Germany's Scholz leaves for Uzbekistan on start of Central Asia trip

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took off for Uzbekistan early on Sunday, where he plans to conclude deals on issues including migration during his first stop on a three-day trip to Central Asia.

Scholz is due to reach Samarkand on Sunday afternoon where he is set to sign several agreements with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, including a deal to facilitate the immigration to Germany of Uzbek skilled workers and the repatriation of Uzbeks required to leave the country.

He is then due to head to Kazakhstan, the largest and economically strongest country in the region, on Monday and Tuesday. There he is to attend a summit with the region's five former Soviet republics - including Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan - which are all heavily influenced by heavyweights Russia and China.

Scholz aims to expand relations with these countries and entered into a strategic partnership with them last year, covering the economy, energy, climate and the environment.

In Kazakhstan, his talks are set to focus on oil and gas supplies to Germany and also on sanctions targeting Russia, as Kazakhstan is accused of enabling these sanctions to be circumvented.

Since the outbreak of Russia's all-out war on Ukraine in February 2022, Germany has sought to diversify its relations in the region, which had previously focused heavily on economic ties to Russia and China.