Presided over by the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, a regular meeting of the CIS Council of Foreign ministers took place in Moscow on October 7.
The Russia Foreign Ministry says the ministers summed up the results of the CIS foreign ministries’ joint work in view of implementing the priorities of the Russian chairmanship in 2024. A wide range of issues related to CIS format interaction were discussed.
Top Russian diplomat reportedly informed the meeting participants about Russia’s approaches to the topical international and regional topics, including the developments in the Middle East and the crisis around Ukraine.
Statements by the CIS foreign ministers on the principles of cooperation in ensuring security in Eurasia, the unacceptability of using unilateral restrictive measures in international relations, and on cooperation in the field of fitness and sports were reportedly adopted.
The 2025 schedule of multi-level consultations between the CIS foreign ministries within the Commonwealth was approved. The status of CIS basic institutions has been assigned to a number of Russian and Belarusian institutes and universities specializing in training personnel in mass communications, legal advocacy and volunteer movements, as well as in the field of countering terrorism and extremism.
Most of the documents considered by the ministers have been submitted for approval to the Council of CIS Heads of State, which is meeting today. These include draft addresses of the CIS Heads of State to the Commonwealth nations and the world community on the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, a 2025-2027 cooperation program in de-radicalization, and a decision on determining the cultural capitals of the Commonwealth for the coming three years, among others.
The next meeting of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers will be held on April 11, 2025 in Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, RFE/RL's Armenian Service, known locally as Radio Azatutyun, says the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan refused to sign up to statements by his Russian and other CIS counterparts implicitly denouncing Western sanctions against Russia and calling for a “multipolar” international security architecture.
The CIS Executive Committee says the second statement adopted by the CIS foreign ministers addresses the inadmissibility of unilateral restrictive measures in international relations.
The document states that the imposition of unilateral restrictive measures by any state does not comply with the Charter of the United Nations and the norms of international law. It recommends that states refrain from adopting, spreading, and applying such restrictive measures, as they hinder the achievement of socio-economic development goals.
The statement also emphasizes that unilateral restrictive measures contradict the full realization of human rights. According to the foreign ministers of the CIS states, no one should be deprived of liberty, freedom of movement, or subjected to any other form of restriction.
