Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Karim Masimov: Let me say it one more time, Mr Medvedev: we are happy to see you here in Kazakhstan. We very much appreciate your choice of Kazakhstan as the destination for your first foreign visit as Russian Prime Minister, as it was when you were president. We see this as a sign of great trust and respect between our two countries. I am confident that our relations, our talks, as well as your meeting with Nursultan Nazarbayev later today, and our intergovernmental meeting will give a big boost to Russian-Kazakh relations and will be to the benefit of the people of our countries. Welcome, Mr Medvedev.

Dmitry Medvedev: Thank you very much, Mr Masimov. Esteemed colleagues and friends in Kazakhstan, it so happens that my first visit as Russian Prime Minister is to this friendly country. I think this is symbolic of the successes in our bilateral cooperation of recent years. At the same time, there are objective reasons why I decided to visit Kazakhstan, apart from the friendship and partnership that binds our two countries. We really have advanced our bilateral cooperation and international integration over the past few years. In terms of direct results – well, this figure has already been cited today, but I will mention it again: trade between Russia and Kazakhstan has grown by one third, which is an impressive gain. This is due both to the overall growth in trade turnover and to the ongoing integration between the three members of the Customs Union. Therefore, I will be happy to hold discussions with you in an expanded format. We have already discussed some of the important bilateral issues one-on-one. The meeting with President Nursultan Nazarbayev was very productive. So let us continue working together. Thank you for inviting me.

Karim Masimov: Thank you, Mr Medvedev.