Nur-Sultan (dpa) – China’s head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has arrived in Kazakhstan on his first trip abroad in more than two and a half years.

After talks with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in the capital Nur-Sultan, Xi Jinping traveled to the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Thursday and Friday in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. A meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin is also planned. According to Russian information, it should be “detailed” about the Ukraine war.

This is the first face-to-face meeting of heads of state since the Russian invasion. In the conflict, China backed Putin and described the United States and NATO as the main culprits. During a recent visit to Moscow, parliamentary leader Li Zhanshu, Beijing’s number three, said China supports Russia’s interests, “especially in the situation in Ukraine,” as he quoted the Russian Parliament. “We see that the US and its NATO allies are expanding their presence near Russia’s borders, seriously threatening the national security and lives of Russian citizens,” he was quoted as saying by the Duma.

“We provide our support”

“We fully understand the need for all measures taken by Russia aimed at protecting its core interests. We give our support,” Li Zhanshu said, according to the Duma. In the Ukraine question, Russia was placed in an “impossible position” and “answered unequivocally”. However, in Chinese state media reports about the visit, Ukraine is not mentioned at all.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the SCO summit in the former Soviet republic. The meeting between Modi and Xi Jinping will be the first between the two politicians since the deadly border incident in the Himalayas two years ago.

The summit is expected to finalize Iran’s acceptance into the organization. In addition to China, Russia and India, the organization also includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. So far, Iran has observer status, as do Belarus and Mongolia. Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey are classified as partner countries.

The Chinese president has not traveled abroad since January 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. He had only traveled to the special administrative region of China for celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the return of the British crown colony to Hong Kong on July 1.

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