Russia's Putin begins visit to Turkmenistan, says Kremlin

Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin has started his visit to the Central Asian country of Turkmenistan and arrived at the venue of an international conference he is due to speak at later on Friday, video released by the Kremlin showed.

The conference in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat is expected to be attended by regional leaders and Putin is due to hold separate talks with Serdar Berdymukhamedov, his Turkmen counterpart.

Video released by the Kremlin on Friday morning showed Putin arriving at the conference venue in his limousine and shaking hands inside with the Turkmen leader.

The Kremlin has said that Putin is due to discuss the situation in the Middle East on the event's sidelines with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian who is also expected to attend.