov stressed.

During a visit to Kazakhstan on Thursday, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is having negative repercussions in the Caspian Sea region.

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“The Caspian must remain a zone of peace and cooperation,” he said, condemning as “unacceptable” the U.S.-Israeli attacks carried out on March 18 against Enzeli.

This Iranian port serves “the commercial and logistical interests of the five Caspian countries,” Lavrov pointed out, referring to Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.

Russia advocates for “a prompt end to the crisis in the Persian Gulf and in the Middle East through political agreements among all parties involved,” Lavrov said.

He arrived in Astana to prepare President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan at the end of May. “We reviewed the schedule of upcoming high-level contacts. And we devoted primary attention to the Russian president’s state visit,” Lavrov mentioned.

Kazakh Foreign Minister Yermek Kosherbayev said Putin’s visit will strengthen political dialogue and enhance bilateral cooperation.

“Russia is consistently one of our main trading partners. Trade turnover last year exceeded US$28 billion,” he said, noting that the list of joint Russian-Kazakh projects is quite broad and includes sectors such as digitalization, nuclear energy, logistics, artificial intelligence, mining, education, and culture.

Between 2005 and 2025, Russian investments in the Kazakh economy exceeded US$29 billion, while Kazakh businesspeople invested US$9 billion in Russia, Kosherbayev said.

For his part, Lavrov said Russia ranks second among the main trading partners of Kazakhastan. “Eighty percent of trade consists of processed goods, not hydrocarbons, which shows the high quality of the trade structure between our countries,” he said.

Lavrov also thanked Kazakhstan for “its balanced approach” to developments in Ukraine. He also stressed that Russia is interested in resuming negotiations to end the Ukrainian conflict, which have remained stalled since mid-February.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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