ISLAMABAD: Monitoring Desk – The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Summit of the Heads of State Council took place in the Grand Kremlin Palace. Russia hosted the Summit as the current chair of the Commonwealth.
After the talks, Vladimir Putin presented the CIS Letter of Recognition to Chairman of Heads of CIS Information Agencies Council Andrei Kondrashov, and the Order of Friendship to CIS Deputy Secretary General Ilkhom Nematov.
Following the CIS summit, a package of documents was signed, including an appeal of the CIS Heads of State to the CIS peoples and the international community on the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
The list of signed documents includes, the decisions on the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly’s activities to strengthen integration cooperation; on the programme of the CIS member states’ cooperation in deradicalisation for 2025–2027; on declaring 2027 the Year of Legal Education in the CIS; on declaring Lachin, Republic of Azerbaijan, the cultural capital of the CIS in 2025, the city of Meghri, Republic of Armenia, in 2026, and the city of Molodechno, Republic of Belarus, in 2027; on the honorary title of the 1941–1945 City of Labour Glory of the Commonwealth of Independent States. A decision On the Statement of the Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States on the Development of Cooperation in Civil Artificial Intelligence was also signed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the opening that interaction within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a key foreign policy priority for Russia, and Moscow will focus on enhancing collaboration in the region.
“I would like to emphasize that interaction within the CIS is one of the main priorities of Russia’s foreign policy. These member countries are our closest neighbors, friends, and strategic partners. Of course, we are determined to strengthen our cooperation in every way possible,” the Russian president emphasized, reiterating that this was the focus of Russia’s presidency in 2024 and the goal behind all the events it planned therein.
“We would like to express our appreciation to all of our colleagues here today for their support and active participation in the work on their [relevant events’] implementation,” Putin added.
Regarding the meeting’s agenda, the Russian president said it was quite extensive. “We will surely pay much attention to economic issues and prospects for further expansion of trade and investment cooperation in the CIS,” he said.
Armenia Refuses to Endorse Two Statements adopted at Council of CIS Foreign Ministers
Earlier the opening session held in restricted format. It was attended by President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Secretary General of the CIS Sergei Lebedev. The leaders had a group photo in this session.
President Putin in his address said, I am confident that we have abundant possibilities for launching new major and mutually beneficial projects in industry, agriculture, finance and infrastructure.
We will also exchange views on a broad range of other current issues in the CIS, from ensuring our common security to cultural and humanitarian cooperation. We will discuss concrete measures to expand our partnership in all these spheres. Last but not least, we will talk about other ways to enhance the efficiency of the Commonwealth and its structures. We will also take a number of organisational decisions.
The CIS macroeconomic numbers have noticeably improved, and mutual trade and investment exchanges within the Commonwealth have expanded.
In the first half of the year, the aggregate GDP grew by 4.7 percent, investment in fixed assets rose by 11.2 percent, industrial output was up by 4.3 percent, cargo transport volume increased by 4.9 percent, and retail trade climbed by 8.6 percent. Good numbers, overall.
Combatting terrorism and extremism, organised crime, drug trafficking, and corruption remains a priority for the CIS collaborative efforts. This work is backed by the well-established operational interaction among our security and law enforcement agencies. In August-September, Uzbekistan successfully hosted the CIS East-Antiterror-2024 exercises.
President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s suggestion to draft a CIS deradicalisation programme came as a timely initiative. I believe we will adopt the decision to approve this programme today.
Humanitarian ties within the CIS continue to make strides. Partnerships in science, education, culture, and tourism are deepening, with Russia’s chairmanship strongly promoting these efforts. In September, Ufa hosted a large-scale forum that brought together creative and scientific research professionals from the CIS countries.
In 2025, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War together. In the Commonwealth countries, this will be the Year of Peace and Unity in the Fight Against Nazism. In this regard, at Russia’s initiative, a draft appeal by the Heads of State on the victory anniversary has been submitted for your consideration.
We have come up with one more specific proposal which is to establish a City of Labour Glory honorary title in the CIS, and bestow it on the CIS cities which made a particularly large contribution to victory in the Great Patriotic War by ensuring the uninterrupted supply of military and civilian products. Without a doubt, this title will serve as a sign of recognition and respect for the collective effort of our peoples and honour every home front worker who helped defeat the enemy.
We keep saying, and the President of Tajikistan reiterated this last night, that victory in the Great Patriotic War is a shared legacy of all the peoples of the Soviet Union.
Furthermore, to preserve and to protect war memorials, monuments, and places of remembrance honouring the heroism of our soldiers, we propose creating a common roster of the Great Patriotic War memorial sites. One way to do so would be to establish such a roster at the Russian online platform, Place of Memory, which was created in 2016.
Russia holds the chairmanship of BRICS this year. This organisation is gaining momentum and many countries now find it quite attractive. As you may be aware, we expanded BRICS membership last year to include new members and the countries that are interested in joining this respectable international forum. We will be pleased to see all leaders in attendance here at the BRICS Outreach/BRICS Plus meeting in Kazan on October 23–24.
We believe that fostering close cooperation among all CIS member states with BRICS aligns with the interest of strengthening our Commonwealth’s position in the international arena, President Putin concluded.
