MOSCOW, June 10. /TASS/. Moscow respects Ashgabat’s neutral status in international relations and aspirations of Turkmenistan to help stable and sustainable development in the world, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a news conference on Friday following talks with his Turkmen counterpart Serdar Berdimuhamedov.
"Of course, the most pressing regional and international issues were touched upon during the talks," he said. "On most of them, the positions of our states are traditionally close or coincide."
"I would like to emphasize that Russia respects the neutral status of Turkmenistan, the desire of the country's leadership to promote sustainable and stable development in the Central Asian region and the world as a whole," Putin said.
Based on this, Putin continued, the two countries intend to continue to cooperate on multilateral platforms. "We are grateful to our Turkmen partners for their consistent support of many Russian initiatives at the United Nations, including those directed against attempts to glorify Nazism and falsify history," the president said.
According to Putin, Moscow also welcomes the growing interest of Ashgabat toward integration along the lines of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
"Turkmenistan has close trade and economic relations with the members of the EAEU and the SCO," the Russian leader said.
In addition, he said, the two states closely cooperate within the Commonwealth of Independent States. According to Putin, cooperation in the Five Central Asian Countries plus Russia format is also seen as promising.
Caspian Sea cooperation
The Russian president said another topic for detailed discussion was the strengthening of cooperation in the Caspian Sea region. "Russia and Turkmenistan attach great importance to joint work with the Caspian Sea states in the field of ensuring security, deepening economic partnership, conserving natural resources and maintaining environmental well-being," he said.
Putin also highlighted active preparations that are underway for the sixth Caspian Summit in Ashgabat, as well as the second Caspian Economic Forum in Moscow.
Berdimuhamedov expressed gratitude to his Russian counterpart for Moscow's contribution to the development of cooperation between the countries around the Caspian Sea.
"Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation will continue close cooperation in the Caspian Sea both in bilateral and multilateral formats," the Turkmen president said. "We highly appreciate Russia's active participation in the work of the summits of the Caspian states, its contribution to the achievement of key agreements."