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

Massive banners proclaiming “Your Excellency, Mr. Vladimir Putin, welcome to Astana!” adorn the streets. The tricolor is visible everywhere, even in the sky: six military planes are painting white, blue, and red stripes above the airport — the capital of Kazakhstan is welcoming the president of the neighboring country.

“They went too far” — wrote a Facebook user from Astana, sharing a photo of streets decorated 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-related, hence the pompous welcome, and the phrase “Your Excellency” is a standard form of address for high-ranking representatives of foreign states.

Similar forms of address, 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, they did not cause much excitement. Perhaps the heightened attention to the greeting this time is due to the identity of the guest.

Putin is essentially in international isolation. After 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 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 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 on the evening of November 27. At the foot of the ramp, he 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 Sabyrzhanqyzy (Assol) presented the presidents with an unfinished painting that she began creating from the moment Putin departed for 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 as he arrived by car at his residence. After introducing the delegation members and performing the national anthems, negotiations began in both narrow and expanded formats.

— I want to thank the president first and foremost for such a ceremonial meeting. Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich, — Putin began his speech, almost fluently pronouncing the name and patronymic of Kazakhstan's president, — we meet regularly and have somehow gotten used to a mmm... working environment.

— This ceremonial atmosphere 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 in 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 come. Tokayev attended the parade in Moscow this year and last year (Kazakhstan has not held parades since 2019: initially, the cancellation was attributed to pandemic-related quarantine, 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 relations 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. On the eve 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 provide an additional powerful impetus for the further development of our good neighborliness and cooperation, — quoted 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 an essential 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 Truth” published a article by Putin, while the Russian “Izvestia” printed an article 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 an International Organization for the Russian Language, the activities of which will promote its advancement as a means of interstate and interethnic communication,” — stated in 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 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 regarded as a diplomatic gesture aimed at appeasing Russia and an attempt by Astana to avoid the fate of Ukraine. When Moscow sent troops into 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, growth in trade and investments. He emphasized the readiness of the Russian state corporation “Rosatom” to cooperate with Kazakhstan, which last month held a referendum on building 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 competencies and technical solutions often unmatched globally, 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 spoke of “large-scale joint activities in energy,” including attracting Russia to build coal-fired power plants in three cities in 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 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 during this conflict-ridden and tumultuous period in history.”