Arriving in former Soviet Uzbekistan on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with his counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev before the commencement of official negotiations. This is Putin's third overseas trip since his reelection in March, according to Reuters.
Russian news outlets said that Mirziyoyev and Putin travelled in a single car together after arriving in Tashkent in the evening.
Photographs and videos of Putin visiting the New Uzbekistan Park in Tashkent and placing a wreath at a monument to Uzbek independence were published by Russian news agencies and the Kremlin website.
News agencies cited Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, as stating on Russian television that "the possibilities here are very extensive" and that Russia was open to greater collaboration with Uzbekistan on gas supply.
Since easily gaining reelection victory, Putin has already travelled to China and Belarus.
Since the beginning of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the head of the Kremlin has only occasionally travelled overseas.
In March of last year, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest order for him because he may have illegally deported hundreds of children from Ukraine. These accusations are refuted by the Kremlin.
