ASTANA – Kazakhstan’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov spoke on the situation in the Middle East at the open debate of the United Nations (UN) Security Council in New York on April 25, reported the press service of Kazakh Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
Kazakh First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UN Headquarters in New York. Photo credit: MFA’s press service.
Addressing the participants of the meeting, Umarov called on Israel and Palestine to refrain from any action that could undermine the peace progress based on the formula of two states for two peoples.
“Israel and Palestine as the members of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) should use its potential to bring their positions closer,” he said.
Umarov met with Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General, to discuss prospects for further strengthening cooperation between Kazakhstan and the UN. They also discussed the implementation of the initiative to establish a UN Regional Hub on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Almaty for Central Asian countries and Afghanistan.
According to the foreign ministry, Guterres rated highly the implementation of large-scale political and social reforms of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev against the backdrop of an extremely difficult international situation.
Umarov also met with Miguel de Serpa Soares, UN Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs. The sides focused on the legal aspects of establishing the UN Hub on SDGs and on issues related to the ratification of specific UN conventions.
During the meeting with Jean-Pierre Lacroix, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Umarov emphasized Kazakhstan’s intention to continue active participation in UN peacekeeping missions and contribute to international security.
Lacroix expressed gratitude for the support for the UN program to expand the participation of women in peacekeeping missions and also noted the country’s efforts in the field of training military personnel from other countries at the KAZCENT Peacekeeping Training Center of the Kazakh Ministry of Defense.
