Russia's Putin to visit Kazakhstan on Nov 9

Almaty: Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit Kazakhstan on Thursday, Nov 9, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's office said on Monday.

The two leaders will meet in the Kazakh capital, Astana, to discuss bilateral matters, it said in a statement. Putin and Tokayev will also join by video link a Kazakh-Russian business conference that will be held in the city of Kostanai.

It would be only Putin's third known trip abroad since the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant in March for the Russian leader on war crime charges, something the Kremlin strongly rejects.

Kazakhstan, like China and Kyrgyzstan, the two other countries Putin has visited recently, is not a signatory to the ICC.

The ICC, which accused Putin of illegally deporting children from Ukraine, obliges the court's 123 member states to arrest Putin and transfer him to The Hague for trial if he sets foot on their territory.