The Russian Prime Minister, Yevgeny Primakov, has arrived in Kazakhstan for talks expected to focus mainly on how to prevent the Russian economic crisis from having a deeper impact on the Kazakh economy.

Russia is Kazakhstan's largest trading partner and the Russian crisis, combined with a fall in world oil prices, have hit oil-producing Kazakhstan badly.

Mr Primakov's visit comes just three weeks before a presidential election, which President Nursultan Nazarbayev, is expected to win.

Critics say the polls, called a year early, have been rescheduled to give Mr Nazarbayev another term of office before the economic problems become a crisis.