President of Kyrgyzstan Sooronbai Jeenbekov arrived in Astana on an official visit and met with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev.

After the welcoming ceremony in Akorda Palace, negotiations between the heads of state in a narrow format started.

«Kazakhstan is fully ready to resolve the issues raised by the Kyrgyz delegation led by Sooronbay Jeenbekov,» Nursultan Nazarbayev said, Kazakh media reported.

According to them, in the welcoming speech the leader of Kazakhstan noted that he personally had never said a bad word to Kyrgyzstan, had not taken any bad steps.

He stressed that every generation has the responsibility to preserve friendship between the two countries, good relations and hand them over from generation to generation.

«I express my deep gratitude for the invitation to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan. We were warmly welcomed — we felt it. When I was elected president of the country, you sent me a very warm congratulation, and, taking this opportunity, I express my gratitude. You are our aksakal, elder brother,» Sooronbai Jeenbekov said in his turn.

He noted that the diplomatic relations between the two countries had turned 25 years.

«Twenty years have passed since we signed a treaty of eternal friendship. This visit coincides with these jubilee dates. You correctly said that in the world there are no such kindred peoples like the Kyrgyz and the Kazakhs,» the Kyrgyz leader said.

Earlier it was reported that talks in a narrow format and a meeting in an expanded format were planned. The sides will sign a document on the regime of the Kazakh-Kyrgyz state border and an agreement on the demarcation of the border.

Recall, the first meeting of Nursultan Nazarbayev with the new head of the Kyrgyz Republic was held in Minsk on the sidelines of the CSTO summit in late November. The presidents discussed the prospects of bilateral relations, including the issues of settling the situation on the border.