Russia hosts informal meeting of leaders of CIS member states in St. Petersburg

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia on Monday hosted an informal meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries in the city of St. Petersburg.

The Kremlin said in a statement that the session took place in the State Hermitage Museum, where the Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek presidents, as well as Armenia’s prime minister, toured an exhibition ahead of the talks.

Addressing the meeting held in the St George's Hall, located within the museum complex, Russian President Vladimir Putin highlighted the development of multifaceted cooperation over the past year.

“This is evidenced by the substantial volume of trade between Russia and the Commonwealth, which amounted to almost $90 billion in the first 10 months of this year,” Putin said.

He noted the formation of new production and transport chains, as well as the modernization and development of transcontinental logistics corridors.

The Russian president described the fight against terrorism and extremism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and corruption as important areas of ​​cooperation in the bloc.

“It is certainly important that the Commonwealth members adhere to similar or converging approaches on key global and regional issues,” Putin added.

He said all CIS members “unanimously advocate for the formation of a just world order based on the universally recognized principles of international law, with the UN playing a central role.”

The CIS was established in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union to promote cooperation in economic, political, and security affairs.

Its full members are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, while Turkmenistan holds associate membership. Moldova suspended its participation in CIS meetings in 2022.

Earlier Monday, Azerbaijan’s presidential administration told state news agency Azertac that President Ilham Aliyev would not be able to attend the informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg due to his busy work schedule.