Russia Thanks Tokayev for Initiative to Support Russian Language

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov thanked Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev for his initiative to create the International Organization for the Russian Language at the body’s first ministerial conference in Moscow, Orda.kz reports. The conference on March 11 marked the start of the organization’s practical work.

According to Lavrov, Russia is grateful to Tokayev for proposing the creation of an international structure that would promote the Russian language.

In this context, I would like once again, on behalf of the Russian Federation, to express my sincere gratitude to President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, who in December 2021 took the initiative to create an organization to promote the Russian language. Lavrov said. 

In his message to the conference participants, Russian President Vladimir Putin also noted that Tokayev’s initiative had been backed by Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The Kremlin’s published greeting says the conference launched the practical work of the organization created on Tokayev’s initiative and supported by those countries.

The International Organisation for the Russian Language was established by treaty signed at the CIS summit in Bishkek on October 13, 2023. Sochi was chosen as the location of its headquarters.

The organization is expected to oversee educational and cultural programs, support Russian-language teaching, and promote the language internationally. Kazakhstan’s Majilis ratified the treaty establishing the organization on November 20, 2024

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