The presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement to create a joint uranium enrichment center.
The accord was among several signed Thursday during talks between Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his visiting Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in the Kazakh capital, Astana. Officials say products from the center will be available to other nations for use in generating energy.
Mr. Putin described the center, to be located in Siberia, as the first step in creating a "global nuclear energy infrastructure."
The two countries also agreed to the expansion of a pipeline that will carry oil from Kazakhstan to Russia.
Mr. Nazarbayev said his country is committed to transporting most, if not all, of its oil across Russian territory.
Late Thursday, Mr. Putin will travel to Turkmenistan for a three-way summit with Mr. Nazarbayev and the Turkmen president, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov in Turkmenbashi.
Mr. Putin then returns to Kazakhstan for three days of meetings in the Kazakh port and oil terminal, Aktau, on the Caspian Sea.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
