Putin spoke with some foreign leaders, including Japanese PM Kishida, on his birthday - Peskov

MOSCOW. Oct 7 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin had a number of international phone calls, including one with new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, on his birthday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

"Today is Putin's birthday, as you know. He has been being congratulated by foreign colleagues on the phone since early morning. You also know that every call is not limited to greetings. In fact, this is a series of calls, which are larger than congratulations and include substantive discussions of bilateral relations. Every call is a good opportunity for a swift comparison of positions on the most pressing matters," Peskov told reporters on Thursday.

"There has been a call with recently elected Japanese Prime Minister Kishida. Naturally, the president congratulated his Japanese colleague on taking a position of such importance," Peskov said.

Putin has had phone calls with Uzbek President Shavkat Miziyoyev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and First Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"We are expecting a few more calls in the afternoon," Peskov said

Journalists asked whether Putin had received greetings from U.S. President Joe Biden.

"I have not seen a telegram, no," Peskov said.

He added that Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory telegram to Putin on Wednesday.