Members of the UN Security Council are going to be loaded with work in January at the time of Kazakhstan’s presidency. The agenda includes consideration of over 50 topical issues. As the only Central Asian country in the Security Council, Kazakhstan will bring a regional component to the work of the UN’s main organ. As Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Yerzhan Ashikbayev, noted, the attention of the international community will be drawn to the challenges arising in Central Asian countries in matters of security and development. The situation in Afghanistan will be examined first of all. According to Yerzhan Ashikbayev, the main task here is to reveal the potential of Kabul as a full-fledged player on the economic map of the world. The development of Afghanistan and the building of favorable relations with neighboring states stabilize the situation both in the country itself and in the entire region. According to Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazakhstan's work in the UN Security Council reflects the traditional priorities of its diplomacy and the global initiatives of the Kazakh President.

YERZHAN ASHIKBAYEV, KAZAKH DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER:
- These are questions of non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the Central Asia, countering terrorism, the Middle East settlement. As you know, Kazakhstan takes part in facilitating the settlement of one of such conflicts. I mean the Astana platform for negotiations on Syria, and also those questions that are on the agenda of Kazakhstan. Of course, these are the important priorities that we pay attention to in our work.