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Lavrov says outside forces trying to drive wedge between Russia, Kazakhstan

According to Russia's top diplomat, throughout recent history Moscow and Nur-Sultan have demonstrated "significant successes in consolidating society, and strengthening interethnic harmony"

MOSCOW, November 9. /TASS/. Nationalist incidents against Russian-speaking citizens of Kazakhstan are often the result of propaganda fomented by foreign powers seeking to sabotage relations between Moscow and Nur-Sultan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an article, Russia and Kazakhstan: Cooperation Without Borders, published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta on Tuesday.

"Unfortunately, recently we have been witnessing a number of high-profile cases of xenophobia against Russian-speaking citizens of Kazakhstan. Some incidents are the result of special info tactics from the outside aimed at fomenting nationalism and discrediting cooperation with Russia," the foreign minister said.

He stressed that the level of bilateral relations "makes it possible to take swift joint action for each alarming case. For this reason, we use direct communication channels, through the Foreign Ministry, law enforcement and justice agencies, as well as the presidential administrations. The well-organized work of the non-governmental sector, the expert and journalistic communities of both countries is in progress," Lavrov noted.

According to him, throughout recent history Moscow and Nur-Sultan have demonstrated "significant successes in consolidating society, and strengthening interethnic harmony." The minister also pointed out that the Russian-speaking community in Kazakhstan and the Kazakh community in Russia help to maintain ties between the peoples of both countries. As the article states, both sides are well aware of how important the unifying mission of the Russian language is.

"Under the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Russian has official language status and is used together with Kazakh. I consider this as a huge advantage for Kazakh youth who connect their lives and work to Russia and the CIS space as a whole. We will continue to provide multifaceted support to schools, professional and higher educational institutions in Kazakhstan that train teachers and specialists with knowledge of the Russian language," the top diplomat concluded.

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Foreign policy Sergey Lavrov

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