MOSCOW, October 7. /TASS/. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is to meet his counterparts from CIS countries at the Constantine Palace near St. Petersburg. The informal summit will be held on the day of the Russian President’s 70th birthday.
Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the talks on October 7 will be an important stage in preparation for the CIS summit scheduled for next week in Astana. On October 12-14, the capital of Kazakhstan, which chairs the Commonwealth in 2022, will host the CIS summits, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-building Measures in Asia, as well as the Central Asia-Russia meeting of the heads of state.
Putin has repeatedly stressed that the creation of the CIS was justified, the integration of countries deepened both in security and in economy. According to the Russian President, in general, the ties that have been preserved since the times of the USSR are playing a positive role, many projects have been developed at a new level. He is sure that for more than 30 years the CIS has come a long way, established itself as a heavyweight regional integration association in which member states strive to build relations on the principles of good neighborliness, partnership, mutual benefit and consideration of each other's interests.
CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev earlier predicted that the Astana summit would discuss issues of economic cooperation, including in the context of Western sanctions. Lebedev drew attention to the fact that because of the sanctions that were imposed primarily against Russia and Belarus, other Commonwealth countries also suffer, so it is important for heads of state to discuss pressing issues and find the best ways to solve them in the interests of each of the CIS countries.
Summit for President’s anniversary
Peskov expressed confidence that at the meeting in St. Petersburg the leaders of the CIS countries will take advantage to congratulate their Russian colleague on his anniversary. However, the Kremlin spokesman noted that formally the protocol of the summit does not imply a "holiday tone." According to Peskov's forecast, Putin's working day will be busy. Its agenda includes a number of international telephone calls, in particular, communication with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.
The Russian President very seldom takes a day off on his own birthday and most often spends it at work. Several times, large international summits in which Putin took part were held on October 7. For example, Putin celebrated his 50th anniversary in 2002 in Chisinau at the CIS summit, in 2013 he received congratulations from the leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation countries on the Indonesian island of Bali at the APEC summit.
From time to time, Putin's work schedule brings him to his native St. Petersburg on his birthday, where the President not only receives congratulations, but also holds business meetings and negotiations.