Putin extends his visit today to Tajikistan and tomorrow to Turkmenistan

Yesterday, 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’s working visit to Tajikistan is planned,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. The Russian president is expected to visit Turkmenistan on Wednesday to attend a summit on the Caspian Sea. In addition, the Kremlin stressed yesterday that “there is no reason” to talk about Russia defaulting on its sovereign foreign currency debt at a time when the West is imposing sanctions on Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine. “There is no reason to call this situation a default,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.