‘Want to build a new world order’: Putin tells Central Asian forum in Turkmenistan

Addressing a forum of Central Asian leaders on Friday, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said he is aiming at building “a new world order” with nations friendly with Moscow. The Kremlin shared a video of the event, saying Putin began a visit to Turkmenistan, where leaders from the region including Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian and Pakistan’s Asif Ali Zardari were also in attendance.

In his opening remarks at the forum, Putin repeated again that he wants to build “a new world order” with Russia’s friends and partners. He argued that a new world order was needed where wealth was more fairly redistributed and the opinions of each nation taken into account.

Putin is likely to discuss the situation in West Asia and Russia’s war with Ukraine with Iran’s President Pezeshkian during the visit.

He is also expected to hold talks with the Turkmen president, Serdar Berdymukhamedov, 43, who was elected in March 2022 to succeed his father, Gurbanguly, who had run the gas-rich country since 2006.

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Turkmenistan has remained largely isolated under autocratic rulers since it became independent following the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

On meeting with Pezeshkian, the Kremlin said Putin would hold a wide ranging discussion with the Iranian president on the sidelines of the conference in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.

Moscow and Tehran signed a $1.7 billion deal for Iran to export drones to Russia after Putin invaded Ukraine in 2022, and the US also believes it has transferred short-range ballistic missiles.

The conference is being attended by other regional leaders including Pakistan President Zardari and the heads of the other Central Asian nations, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

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Earlier, Russian news agency TASS reported that Putin was in Turkmenistan to participate in the international forum on “Interrelation of Times and Civilizations-Basis of Peace and Development”.

The event is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Turkmen poet and thinker Magtymguly Fragi.

(With agency inputs)