CIS leaders meet at informal summit in St Petersburg

The CIS leaders arrived in St Petersburg today, December 26, for an informal meeting to be held from 26 to 27 December. Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted them at Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.

The informal summit is attended by Aleksandr Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus; Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan; Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan; Serdar Berdymukhamedov of Turkmenistan; Sadyr Zhaparov of Kyrgyzstan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev of Uzbekistan and Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia.

Aleksandr Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus, spoke briefly to journalists at the entrance, answering their questions about what the year 2023 will be like: “The happiest, most fortunate. Don’t worry, it will be fine.”

Such New Year’s Eve meetings of heads of state have become a good tradition. At one such summit, it was decided to declare 2023 the Year of the Russian Language as a bridge language in the Commonwealth.

“The role of the Russian language in the CIS is undisputed,” said Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The meeting focused on cooperation in the areas of activity of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, to which Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan are currently parties. The Russian President referred to the “close operational contacts” maintained by the countries on the topics of combating terrorism and extremism, cross-border crime and drug trafficking. 

“The fact that we have once again gathered in such a friendly circle, in my opinion, is a good testament to our aspiration to further jointly build cooperation in the CIS in the spirit of a true strategic partnership, mutual benefit and respect to the interests of all countries,” the Russian leader said.

On the margins of the informal CIS summit, Putin is expected to hold bilateral meetings with the heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan. 

The last visit of the CIS heads of state as part of an informal meeting in St Petersburg took place on October 7, 2022.