"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 everywhere: six military jets paint white, blue, and red stripes in the sky above the airport as Kazakhstan's capital welcomes the president of the neighboring country.

“They overdid it,” wrote a Facebook user from Astana, sharing a photo of the streets decorated with Russian flags. Posts about the abundance of tricolor flags on the day of Putin's arrival flooded Kaznet. The greeting phrase "Your Excellency" outraged some users.

Kazakh political scientist Gaziz Abishev explained in his Telegram channel that Putin's visit is a state visit, hence the pompous welcome, and the phrase "Your Excellency" is a standard form of address for high-ranking representatives of foreign states.

Similar greetings, but in Kazakh ("Жоғары мәртебелі") and in the native languages of visiting leaders on state visits, have already been displayed in Astana. However, they did not cause such a stir. Perhaps the heightened attention to this greeting this time is due to the identity of the guest.

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 a warrant for Putin's arrest on charges of war crimes.

— Putin's image has suffered significantly. Akorda has done everything to revive it, to play on what is necessary for the Kremlin, for Putin personally, — 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] have been done to emphasize the status of the invited person.

Putin's plane landed on the evening of November 27. Kasym-Jomart Tokayev greeted the guest at the foot of the stairs. An honor guard was lined up at the airport. Children with 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 that she began creating upon Putin's departure to Astana. She invited Tokayev and Putin to "participate in painting 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 delegation members and performing the national anthems, negotiations began in a narrow and expanded format.

— I want to thank the president first and foremost for such a ceremonial welcome. Kasym-Jomart Kemelievich, — Putin began his speech, almost seamlessly 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, — the Russian leader added 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. While 20 years ago dozens of foreign leaders attended the event in the Russian capital, in recent years only a few high-ranking guests have come. Tokayev attended the parade in Moscow this year and last year (Kazakhstan has not held parades since 2019: initially, the refusal was explained by quarantine due to the pandemic, and later by the need to save funds).

Astana and Moscow report that the agenda of 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 of your visit is quite extensive. In the lead-up to the visit, government members worked on discussing all the issues on the agenda. Today, we will adopt very important documents — 20 agreements that will undoubtedly provide an additional powerful impetus for the further development of our good neighborliness and cooperation, — quotes Tokayev's press service.

— The mutual volume of cooperation is increasing: it is already close to 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 component today 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, while the Russian "Izvestia" printed a publication by Tokayev.

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

“We are, of course, grateful to the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan, personally to Kasym-Jomart Kemelievich for the careful attitude towards the Russian language and for the important initiative to establish the International Organization for the Russian Language, whose activities will contribute to its promotion as a means of intergovernmental and interethnic communication,” — the article authored by Putin states.

In Kazakhstan, there are thousands of schools with Russian language 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 is Kazakh.

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

In expert circles, Tokayev's proposal and subsequent steps are referred to as a diplomatic gesture aimed at appeasing Russia and an attempt by Astana to avoid a fate similar to that of Ukraine. 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 has unique, often unparalleled global competencies and technical solutions, is ready for new large-scale projects with the Kazakh side,” — wrote the president of Russia.

According to the Kazakh government, applications are being considered for construction from companies in 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 reported on "large-scale joint activities in the energy sector," including involving Russia in the construction of coal-fired power plants in three cities in Kazakhstan and the modernization of 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 "stand on similar positions regarding the key role of international law in interstate relations and the necessity of considering the interests of all countries in matters of global security, stability, and sustainable development."

The president of Kazakhstan concluded his 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."