Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in Central Asia this week, Russian state television reported.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, thousands of people lost their lives, millions of people were displaced and serious financial sanctions came from the West.
Rossiya 1 state television Kremlin correspondent Pavel Zarubin reported that Putin will visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo to meet in Moscow.
In Dushanbe, Putin will meet with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, a close Russian ally and the longest-serving ruler of a former Soviet state. Then, he will attend the summit of Caspian countries, including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, in Ashgabat.
Putin’s last known visit outside of Russia was in Beijing, where he announced an “unlimited” friendship agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early February, hours before attending the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games.
REUTERS