MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Kazakhstan, the highest-level diplomatic gesture, breaks with protocol tradition and underscores the high level of relations between Moscow and Astana, Kremlin Aide Yury Ushakov said at a briefing ahead of Putin’s trip.
"This will be a state visit. It is taking place <…> contrary to standard protocol," the diplomat noted. "As a rule, only one state visit is made during a single presidential term, but since this is the second state visit, it is meant, at the suggestion of our Kazakh friends, to underscore the unprecedentedly high level of relations between our two countries."
"These relations are indeed developing very actively on the principles of equality, mutual respect, and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs," Ushakov added.
