"As for [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, the Chinese Chairman awarded him with the order, I highly approve of this. In such state of affairs, we need to support the Russian president, and I intend to do it, I'm going to the opening of the FIFA World Cup," Nazarbayev said on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, as quoted by Kazakh news agency Kazinform.

The Kazakh president added that Putin was his intimate friend.

The SCO summit was held in the Chinese port city of Qingdao on June 9-10.

Russia will host its first World Cup from June 14 to July 15. The fixtures will be played at 12 stadiums across 11 cities, with the opening match set to be held at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.