CIS leaders congratulated Vladimir Putin without a separate celebration

CIS leaders congratulated Vladimir Putin on his recent birthday during meetings in Turkmenistan. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said there were no special celebrations or gifts for the occasion.

Peskov described the greetings to journalists on October 9. They took place on the sidelines of the CIS summit and the Caspian environmental summit in Turkmenistan. He said no separate birthday event had been organised during those meetings.

Putin's birthday was on October 7, when he turned 74. The greetings from his counterparts at the summits therefore followed the date itself rather than marking a celebration on his birthday.

Presidential aide Yury Ushakov had earlier said a series of telephone conversations was planned for October 7 with foreign leaders who wanted to congratulate Putin. That announcement concerned the president's birthday schedule, while Peskov's account described the subsequent greetings during the summits.