Nazarbayev predicts rapprochement between EEU and EU

President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has shared his opinion about the future of the relationships between the Eurasian Economic Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan and the 28-nation European Union, Tengrinews reports.

“I do not want to make any predictions, but I am absolutely sure that our Eurasian union (Eurasian Economic Union) will cooperate with the European Union. This is ordained by the Allah,” Nazarbayev said at the presentation of the new documentary film With Nazarbayev About What Matters Most, which was broadcasted on July 2 by Khabar and KTK TV channels.

According to Nazarbayev, all these twists and turns involving the sanctions between Russia and the West would pass away. "Europe will need the entire Eurasian Union. Europe needs Russian economy and I am sure they will be great partners. They have already expressed their willingness to create a free trade zone with the Eurasian Economic Union. Even Vietnam wants it. Or take the idea of the Silk Road Economic Belt, for example. (...) We want to stretch this belt as far as the European markets. We are building roads, for example, Western Europe - Western China corridor. (...) If there is an economic integration, then there will be peace. If the entire continents trade with each other, then they will want order and peace to prevail everywhere for business and economy to develop safely," Nazarbayev said.

"The Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation are integrating with each other somehow after all. They have different opinions on things, they agree that they are not going anywhere together, they are independent. Let them be independent. So what? Today no country can survive within a closed economy. It can for a while, but not for long," President Nazarbayev said.

Writing by Assel Satubaldina, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina