First Time Since The Invasion Of Ukraine, President Putin Will Travel Abroad Before Receiving President Jokowi's Visit

Presiden Rusia Vladimir Putin. (Wikimedia Commons/The Presidential Press and Information Office)

JAKARTA - Russian President Vladimir Putin will make his first overseas visit since the February 24 invasion of Ukraine, according to Russian television on Sunday, before receiving a visit from the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

Russia's invasion on February 24 killed thousands, displaced millions and led to heavy financial sanctions from the West, which President Putin says is an excuse to build stronger trade ties with other powers such as China, India and Iran.

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

In Dushanbe, Putin will meet Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon, a close ally of Russia and the longest-serving ruler of the former Soviet state. In Ashgabat, he will attend a summit of Caspian countries including the leaders of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan, Zarubin said.

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

Putin's last known trip outside Russia was a visit to Beijing in early February, where he and Chinese President Xi Jinping launched a treaty of 'unlimited' friendship hours before the pair attended the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

Russia said it sent troops to Ukraine on February 24 to degrade the military capabilities of its neighbor, prevent it from being used by the West to threaten Russia, root out nationalists and defend Russian-speaking speakers in the east. Ukraine called the invasion an imperial-style land grab.