Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is heading to Kazakhstan, the first stop in his maiden foreign trip since taking over as Russian leader.Mr Medvedev will hold meetings in the oil-rich Central Asian state, before going to China on Friday.
In Kazakhstan, he is expected to urge the government to keep exporting most of its oil through Russian pipelines.
Analysts say Mr Medvedev's choice to head to the East rather than West shows where Russia's foreign priorities lie.
The BBC's Russia analyst, Steven Eke says Mr Medvedev will be looking to maintain Russia's influence in Kazakhstan.
The country, central Asia's biggest oil producer, is gradually trying to break Russia's stranglehold over Kazakh energy export routes.
But Russia wants Kazakhstan to sign up to a long-term deal to export oil through the pipeline leading from Baku, Azerbaijan, to the Russian port of Novorossiysk.
Russia has been prompted to look eastwards because of what it perceives as Western attempts to limit its diplomatic ambitions, analysts say.
The start of talks on a strategic partnership pact between Russia and the EU, for example, has been blocked for two years because of political disputes between EU member states and their giant neighbour.
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