"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!" are on display. The tricolor is seen on the streets and in the sky: six military jets are "painting" white, blue, and red stripes over the airport — this is how the capital of Kazakhstan welcomes the president of the neighboring country.

"They went overboard" — wrote a Facebook user from Astana, posting a photo of the streets adorned with Russian flags. Posts about 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 state-level, hence the pompous reception, and the phrase "Your Excellency" is a standard form of address for high-ranking officials from 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 been displayed in Astana before. However, they did not cause a stir. Perhaps the heightened attention to the greeting this time 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 into 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 stairs, the guest was greeted by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. 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 Sabyrzhankzy (Assol) presented the presidents with an unfinished painting that she began working on from the moment Putin departed for Astana. She invited Tokayev and Putin to "take part in painting the canvas." They added a few strokes with dark paint. The painting features Tokayev's residence Akorda and the Moscow Kremlin.

The ceremonial part continued at Akorda. Tokayev welcomed Putin, who arrived by car, at the building of his residence. After introducing the members of the delegations and performing the national anthems, negotiations began in a narrow and expanded format.

— I want to first of all thank the president for such a ceremonial meeting. Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich, — Putin began his speech, almost flawlessly pronouncing the name and patronymic of the president of Kazakhstan, — we meet regularly and have somehow gotten used to, umm... 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 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 explained by quarantine due to the pandemic, 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 related to the 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 for your visit is quite extensive. In preparation for the visit, members of the governments worked, discussing all the issues on the agenda. Today, we will adopt very important documents — 20 agreements that will undoubtedly give a strong additional impetus to the further development of our good-neighborly relations 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 discussed not only industry and finance, but tomorrow we will also talk about such a crucial component as security, — already within the framework of the CSTO, — said Putin, announcing the 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 Truth" published an article by Putin, while the Russian "Izvestia" printed a publication by Tokayev.

In the 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 Kemelovich, for their 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 with Russian language instruction operate. 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 consists of Kazakhs.

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 the fate 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 held a referendum last month 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 that often have no world analogs, 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. On the day of the referendum, Tokayev expressed the opinion that the NPP should be built by an international consortium.

In the article in "Izvestia," Tokayev reported on "large-scale joint activities in energy," including attracting Russia for 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 "stand on similar positions regarding the key role of international law in interstate relations and the need to take into account 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 during this tumultuous period filled with conflicts and upheavals in history."