U.S. and Kazakhstan snub Russia with new military deal

ALMATY (Reuters) - The United States promised Kazakhstan on Friday to help it bring its armed forces up to NATO standards in a new military cooperation pact certain to irritate Russia, Kazakhstan's former Soviet overlord.

Kazakhstan's ties with Moscow have cooled over the past year as the energy-rich Central Asian state -- the biggest economy in the region and home to some of the world's largest oil fields -- seeks to pursue a more independent diplomacy.

On a visit to Kazakhstan, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence Mitchell Shivers signed a new five-year cooperation plan with Kazakhstan envisaging fresh U.S. assistance in matters ranging from military reform and equipment to education.

"This is a building block in the expanding partnership between our two nations," Shivers said in remarks sent to Reuters by the U.S. embassy.

"As a member of NATO, the U.S. is committed to helping Kazakhstan in improving its inter-operability with equipment and training to U.S. and NATO standards."

Kazakhstan inherited its military force from Russia and it relies on Moscow for most of its defense contracts. Any deviation from this tradition annoys Russia which sees Central Asia as part of its sphere of interest.

Russia has long criticized NATO's military expansion towards Russia as a throwback to the Cold War and expressed displeasure when ex-Soviet Ukraine applied to NATO to take the first steps towards membership this month.

In a symbolic gesture of support for the West, Kazakhstan has sent a contingent of military engineers to assist U.S. military efforts in Iraq. Kazakhstan has, however, stressed it would continue buying hardware from Russia.

Washington has also shown interest in Kazakh plans to build up its naval force on the Caspian Sea to guard its offshore oilfields and diversify arms imports.

"We declare our intention to strengthen our security relationship through increased dialogue and defense military cooperation," the two sides said in a joint statement.

Shivers added: "We are very excited about this expanding partnership with the Kazakhstan ministry of defense, its armed forces and the people of Kazakhstan."

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Jon Boyle)