Snubbed by West, Russia rolls out red carpet for Asian leaders

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends welcoming ceremony for heads of the delegations at the Russia-ASEAN summit in Sochi, Russia, May 20, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin

SOCHI, Russia (Reuters) - The Kremlin has seized on the visit by southeast Asian leaders for a summit as an opportunity to show Russia still has friends on the international stage, despite being cold-shouldered by the West over the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia has had few chances to host major international gatherings since Western sanctions were imposed, so there has been considerable fanfare around this week's summit with members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).