"Your Excellency, Mr. Vladimir Putin." This is how the Russian president was welcomed in Astana.

Massive banners reading “Your Excellency, Mr. Vladimir Putin, welcome to Astana!” adorn the streets. The tricolor is visible everywhere, even in the sky: six military aircraft “draw” white, blue, and red stripes over the airport — this is how the capital of Kazakhstan greets the president of the neighboring country.

“They went overboard” — wrote a Facebook user from Astana, posting a photo of the streets decorated with Russian flags. Posts highlighting the abundance of the tricolor on the day of Putin's arrival flooded Kaznet. The greeting with the words “Your Excellency” outraged some users.

Kazakh political scientist Gaziz Abishev explained in his telegram channel that Putin's visit is a state one, hence the grand reception, and that the phrase “Your Excellency” is a standard form of address for high-ranking representatives of foreign states.

Similar addresses, but not in Russian, rather in Kazakh (“Жоғары мәртебелі”) and in the native languages of visiting leaders on state visits, have already been displayed in Astana. However, these did not cause a stir. Perhaps the heightened attention to this greeting is due to the guest's identity.

Putin is effectively in international isolation. Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, American officials and most European leaders ceased communication with him, and The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin on charges of war crimes.

— Putin's image has suffered greatly. Akorda has done everything to revive it, playing to what the Kremlin needs, what Putin personally requires, — believes political scientist Dimash Alzhanov. — State visits can indeed be ceremonial, but hanging billboards [with the words “Your Excellency”] — diplomatic etiquette implies such an address, but in correspondence or during formal meetings — and other things [in Kazakhstan] were done to emphasize the status of the invited person.

Putin's plane landed in the evening of November 27. At the foot of the steps, he was greeted by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. An honor guard was lined up at the airport. Children holding flags of both countries welcomed Putin and members of the official Russian delegation.

The president's press service reports that artist Asel Sabyrzhanqyzy (Assol) presented the presidents with an unfinished painting, which she began creating from the moment Putin flew to Astana. She invited Tokayev and Putin to “take part in finishing the canvas.” They added a few strokes with dark paint. The painting depicts Tokayev’s residence, Akorda, and the Moscow Kremlin.

The ceremonial part continued at Akorda. Tokayev met Putin, who arrived by car, at the entrance to his residence. After introducing the members of the delegations and playing the national anthems, negotiations began in both narrow and expanded formats.

— I want to thank the president for such a ceremonial meeting. Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich, — Putin began his speech, almost without hesitation pronouncing the name and patronymic of the president of Kazakhstan, — we meet regularly and have somehow gotten used to mmm... a working atmosphere.

— Such a ceremonial setting is somewhat unusual, — added the Russian leader with a smile.

During the meeting, Putin invited Tokayev to an informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg in December and to the military parade on May 9 in Moscow.

Parades on Red Square to commemorate the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 are held annually. If 20 years ago dozens of foreign leaders attended the event in the Russian capital, in recent years only a few high-ranking guests have arrived. Tokayev attended the parade in Moscow this year and last year (parades have not been held in Kazakhstan since 2019: initially, the cancellation was explained by the pandemic quarantine, and later by the need to save funds).

Astana and Moscow report that the agenda for the Kazakhstan-Russia negotiations on November 27 includes “issues of further development of strategic partnership and alliance in various fields.”

Tokayev stated during the negotiations that Kazakhstan and Russia have intensified cooperation in recent years.

— The agenda for your visit is quite extensive. In the lead-up to the visit, members of the governments worked and discussed all the issues on the agenda. Today we will adopt very important documents — these are 20 agreements that will undoubtedly give an additional powerful impulse to further development of our good neighborliness and cooperation, — quotes Tokayev's press service.

— The mutual volume of cooperation is increasing: it is already approaching 30 billion dollars. Despite all the challenges of today, this interaction is only expanding and becoming more interesting and mutually beneficial for both sides. We talked not only about industry and finance, but tomorrow we will also discuss such a crucial aspect as security, — already within the framework of the CSTO, — said Putin, announcing a session of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which will take place in Astana on November 28.

On the day of the Russian president's visit, the state newspaper “Kazakhstan Pravda” published an article by Putin, and the Russian “Izvestia” printed a publication by Tokayev.

In his article, Putin expresses gratitude to Tokayev for supporting the Russian language.

“We are certainly grateful to the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan, personally to Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich for the careful attitude towards the Russian language and for the important initiative to establish the International Organization for the Russian Language, the activities of which will promote its advancement as a means of intergovernmental and interethnic communication,” — reads the article authored by Putin.

In Kazakhstan, thousands of schools operate with Russian as the language of instruction. According to Putin, three more will soon open in Kyzylorda, Taraz, and Turkestan — cities in the south of the country where the majority of the population are Kazakhs.

Shortly before Putin's arrival, the Mazhilis approved the ratification of the agreement on the international organization for promoting the Russian language. The initiative to create this structure originated in 2022 from Tokayev.

In expert circles, Tokayev's proposal and subsequent steps are viewed as a diplomatic gesture aimed at appeasing Russia and an attempt by Astana to avoid repeating Ukraine's fate. When Moscow invaded the neighboring country in 2022, it claimed to be protecting the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine.

In his article in “Kazpravda,” Putin wrote about economic cooperation, the growth of trade turnover and investments. He emphasized the readiness of the Russian state corporation “Rosatom” to cooperate with Kazakhstan, which last month held a referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant. According to official data, over 71 percent of voters approved the construction of the NPP.

“The Russian state corporation, which possesses unique competencies and technical solutions often without global analogues, is ready for new large-scale projects with the Kazakh side,” — wrote the president of Russia.

According to the Kazakh government, applications for construction are being considered from companies from Russia, China, France, and South Korea. Tokayev expressed the opinion on the day of the referendum that the NPP should be built by an international consortium.

In the article in “Izvestia,” Tokayev mentioned “extensive joint activities in energy,” including attracting Russia to build coal-fired power plants in three cities of Kazakhstan and modernizing the Ekibastuz GRES.

Neither Tokayev nor Putin mentioned in their articles the military invasion of Russia into Ukraine, which has been ongoing for nearly three years.

The Russian president emphasized that Astana and Moscow “share similar positions regarding the key role of international law in interstate relations and the necessity of taking into account the interests of all countries in matters of global security, stability, and sustainable development.”

The president of Kazakhstan concluded the article by assuring that Kazakhstan has been and remains “a reliable strategic partner and ally of Russia in this conflict-ridden and tumultuous period of history.”