TASS-FACTBOX. On October 8, 2024, a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will be held in Moscow under the chairmanship of Russia. TASS editors have prepared a material on the meetings of CIS leaders over the past five years.
CIS Composition
The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional intergovernmental organization formed on December 8, 1991.
Currently, it brings together 11 post-Soviet countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine). Two states have effectively suspended their work and cooperation within the CIS - Moldova and Ukraine. Turkmenistan has the status of an associate member of the Commonwealth, which implies participation only in certain types of the organization’s activities.
CIS Summits
The supreme body of the CIS is the Council of Heads of State, in which all 11 countries are represented. As a rule, these summits take place twice a year: regular and informal (without an official agenda and usually without signing final documents). In addition, an extraordinary summit of the organization can be convened at the request of a member state of the Commonwealth.
According to the CIS Executive Committee, a total of 73 summits have been held since 1991 (51 official meetings of the Council of Heads of State, 22 informal). They signed 926 documents, including 822 at official meetings, 37 at informal ones.
Since January 1, 2024, Russia has chaired the CIS.
Timeline of summits since 2019
On October 11, 2019, in Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State was attended by the presidents of Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, as well as the Prime Minister of Armenia. Following the summit, the leaders of the CIS states signed a declaration on strategic economic cooperation, a convention on the transfer of execution of non-custodial sentences, and approved a program of cooperation in the fight against terrorism for 2020-2022. The heads of the Commonwealth countries also adopted an appeal to the peoples of their states and the world community in connection with the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The summit decided to extend the term of office of CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev for three years (until December 31, 2022), as well as to transfer the CIS chairmanship in 2020 to the Republic of Uzbekistan.
On December 20, 2019, a meeting of the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan was held in St. Petersburg. The first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, also took part in the informal summit. The participants of the meeting visited the historical and documentary exhibition "1939. The Beginning of World War II" in the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library.
On December 18, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State was held via videoconference. At the summit chaired by the President of Uzbekistan, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan considered issues of cooperation in the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus infection, and discussed the current state and prospects for the development of cooperation within the CIS in the political, trade, economic, social, and cultural spheres. Following the meeting, concepts for the further development of the CIS, military cooperation until 2025 were approved, joint statements were adopted on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the UN, on cooperation in the field of ensuring international information security, and a number of other documents. The CIS heads of state decided to transfer the CIS chairmanship in 2021 to Belarus.
On October 15, 2021, at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State held via videoconference under the chairmanship of the Belarusian president, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan discussed the results of the organization’s 30 years of work and the challenges it faces, adopted a number of documents aimed at further strengthening cooperation. Statements were adopted on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the formation of the Commonwealth, on cooperation in the areas of migration and biological security, and an agreement on the establishment of the Council of Presidents of Supreme Courts was signed. In addition, the leaders of the countries approved the candidacy proposed by the head of the CIS Executive Committee, Sergey Lebedev, for the post of head of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center. Colonel-General Yevgeny Sysoyev, head of the Russian Federal Security Service Academy, assumed the post. The Moldovan city of Comrat officially received the status of the Commonwealth Capital of Culture in 2023.
On December 28, 2021, an informal CIS summit was held in St. Petersburg. The event, initiated by Russian President Vladimir Putin, ended the anniversary year for the Commonwealth (December 2021 marked the 30th anniversary of the formation of the CIS). The summit was attended by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as the first president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. The meeting discussed issues of cooperation within the CIS, including the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, measures to increase mutual trade, and the implementation of joint projects in the economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres.
On October 7, 2022, an informal meeting of the CIS heads of state was held in St. Petersburg. It was attended by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The heads of state congratulated Vladimir Putin, who turned 70 that day, on his anniversary.
On October 14, 2022, a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State was held in Astana (Kazakhstan). The leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan discussed issues of interaction within the association, improving the efficiency of its executive structures and industry bodies. Following the meeting, a package of documents was adopted, including a cooperation program in the fight against terrorism and extremism for 2023-2025, an agreement on combating corruption, decisions on obtaining the CIS observer status in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), and on the creation of an international organization to support and promote the Russian language. The leaders of the member states of the association extended the powers of the Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee, Sergey Lebedev, for three years (until December 31, 2025). In addition, it was decided to change the name of the position of Chairman of the Executive Committee - Executive Secretary of the CIS to Secretary General of the CIS from January 1, 2023.
On December 26-27, 2022, the next informal CIS summit took place in St. Petersburg. On December 26, an informal meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth member states was held at the B. N. Yeltsin Presidential Library. t was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedow, and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. On December 27, Vladimir Putin visited the Russian Museum together with the leaders of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
On October 13, 2023, in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan signed an agreement to establish The International Organization for the Russian Language. Previously, the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, put forward the initiative to create the structure. Russian leader Vladimir Putin proposed Sochi as the organization’s headquarters. A total of 17 documents were adopted following the summit, including four statements (on international relations in a multipolar world, on cooperation in the field of digitalization in public administration, on the protection of the human and civil rights to freedom of religion and on the support and promotion of the Russian language as a language of inter-ethnic communication), an interstate program of joint measures to combat crime for 2024-2028, decisions on the establishment of the International Center for Assessing the Risks of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev was awarded the CIS honorary badge "for the development of friendship and cooperation between the Commonwealth countries and a great contribution to its development." On December 26, 2023, an informal meeting of CIS leaders was held at the Constantine Palace in Strelna (St. Petersburg). Before the summit, the heads of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan visited Pavlovsk, Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof museums.