Russian President Putin arrives in Kyrgyzstan on rare trip abroad

President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday on a rare trip abroad for the Russian leader who was indicted earlier this year by the International Criminal Court for war crimes in Ukraine.

Putin met with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and was to take part on Friday in the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, which Kyrgyzstan is hosting. Leaders of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will also attend the summit.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will skip it, as Yerevan's relationship with Moscow has frayed amid mutual accusations.