Putin to Tashkent, Ashkhabad

President Vladimir Putin of Russia leaves for Central Asia today Thursday at the start of a short visit to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.

Reports say his talks in Tashkent with President Karimov and in Ashkhabad with President Niyazov will focus on potential improvements in the oil and gas supply industry, as well as issues such as Islamic extremism and drug trafficking.

Correspondents say the visit is being perceived in the region as an attempt by the Russian leadership to restore its waning influence in the former Soviet republics.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service