#Putin #welcomes #Turkmenistans #president #Western #isolation
The new President of authoritarian Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, called for closer ties with “strategic” partner Moscow at a Kremlin meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
The meeting came as Putin looks for new markets and hopes to strengthen ties with countries in Africa and Asia, while the West slams Moscow with unprecedented sanctions over Ukraine’s intervention.
This was the first foreign visit as president for 40-year-old Berdymukhamedov, who was elected leader of the gas-rich Central Asian country in March after his father Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov resigned.
Ex-Soviet Turkmenistan does not tolerate political opposition or a free press.
“Our bilateral relations are growing,” Berdymukhamedov said after talks with Putin, noting in particular their “equality and openness.”
“Our countries have sufficient potential to increase mutual trade and investment,” he said.
He also said he was “convinced that this meeting will give a significant impetus to the strategic partnership between Moscow and Ashgabat.”
Putin, who greeted the Turkmen President with a hug, praised the “substantive talks, which took place in a matter-of-fact, friendly atmosphere.”
He said that “special attention” was paid to energy cooperation during the talks.
Putin awarded Berdymukhamedov the Order of Friendship, one of Russia’s highest state awards.
The two leaders also signed a statement strengthening ties between Turkmenistan and Russia at a time of increasing Moscow isolation following its military intervention in Ukraine.
Berdymukhamedov, who has benefited from meteoric career advancement in recent years, won a snap election in March, beating token rival candidates.
His father, 64, said in February that he ended a 15-year reign – which began after the sudden death of Turkmenistan’s founding leader Saparmurat Niyazov – to allow “younger leaders” to rule.
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#Putin #welcomes #Turkmenistans #president #Western #isolation
