October 5, 2008 Condoleezza Rice arrives in Kazakhstan Play video

(NECN/APTV) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Kazakhstan on Sunday for talks with leaders of the former Soviet republic.

The following video is raw from APTV.

Rice touched down in the capital Astana shortly after rejecting any suggestion that US efforts to build closer ties to Kazakhstan are meant to undermine Russian influence in Central Asia.

She was greeted by Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Sarybay at the airport.

En route to Rice told reporters flying with her that "this is not a zero-sum game" and that US gains need not mean Russian losses.

Rice, who is leading US efforts to court the energy-rich country, said Kazakhstan is an independent country and "can have friendships with whomever it wishes".

Rice was scheduled to meet with President Nursultan Nazarbayev; her Kazakhstan counterpart, Foreign Minister Marat Tazhin; and Prime Minister Karim Masimov.

Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan's autocratic ruler, has maintained a military alliance and close relations with Russia.

He also has kept a door open to the West and sought to develop new export routes to Europe for Kazakhstan's vast energy resources.

But that balancing act has been in doubt since Russia's invasion of Georgia in August, which threatened to close off the corridor for pipelines around Russia.

Since Russian forces pushed close to Georgia's capital before pulling back, the US government has tried to signal its

Last month, Vice President Dick Cheney traveled to Georgia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, another important energy exporter in the region.

The United States also has sought to develop military ties with Kazakhstan as a regional power close to US operations in Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan's membership in a Russian-led Eurasian security bloc precludes the country from joining NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization).

But it retains close contact with and regularly conducts joint military exercises with the Western alliance.