BERLIN

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Thursday reaffirmed his country's interest to increase oil supplies to Germany after talks with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"One of our priorities is to further expand cooperation in the energy sector," he told a joint press conference with Scholz in Berlin.

“Kazakhstan has delivered 500,000 metric tonnes of crude to Germany via the Druzhba pipeline since the beginning of this year. At the request of our German friends, I have reaffirmed our country's willingness to increase the volume of oil deliveries and make them long term,” he said.

Scholz, for his part, said Germany is looking for new avenues to diversify energy supplies after Russia's war on Ukraine, saying Kazakhstan played a “major strategic role” in this regard.

In a post on X, the German leader thanked Tokayev for the visit and said Kazakhstan is our "most important" trading partner in Central Asia. "We want to further improve the conditions for more trade and investment. We welcome and support the reforms initiated in Kazakhstan," he said.

Earlier, the two held face-to-face talks and noted the "dynamic development of bilateral relations" and confirmed the "mutual aspiration" for further comprehensive strengthening of ties, according to a statement by the Kazakh presidency.

The leaders identified the main areas of cooperation, and agreed to intensify interaction in trade and economics, investment, transport and logistics, green energy and other areas.