"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 flags are everywhere: six military planes fly overhead, painting white, blue, and red stripes in the sky — this is how 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 about the abundance of tricolor flags 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 official, and therefore he is greeted grandly. The phrase “Your Excellency” is a standard form of address for high-ranking representatives of foreign states.

Similar forms of address, 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 a stir. 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 significantly. Akorda has done everything to revive it, playing to what the Kremlin needs, personally for Putin, — believes political scientist Dimash Alzhanov. — State visits are indeed 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] have been 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 states welcomed Putin and members of the official Russian delegation.

The president's press service reports that artist Asel Sabyrzhankyzy (Assol) presented the presidents with an unfinished painting that she began working on when Putin departed for Astana. She invited Tokayev and Putin to “participate in the painting of 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 in Akorda. Tokayev welcomed Putin, who arrived by car, at the entrance to his residence. After introducing 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 welcome. Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich, — Putin began his speech, almost flawlessly pronouncing the name and patronymic of the President of Kazakhstan, — we meet regularly and have somewhat gotten used to, umm... a working atmosphere.

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

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 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 come. Tokayev attended the parade in Moscow this year and last year (parades have not been held in Kazakhstan since 2019: initially, the refusal was explained by the 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 related to the further development of strategic partnership and alliance in various fields.”

During the talks, Tokayev stated that Kazakhstan and Russia have intensified cooperation in recent years.

— The agenda of your visit is quite extensive. On the eve of the visit, members of the governments worked and discussed 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 approaching 30 billion dollars. Despite all the challenges of today, this interaction is only expanding and becoming more interesting and mutually beneficial for both parties. We talked not only about industry and finance, but tomorrow we will also discuss 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 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 Kassym-Jomart Kemelovich 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,” — states the article authored by Putin.

In Kazakhstan, thousands of schools teach in Russian. 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 came in 2022 from Tokayev.

In expert circles, Tokayev's proposal and subsequent actions are seen as a diplomatic gesture aimed at appeasing Russia and an attempt by Astana to avoid a fate similar to 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, 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 building a nuclear power plant. According to official data, more than 71 percent of voters approved the construction of the NPP.

“The Russian state corporation, possessing unique competencies and technical solutions that often have no world 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. On the day of the referendum, Tokayev expressed the opinion that the NPP should be built by an international consortium.

In his article in “Izvestia,” Tokayev reported on “large-scale joint activities in the energy sector,” including involving Russia in building 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 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 was and remains “a reliable strategic partner and ally of Russia in this conflict-ridden and tumultuous period of history.”