MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down Wednesday in Tajikistan for a three-day visit dominated by talks with the leaders of a region where Moscow’s historic dominance is under threat.
The Kremlin strongman is set to meet on Thursday with the heads of Central Asia’s five ex-Soviet states where China and Europe have been vying for influence in Russia’s backyard.
Tajik leader Emomali Rakhmon welcomed Putin on arrival in the capital Dushanbe, according to images broadcast on Russian television.
Putin is accompanied by his Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, who visited a Russian military base in the country Wednesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told Russian news agencies that Putin is also set to meet Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev on Thursday, following months of frostiness in Moscow-Baku relations.
Russia has attempted to maintain its grip on Central Asia through deals on energy, including gas deliveries and the building of nuclear reactors.
Though Moscow denies the existence of any tensions with China, Beijing has seen its presence in the region wax, while the European Union has made overtures to Central Asia’s leaders.
This year has seen two regional summits, with the EU in April followed by one with China in June, after a similar meeting with Turkiye in 2024.
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Putin lands in Tajikistan to shore up Russia’s regional influence
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Putin lands in Tajikistan to shore up Russia’s regional influence
- Putin will meet on Thursday with the heads of Central Asia’s five ex-Soviet states
- He is accompanied by the Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov
Zelensky holds ‘very substantive’ call with US envoys Witkoff and Kushner
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said Saturday he and his negotiators who are discussing a US-led plan for Ukraine had a “very substantive and constructive” call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
“Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace,” Zelensky said on Telegram as the third day of the talks were to be held in Florida.
“We agreed on the next steps and the format of the talks with America,” he added.
Zelensky, who was in Kyiv, joined the call with top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andriy Gnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv’s armed forces, both of whom were in Miami for the talks with the US side.
The two Americans — Witkoff, who is US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law — had been meeting with Umerov and Gnatov since Thursday.
Trump’s team is trying to swiftly settle the conflict in Ukraine, which has run for nearly four years.
An initial US plan released two weeks ago was seen by Kyiv and its European allies as aligning too closely with many of Russia’s hard-line positions, and has since been revised.
Zelensky said the call with Witkoff and Kushner “focused on many aspects and quickly discussed key issues that could guarantee an end to the bloodshed and remove the threat of a third Russian invasion, as well as the threat of Russia failing to fulfil its promises, as has happened many times in the past.”
He said he was waiting a “detailed report” from Umerov and Gnatov.
“We cannot discuss everything over the phone, so we need to work in detail with the teams on ideas and proposals,” he added.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s approach to the negotiations was that “everything must be capable of working, every important thing for peace, security and reconstruction.”
French President Emmanuel Macon said on Saturday that he, Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz would meet in London on Monday to “take stock” of the US-led negotiations.
“Ukraine is committed to continuing to work honestly with the American side to bring about real peace,” Zelensky said on Telegram as the third day of the talks were to be held in Florida.
“We agreed on the next steps and the format of the talks with America,” he added.
Zelensky, who was in Kyiv, joined the call with top Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov and Andriy Gnatov, the chief of staff of Kyiv’s armed forces, both of whom were in Miami for the talks with the US side.
The two Americans — Witkoff, who is US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, and Kushner, who is Trump’s son-in-law — had been meeting with Umerov and Gnatov since Thursday.
Trump’s team is trying to swiftly settle the conflict in Ukraine, which has run for nearly four years.
An initial US plan released two weeks ago was seen by Kyiv and its European allies as aligning too closely with many of Russia’s hard-line positions, and has since been revised.
Zelensky said the call with Witkoff and Kushner “focused on many aspects and quickly discussed key issues that could guarantee an end to the bloodshed and remove the threat of a third Russian invasion, as well as the threat of Russia failing to fulfil its promises, as has happened many times in the past.”
He said he was waiting a “detailed report” from Umerov and Gnatov.
“We cannot discuss everything over the phone, so we need to work in detail with the teams on ideas and proposals,” he added.
Zelensky said Ukraine’s approach to the negotiations was that “everything must be capable of working, every important thing for peace, security and reconstruction.”
French President Emmanuel Macon said on Saturday that he, Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz would meet in London on Monday to “take stock” of the US-led negotiations.
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