MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin began a state visit Wednesday to Tajikistan, a three-day trip that includes a series of meetings with leaders of other nations that once were part of the Soviet Union.

Trade and other ties with Tajikistan and other countries in Central Asia are increasingly important for Russia amid sweeping Western sanctions over its military action in Ukraine.

Putin is set to have talks with Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rakhmon, followed by a Russia-Central Asia summit involving leaders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. On Friday, they will be joined by leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus for a broader meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose alliance of other former Soviet nations.

Rakhmon, in power for nearly 33 years, is the longest-serving of all ex-Soviet leaders. The 73-year-old former collective farm head came to power in 1992 following a devastating civil war that engulfed the country after the demise of the USSR. He crushed or cowed all opposition to his rule soon after coming to power, and he later pushed constitutional changes that allow him to rule for life.

Putin turned 73 on Tuesday, but has only been in power in Russia for a quarter century.

Russia has maintained a military base in Tajikistan, which shares a porous 1,300-kilometer (810-mile) border with Afghanistan.

Tajikistan is a member of the International Criminal Court that in 2023 issued a warrant for Putin for alleged war crimes stemming from Moscow’s actions in Ukraine, but he faces no risk of arrest in the country that relies on close political, economic and military ties with Russia. The ICC has no police force and relies on members to assist in arrests.

In September 2024, Putin made an official visit to Mongolia, another court member that ignored calls to arrest him.

Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged Tajikistan to arrest Putin, warning that its failure to do so will show “utter disregard for the suffering of victims of Russian forces’ crimes in Ukraine.”

Russia rejects the ICC's authority, but the arrest warrant has limited Putin's foreign trips, prompting him to avoid visits to countries that recognize the court’s rulings. An August summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Alaska marked his first trip to the West since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. Because the U.S. isn’t a member of the ICC, it wasn't under any obligation to arrest him.