Russian President Putin arrives in Kyrgyzstan on a 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 was to meet with Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov on Thursday. He will take part on Friday in the Commonwealth of Independent States summit, which Kyrgyzstan is hosting. The 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.

In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the deportation of children from Ukraine. Countries that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute, which created the ICC, are now bound to arrest the Russian leader if he sets foot on their soil.