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Eurasian Economic Union’s summit opens in Yerevan

It is expected that the EAEU Supreme Council will consider the Union’s current affairs and integration guidelines, identify the tasks of improving the operation of the union’s common market

YEREVAN, October 1. /TASS/. A summit of the Eurasian Economic Union has opened in Yerevan at the state residence of the Armenian president. Before the beginning of sessions the presidents of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and Armenia’s prime minister posed for a joint photograph at the entrance. From there they proceeded to their first meeting behind closed doors.

After the photo session Russian President Vladimir Putin and his EAEU counterparts walked to the building where the summit’s activities will take place. On the way he had a lively chat with the president of Kyrgyzstan. As they passed a group of journalists, a reporter of Georgia’s TV channel Rustavi-2 shouted a question addressed to Putin: "When will Russia … begin to pull its troops out of Abkhazia and South Ossetia?" Putin replied nothing.

After the first meeting in private a second session will follow. The invited leaders will join in, among them Moldova’s President Igor Dodon, whose country enjoys an observer status, and also honorary guests: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Singapore’s President Lee Hsien Loong. Before the meeting the participants will pose for a joint photograph.

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Putin arrives in Yerevan to take part in EAEU summit

It is expected that the EAEU Supreme Council will consider the Union’s current affairs and integration guidelines, identify the tasks of improving the operation of the union’s common market and expand cooperation in the key sectors of the economy.

The appointment of a new minister for integration and macroeconomics of the Eurasian Economic Commission is another issue on the agenda. Russian presidential adviser Sergei Glaziev was proposed for the post. The previous minster, Tatyana Valovaya, was appointed director-general of the UN office in Geneva.

The EAEU Supreme Council’s meeting will end with the signing of a number of intra-union documents and an agreement on free trade between the EAEU and Singapore. An official banquet will follow in the evening.

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