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Kazakhstan–Ukraine relations

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Kazakhstan–Ukraine relations

Kazakhstan–Ukraine relations are foreign relations between Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Before 1918, both countries were part of the Russian Empire and until 1991 they were part of the USSR. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1991. Kazakhstan has an embassy in Kiev and an honorary consulate in Odessa. Ukraine has an embassy in Astana and a consulate-general in Almaty.

There are between 895,000 and 2,400,000 ethnic Ukrainians living in Kazakhstan. Both countries are full members of TRACECA, of the Baku Initiative, of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, Partnership for Peace and of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. They are only 468 kilometres (291 mi) apart at their closest points.

Bilateral trade in 2012 between the two countries is according to officials more than doubled compared with 2010 and reached $4.4 billion.

On 14 October 2013, Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov met with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara. The two discussed furthering bilateral cooperations amongst the two nations. Also, Ukraine holds the seat for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and shared what they can learn from Kazakhstan when they held the seat in 2010. Finally, Minister Kozhara announced Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovych would visit in 2014.

Yanukovych was overthrown as Ukraine's leader in 2014. Although Kazakhstani ally Russia vehemently opposed the post-revolutionary government in Kiev, Astana has maintained its own ties despite the change in power.

References

Kazakhstan–Ukraine relations Wikipedia