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Armenian PM receives invite to year-end informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg — Kremlin

According to Dmitry Peskov, although the upcoming meeting will be informal, its agenda is going to be quite busy

MOSCOW, December 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to take part in an informal Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in St. Petersburg on December 25-26, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"The president invited Mr. Pashinyan earlier, and he is certainly looking forward to seeing him in St. Petersburg along with the rest of his counterparts," the Russian presidential spokesman said in response to a TASS question.

According to Peskov, although the upcoming meeting will be informal, its agenda is going to be quite busy.

Putin has been participating in these informal CIS summits since 2000, his first year as Russian president. In recent years, the tradition has been to hold the summit in St. Petersburg around Christmas time. These meetings don’t usually have a pre-agreed and approved program, with the leaders informally communicating and exchanging views on the issues that interest them the most.

Peskov also said that the Russian president was not expected to meet with the Armenian premier on Friday. Pashinyan departed for Moscow earlier today to attend a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council.

The Intergovernmental Council brings together the prime ministers of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Today, the premiers of Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) member states intend to address ways to further deepen integration. According to the Russian cabinet’s press service, a special focus will be placed on expanding energy and industrial cooperation and the development of e-commerce.

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