Putin to embark on first foreign visit since Ukraine invasion

Russian President Vladimir Putin will embark on his first foreign visit since Ukraine invasion, reported Russian state television on Sunday. Putin is due to visit two former Soviet states in central Asia this week.

The Ukraine conflict, dubbed as 'special military operation' by Russia, has killed thousands of people, displaced millions more and led to severe financial sanctions from the West. Putin says these sanctions are the reason why Russia should build strong relations with countries like China, India, Iran.

Pavel Zarubin, the Kremlin correspondent of the Rossiya 1 state television station, said Putin would visit Tajikistan and Turkmenistan and then meet Indonesian President Joko Widodo for talks in Moscow.

In Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe, Putin will meet President Imomali Rakhmon, who is a close Russian ally. He is also the longest-serving ruler of a former Soviet state.

In Ashgabat, he will attend a summit of Caspian nations including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Zarubin said.

Putin also plans to visit the Belarus city of Grodno on June 30 and July 1 to take part in a forum with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, RIA news agency cited Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of Russia's upper chamber of parliament, as telling Belarus television on Sunday.

Putin's last known trip outside Russia was a visit to Beijing in early February.

(With inputs from agencies)