THE OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE, KAZAKHSTAN'S SECRETARY OF STATE AND FOREIGN MINISTER, KANAT SAUDABAYEV’S VISIT TO THE USA: AN OSCE SUMMIT AND REHABILITATION OF AFGHANISTAN HIGH ON AGENDA

Washington, February 4: Program of the first day Kanat Saudabayev’s visit to Washington DC, on February 2, 2010 included addressing the U.S. Helsinki Commission, and meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor General James Jones, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

In his speech at the US Congress Kanat Saudabayev presented the fundamental approaches of Astana for the chairmanship of the OSCE, stressing the desire to strengthen the organization's firm commitment to its fundamental principles and values.

The Foreign Minister emphasized the importance of the further the Helsinki Commission’s backing of the President Nazarbayev`s proposal to convene an summit of the OSCE as an event that could provide a strong impetus for the world’s largest regional organization.

In the statements made by the Comission’s chair U.S. Senator Benjamin L.Cardin and co-chair Congressman Alcee L.Hastings, the comission’s members congressmen Eni Faleomavaega and Darrell Aissa and others emphasized that the summit proposal deserves careful consideration and implementation.

In addition it was announced that members of US Congress sent a special message to the leaders of two nations –President Barack Obama of the USA and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, in which they indicated their support of the summit idea.

In the course of the following meetings in the White House and State Department the sides discussed the prospects of further strengthening the Kazakh-US strategic partnership, including in the context of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE.

Sides were unanimous that the visit of President Nazarbayev to Washington at the invitation of the White House to attend the Global Summit on Nuclear Safety in April this year can boost progress in the entire range of bilateral cooperation.

At a meeting with U.S. National Security Advisor General James Jones the sides also discussed issues of deepening cooperation between the two countries in stabilizing situation in Afghanistan, which is one of the main objectives of foreign policy conducted by President Barrack Obama’s administration.

Afghan issues, as along with the overall situation in Central Asia, were also the focus of the talks between Kanat Saudabayev and US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns and the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke.

The visit’s first day concluded with a reception in honor of the Kazakh Foreign Minister in the Congress, attended by prominent U.S. lawmakers, the federal government officials, other noted political figures of the United States and the diplomatic corps accredited in Washington DC.

The second day of Kanat Saudabayev’s visit to Washington DC will continue with meetings with representatives of the U.S. government and a speech by Secretary of State in one of the world’s leading think-tanks – the Atlantic Council – in an event titled "The Geopolitics of Eurasia".

On a second day of his three day visit to Washington, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister, Kanat Saudabayev addressed representatives of the Administration, Congress, business community, analysts and journalists at the Atlantic Council, one of the prominent think tanks in the United States, on February 3, 2010.

In his speech Kanat Saudabayev presented Kazakhstan’s approaches to global and regional problems, including nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, energy and food security, and the stabilization of Afghanistan. He also outlined fundamental priorities of the Kazakh chairmanship of the OSCE, as well as the main directions in developing strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and USA.

Minister Saudabayev also held talks with participants of the meeting at the Atlantic Council, including its Chairman and former US Senator Chuck Hagel, patriarchs of the American foreign policy and former national security advisors Brent Scowcroft and Zbigniew Brzezinski. They stressed a uniqueness of the moment, which in their opinion is conducive to further comprehensive expansion of cooperation between Astana and Washington on a wide range of issues.

Earlier in the same day, Kanat Saudabayev met the Director of the Peace Corps Aaron Williams, and top executives of the largest US energy companies working in Kazakhstan.