SECRETARY CLINTON: I’m very pleased to welcome the foreign minister from Kazakhstan, a country of great strategic importance with whom the United States has developed a closer and closer relationship. Welcome, sir.
FOREIGN MINISTER SAUDABAYEV: Thank you very much.
(Via interpreter) I want to say that today is a special day in our relations. We are beginning our talks right now to discuss the future of our relations and to lay the ground for a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, President Barack Obama and President Nazarbayev, which is supposed to open a new stage in the relations between Kazakhstan and the United States.
And I’d like to say a special thank you to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her leadership, for her kindness, and for her commitment to strengthening the Kazakhstan-United States relationship. And we look forward to working with you in Kazakhstan.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
