Obama wants to restore normal relations with Russia - Nazarbayev

NEW YORK - ASTANA. KAZINFORM Barack Obama wants to restore normal relations with Russia. Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev has made it public at a briefing during the Summit on Countering Violent Terrorism on the sidelines of the 70th jubilee session of the UN General Assembly in New York yesterday.

"I am pleased that both U.S. and Russian presidents had met and discussed the sharp issues of bilateral relations. Mr. Obama has just told me that they talked about the situation in Ukraine and Syria. Mr. Obama said he started understanding Russia's position. The U.S. leader wants to mend relations with Russia itill the end of his presidency," Nazarbayev said. "The meeting with Baraсk Obama was the most important one for us. We discussed bilateral meetings. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will pay an official visit to Kazakhstan. I told that the dialogue with Mr. Obama within the past 7 years had been very productive. At my request the U.S. helped Kazakhstan enter the WTO. This country has always supported us. 500 American companies are working in Kazakhstan to date. We received about 30 bln direct investments from the U.S. I told that our country wants the U.S. to support our independence, our aspirations and economic programmes further," the President added.