Sergei Rekeda: "Astana doesn't need hints from US diplomacy"

Yesterday there was a message that the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has discussed the prospects of cooperation with the top managements of major US companies during his visit to New York. Today he plans to meet with US President Barack Obama. The Director General of the Information and Analytical Center for the study of post-Soviet space of Moscow State University, Sergei Rekeda, told Vestnik Kavkaza what can be expected from the meeting, and about the development of relations between Astana and Washington.

- Sergey, what topics were in the focus of the negotiations between Astana and Washington?

- With regard to the meeting on Monday, its topic is determined by the choice of the interlocutors. The President of Kazakhstan met with the leaders of major US companies, investment funds and financial institutions such as the Guggenheim, JP Morgan, Pfizer, Blackstone and Cisco Systems and others. Nazarbayev again reminded potential investors about the implementation of the five institutional reforms, measures to improve the investment climate and denationalization of of the economy.

Naturally, much has been said about the EXPO-2017 and establishment of the Astana International Financial Center on its basis. According to reports, Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed confidence that that US companies would actively join these projects. Summarizing, we can say with confidence that the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan once again tried to interest international investors in the most attractive long-term projects.

Now the number one task is for the Kazakh economy, and for Ak Orda all the issues for geopolitics are gradually fading into the background. The economy is transferred into the mobilization channel and any external funding, especially for the realization of projects such as EXPO-2017, will create new opportunities for problem areas of the national economy. In this sense, the whole experience of the existence of independent Kazakhstan proves that there is no more successful negotiator with investors than the President of Kazakhstan.

- What in that case can one predict from the meeting between Nazarbayev and Obama?

- The program of the meeting is a secret, but not because someone is trying to make it a secret. I guess that, in this case, an exchange of views on the situation around the region and the post-Soviet space as a whole will play a major role. Bear in mind that Kerry has already conveyed Washington's position on security in the Central African Republic to the head of the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so we can expect that Obama will simply expand the thesis of the US diplomacy on Islamic State and other pressing regional challenges. Well, economic issues, of course, will also be on the agenda during the meeting of the two leaders. Maybe Nazarbayev will share his views on the reform of the UN. This topic is being discussed now and, taking into account the status of the interlocutor, this is a good occasion to voice his own opinion on the long-overdue reforms within the international organization.

- Can we expect that in the course of the meetings with the US the topic of the Ukrainian crisis will be affected in any way?

- In terms of the upcoming visit of the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to Kazakhstan – it is possible. The United States, as usual, serves as the main 'mourner' for official Kiev, but in the current situation it will look like an attempt to impose on Astana a partner for financial and economic projects which is not reliable enough.

With regard to the peace efforts of Astana, the Kazakh President has repeatedly called for a peaceful solution to the Ukrainian crisis, but it is extremely difficult to encourage partners, who even react to Pierre Morel's proposals as if a retired diplomat is in the service of the Kremlin, for reasonable solutions. This, unfortunately, looks like paranoia. However, such an experienced politician as Nazarbayev could live without hints from US diplomacy.