"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 planes "paint" white, blue, and red stripes over the airport as the capital of Kazakhstan welcomes the president of the neighboring country.

"They went overboard" — wrote a Facebook user from Astana, sharing 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 phrase "Your Excellency" outraged some users.

Kazakh political analyst Gaziz Abishev explained on his telegram channel that Putin's visit is a state one, thus it is met with pomp, and the phrase "Your Excellency" is a standard form of address for high-ranking representatives of foreign states.

Similar addresses, but in Kazakh ("Жоғары мәртебелі") and in the native languages of leaders visiting on state visits, have already been displayed in Astana. However, they did not cause such 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 significantly. Akorda has done everything to rehabilitate it, playing to what the Kremlin and Putin personally need, — 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] are done to emphasize the status of the invited person.

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

The president's press service reported that artist Asel Sabyrzhanqyzy (Assol) presented the presidents with an unfinished painting she began creating upon Putin's departure to Astana. She invited Tokayev and Putin to "participate in adding to the canvas." They added a few strokes in dark paint. The painting depicts Tokayev's residence, Akorda, and the Moscow Kremlin.

The ceremonial part continued at Akorda. Tokayev greeted Putin, who arrived by car at the building of his residence. After introducing the delegation members and playing the national anthems, negotiations commenced in both narrow and expanded formats.

— I want to thank the president first of all for such a ceremonial welcome. Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich, — Putin began his speech, almost fluently pronouncing the name and patronymic of the president of Kazakhstan, — we meet regularly and have somewhat gotten used to, umm... a working environment.

— Such a ceremonial atmosphere is somewhat unusual, — the Russian leader added with a smirk.

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

Parades on Red Square commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 are held annually. While two decades 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 (Kazakhstan has not held parades since 2019: initially, the refusal was attributed to the quarantine due to the pandemic, and later to the need to save funds).

Astana and Moscow report that the agenda of the Kazakh-Russian negotiations on November 27 includes "issues of further development of strategic partnership and alliance in various areas."

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

— The agenda of your visit is quite extensive. In anticipation of 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 give an additional powerful impetus to 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 difficulties 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 an important aspect 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 be held 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, of course, grateful to the leadership of the Republic of Kazakhstan, personally to Kassym-Jomart Kemelevich for the careful attitude towards the Russian language and for the important initiative to establish an International Organization for the Russian Language, the activities of which will contribute to its promotion as a means of interstate 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 is Kazakh.

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 from Tokayev in 2022.

In expert circles, Tokayev's proposal and subsequent steps are seen as a diplomatic gesture aimed at appeasing Russia and an attempt by Astana to avoid a fate similar to Ukraine's. When invading the neighboring country, Moscow in 2022 claimed to protect 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, possessing unique competencies and technical solutions that often have no global analogues, is ready for new large-scale projects with the Kazakh side," — wrote the president of Russia.

According to the Kazakh government's statement, applications for construction are being considered from companies from Russia, China, France, and South Korea. On the day of the referendum, Tokayev expressed the opinion that the nuclear power plant should be built by an international consortium.

In his article in "Izvestia," Tokayev announced "extensive joint activities in the energy sector," including involving Russia in the construction of coal-fired thermal 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 almost 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 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."