Kazakh president to pay 1st foreign visit to Russia after his reelection early this week

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will pay his first foreign visit to Russia after his reelection early this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Speaking at a press briefing in Moscow, Peskov said Tokayev will pay an official visit, during which he plans to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and together with him to address the Russian-Kazakh interregional cooperation forum via videoconference.

"This will be a full-scale, very, very important visit for us and for bilateral Russian-Kazakh relations," he stressed.

In a separate statement, the Kazakh presidential press service confirmed the information, noting that after visiting Russia, Tokayev will also pay a two-day official visit to France.

Turning to remarks by Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the "non-military" return of Crimea, Peskov said "such statements once again speak of the unreadiness, unwillingness, and inability of the Ukrainian side to be ready to resolve the problem by non-military methods."

Peskov added that media interpretations, showing Zelenskyy's words as a desire to start peace talks, are not correct.

He recalled that the force scenario of Crimea's return was cemented in Ukraine's constitution and this document has not been changed.

"You know that from the very beginning, (...) even before the start of a special military operation, in the constitution of Ukraine it was said that Crimea has to be returned to Ukraine by force. And de facto Ukraine has not given up on this," he said.

Asked about the future gas deliveries from Russia to Moldova via Ukraine, Peskov advised contacting the energy company Gazprom, noting that it is not his area of expertise.

Turning to the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace talks, Peskov said Russia is ready to provide a platform for a meeting of the leaders of the two countries.

"Russia constantly continues its work to assist the two states (Armenia and Azerbaijan) in resolving the situation and signing a peace treaty," he said.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said on Friday that his meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, scheduled for Dec. 7 in Brussels, will not happen, because Pashinyan invited French President Emmanuel Macron, who took Yerevan's side in the conflict and so cannot be neutral and impartial.