INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated Kazakhstan's incumbent president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, on his landslide victory
in a snap presidential poll held months after deadly unrest in the oil-rich Central Asian country
course of national development that you are advancing," Putin said in a statement released by the Kremlin.Historically close ties between
Russia and Kazakhstan have been strained since the launch of Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine, with the ex-Soviet country seeking to
balance ties with the West and Moscow.Tokayev publicly clashed with Putin on a visit to St
Petersburg in June, criticizing Moscow's move to recognize Ukrainian separatist regions that the Kremlin has since claimed to have
annexed.Putin in his message Monday praised the "strategic partnership" and "alliance" between Russia and Kazakhstan, which he said were
grounded in "friendship, neighborliness and mutual respect.""We will continue to work together to improve them," Putin added, according to
the Kremlin.According to preliminary results released on Monday, 69-year-old Tokayev was leading the election with over 81% of the vote.The
results were expected and none of his five little-known opponents scored double digits in the vote.Rich in natural resources and located at
the crossroads of important trade routes, Kazakhstan sank into chaos during protests over high living costs in January, which left 238
suppressing protests.He gave "shoot to kill" orders against demonstrators and called on Moscow to send in "peacekeeping" troops to help.
