BISHKEK, November 27. /TASS/. Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the CSTO summit in Bishkek, said he had accepted Putin’s invitation to meet in St. Petersburg on December 21.

"I am very pleased to accept your invitation to meet on the 21st [of December] in St. Petersburg, just as we, as friends, traditionally gather every year before the New Year. This has already become a tradition," Rahmon said.

Earlier, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov reported that the traditional informal pre-New Year CIS summit in St. Petersburg will take place this year on December 21-22. Putin has been holding informal pre-New Year meetings with the leaders of CIS countries at least since 2017. Since 2018, these meetings have been held in St. Petersburg.