Transcript of the beginning of the talks:

Serik Akhmetov: Mr Medvedev, thank you for the congratulatory message that you sent me.

Dmitry Medvedev: You’re welcome.

Serik Akhmetov: Thank you for your kind words regarding my appointment. Like you said, this job is not at all easy. I think that with your country's help and the help of the people around us, we will be able to get things done.

Dmitry Medvedev: Mr Akhmetov, I do indeed believe that this is not an easy job. But as Prime Minister and on behalf of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan's closest partner, I can assure you that we will help you in every way possible. It is only logical to help your colleagues; it is the foundation of friendly relations. But from a pragmatic point of view, we also have an interest in your success. If your efforts in the economic and social spheres of Kazakhstan are successful, our partnership will only grow closer and stronger. I wish you good health, and I suggest that during our first meeting today we go through all the issues.

While there are many things to be discussed, as we cooperate in many fields, there are no issues that cannot be resolved. The agenda of our meetings always include energy, cooperation in engineering, development of large-scale projects and a number of interesting programmes. I suggest going through all these issues to see where things stand, what has been done and how much progress has been made toward the goals on our checklist of tasks. We also have the opportunity to discuss a future checklist of tasks, which I think would be the right thing to do. This is what I propose.

Serik Akhmetov: Thank you, Mr Medvedev. I think these regular, high-level meetings between heads of government help strengthen our relations. Many things have been accomplished, and we are all happy with the current state of our relations and their future prospects. And as you said, there can't be any unresolvable issues. Why? Because all these issues are resolved at meetings between heads of state and government.

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