By Bernama,
Moscow : Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will on Thursday leave for a three-day Asian tour.
The new Russian head of state, who took office earlier this month, will pay his first foreign visits to Kazakhstan (May 22-23) and China (May 23-24), Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency reported.
“I am keeping my promise that I gave the night after the elections. I will first go to Kazakhstan, which is a very close country to us and from there to China. This is going to be my first international tour,” Medvedev said back in April.
Dmitry Medvedev and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev know each other very well. They met each other during Medvedev’s foreign trips, at the recent CIS summit in Moscow and other multilateral events.
“This year the agenda of political contacts between Russia and Kazakhstan is quite busy,” presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said.
“A regular forum of the heads of the border regions of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan will be held in autumn. The presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan will also participate in the meeting. The summit of CIS leaders will be held soon.
Other meetings are possible before the end of the year,” Prikhodko emphasized. Medvedev visited China in his capacity as the first deputy prime minister. This time Medvedev will have several meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
In 2008, Russia and China will most likely continue their high-level contacts during the G-8 summit in Japan. In recent years, China has been invited to attend the summits of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forums and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
It’s no wonder that Dmitry Medvedev is paying his first foreign visit to Kazakhstan and China. Russia has the longest sections of the state border with these two countries.
This allows building trade and economic ties and cooperation in many fields.