ST. PETERSBURG, December 26. /TASS/. Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov has arrived on a working visit in St. Petersburg, where he will take part in an informal summit of the heads of state of CIS member countries, the Turkmenistan State News Agency (TDH) reported.
According to TDH, Berdimuhamedov regularly participates in CIS summits, which indicates Turkmenistan's commitment to constructive partnership within the CIS framework.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is hosting CIS leaders for an informal pre-New Year summit in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. The meeting is a traditional format for interaction between the heads of state, who have customarily gathered in late December for many years.
The CIS currently consists of 11 countries: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine. However, as Putin noted, Moldova and Ukraine are de facto only nominal participants and, as such, play no active role in the intergovernmental organization’s activities.