ABSTRACT
Since the collapse of the USSR, and prior to the Russia-Ukraine confrontation, Kazakhstan and Russia have generally had stable political and diplomatic relations on both bilateral and multilateral levels, as stated in official reviews of these links by Kazakhstan's Embassy in the Russian Federation. The first stage of Russia-Kazakhstan relations, for example, was characterized by major difficulties, contradictions and tensions characterized bilateral relations in military affairs. The border between Kazakhstan and Russia has been a key security issue for Kazakhstan due to the threat of the northern territories seceding to Russia. Kazakhstan's ethnic distribution is unique among the former Soviet states as a result of the dense conglomeration of nations represented there and the proportion of the Kazakh nation in the overall population. The question of cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan in relation to economic affairs has become a matter of some controversy.
