On Monday, the Kremlin announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Tajikistan, a former Soviet republic and Moscow ally in Central Asia, as part of his first foreign trip since invading Ukraine in late February.
“President Putin is scheduled to visit Tajikistan tomorrow,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. Then on Wednesday, Putin is expected to attend a Caspian Sea summit in Turkmenistan, another former Soviet republic in Central Asia.
Vladimir Putin’s last foreign trip dates back to February 4-5, when he visited China to meet with his counterpart Xi Jinping on the occasion of the opening of the Winter Olympics. Just over two weeks later, he launched an attack on Ukraine after months of escalating tensions and despite diplomatic efforts to dissuade Moscow. Since then, Putin has not made a single trip abroad, not even to Belarus, whose president is his closest ally.
