The leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) yesterday gathered in the Russian city of St. Petersburg for informal summit.
The Kremlin says that opening the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated his guests on the 30th anniversary of the CIS, and said: "The idea of establishing this organization was justified.”
In his words, integration has deepened in various areas, including security and economy. The ties that have been preserved since the Soviet times have played their positive role.
Ties that have been preserved since the Soviet era continue to play a positive role, including in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, Putin added.
He noted that cooperation to overcome the pandemic was one of the main topics the CIS leaders agreed to discuss.
He also invited Russian chief sanitary officer Anna Popova to voice Russia’s proposal on the measures that the CIS countries may take together to withstand “the biological threats” now and in the future.
The CIS leaders exchanged views on topical issues of cooperation in the framework of the CIS, according to the Tajik president’s official website.
The meeting participants also discussed issues related to further expansion of economic, cultural, humanitarian and security cooperation between the CIS member nations s multifaceted, the Tajik president’s official website said.
Recall, foreign minister, presidential adviser for international relations, defense minister and some other high-ranking state official accompanied Emomali Rahmon on his working visit to St. Petersburg.
Established on December 8, 1991 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization. It now consists of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine
On January 23, 1993, the Charter (Statutes) of the CIS was signed, setting up the different institutions of the CIS, their functions, the rules and statutes of the CIS. The Charter also defined that all countries have ratified the Agreement on the Establishment of the CIS and its relevant (Almaty) Protocol would be considered to be founding states of the CIS, as well as those only countries ratifying the Charter would be considered to be member states of the CIS (art. 7). Other states can participate as associate members or observers if accepted as such by a decision of the Council of Heads of State to the CIS (art. 8). All the founding states, apart from Ukraine and Turkmenistan, ratified the Charter of the CIS and became member states of it. Nevertheless, Ukraine and Turkmenistan kept participating in the CIS, without being member states of it. Ukraine became an associate member of the CIS Economic Union in April 1994, and Turkmenistan became an associate member of the CIS in August 2005. Georgia pulled out of the organization in 2009. Ukraine ended its participation in CIS statutory bodies on May 18, 2018, following prolonged tensions with Russia.
