(Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin received a warm welcome in the authoritarian Central Asian state of Tajikistan on Tuesday, on the inaugural leg of his first foreign tour since the invasion of Ukraine in February.
“I'm very happy to be on friendly soil in our ally in this region of the world,” Putin said at the start of his talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in the capital, Dushanbe.
“Russia is an important strategic partner and ally for Tajikistan,” replied Rahmon, who's ruled the impoverished nation bordering Afghanistan since 1994.
Putin's talks in Tajikistan, which hosts a Russian military base, focused on cooperation and the situation in the region including Afghanistan, the Kremlin said. The Russian president heads Wednesday to another Central Asian country, Turkmenistan, for a summit of Caspian Sea states. On the sidelines of the regional meeting, he'll hold talks with the presidents of Iran and Azerbaijan.
Russia has been at pains to show it's not under international isolation despite unprecedented U.S. and European sanctions imposed over its attack on Ukraine that have severely restricted its ties with the global economy.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo will meet Putin in Moscow on Thursday. The Kremlin has said Putin will participate in the G-20 summit in Bali in November, but it hasn't confirmed if he'll go in person or take part online.
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