Russian President to travel to Russian states of Asia Dushanbe and Ashgabat
THE Vladimir Putin will visit two small former Soviet states in Central Asia this week, Russian state television reported today on the Russian leader’s first foreign visit since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Thousands have been killed and millions more displaced since the start of the war on February 24, and this has led to severe Western sanctions on Moscow, which Putin has sought to forge stronger trade ties with other powers such as China. India and Iran.
Pavel Zarubin, the correspondent for Kremlin Rossiya 1 state television reported that Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet with Indonesian President Joko Widodo for talks in Moscow.
In the Dushanbe Putin will meet with Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, a close ally of Moscow and the longest-serving leader of a former Soviet country.
In the Ashgabat will attend a summit of Caspian states with the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, according to the report.
Putin’s last trip outside of Russia became known as a visit to Beijing in early February, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping presented a “condition of unlimited” friendship just hours before the two attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
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