In a signal to the west that Russia has a choice of partners, Dmitry Medvedev will on Thursday head east for his maiden foreign trip as Russian president – breaking with the tradition of his predecessors.

Mr Medvedev will fly to the central Asian republic of Kazakhstan, a big oil and gas producer, and then on for a two-day trip to China, with whom relations blossomed under the presidency of Vladimir Putin, Mr Medvedev’s predecessor and mentor. The newly-inaugurated president will make his first trip west – to Germany – only next month.