BISHKEK, October 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will continue his work in Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek, which hosts a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on Friday.
The meeting will be held with restricted attendance at first, with only leaders present in the hall. Later, the heads of CIS countries will be joined by members of their delegations. A package of documents is expected to be signed after the summit.
Prior to the event, all leaders will be greeted by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, whose country holds the rotating CIS presidency this year.
Apart from Zhaparov and Putin, the summit will be attended by Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. The press service of the Armenian government said that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would not travel to Bishkek.
The CIS Council will gather at the State Residence of Ala Archa in the village of Chon-Aryk near Bishkek. The venue is traditionally used for receiving high-ranking foreign guests of Kyrgyzstan.
Meeting’s agenda
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters earlier that boosting multilateral cooperation and integration within the CIS remains among Russia’s foreign policy priorities. Moscow is poised to boost its political, economic, cultural, humanitarian and law enforcement cooperation with the CIS partners, he added.
According to Ushakov, the leaders will sum up the results of their contacts in 2023, outline future goals and exchange opinions about pressing international and regional issues. In this context, Putin will inform his CIS partners about the priorities of Russia’s 2024 presidency in the organization.
Traditionally, close attention will be paid to partnership in trade in investment, the Kremlin aide added. Russia’s trade turnover with other CIS nations grew by 6% in 2022 compared to 2021, reaching $101.7 billion. This positive trend continued in January-July 2023, with bilateral trade gaining 4.2% in the reported period year-on-year, reaching $57.4 billion.
Special attention will also be paid to security issues within the CIS zone. The leaders are expected to make joint decisions aimed at improving coordination in efforts against terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and corruption.
First day of Putin’s work in Bishkek
The Russian president arrived in the capital of Kyrgyzstan on Thursday. His schedule was quite intense on that day and included an official meeting with his Kyrgyz counterpart Japarov, followed by a signing ceremony of joint intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents. After that Putin and Japarov delivered statements for the media. The leaders of Russia and Kyrgyzstan also took part in a gala event dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the Russian Kant military airbase in Kyrgyzstan.
After that, the Russian leader met with Azerbajani President Ilham Aliyev to discuss, among other things, the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh.
One more bilateral meeting - with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon - is scheduled for Friday.