Speaking at the CIS summit in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted yesterday that cooperation within the CIS is one of the Russian Federation's top foreign policy priorities.
“The member states of the Commonwealth are our closest neighbors, friends, and strategic partners, and we are naturally committed to strengthening our cooperation across the board,” Putin said, noting that this is precisely what the concept of Russia's 2024 chairmanship and the relevant large-scale activity plan aim to achieve.
He further noted that the CIS macroeconomic numbers have noticeably improved, and mutual trade and investment exchanges within the Commonwealth have expanded.
Over the first six months of this year, the aggregate GDP has reportedly grown by 4.7 percent, investment in fixed assets has risen 11.2 percent, industrial output has been up by 4.3 percent, cargo transport volume has increased by 4.9 percent, and retail trade has climbed by 8.6 percent.
According to him, import substitution processes are moving fast thus strengthening Russia’s technological sovereignty which is critically important considering the challenging global economic and political environment and the unprecedented pressure, particularly in the economy, coming from a number of countries.
“Combatting terrorism and extremism, organized crime, drug trafficking, and corruption remains a priority for the CIS collaborative efforts,” said Putin. “This work is backed by the well-established operational interaction among our security and law enforcement agencies. In August-September, Uzbekistan successfully hosted the CIS East-Antiterror-2024 exercises.”
“Additionally, as you may recall, a year ago in Bishkek, we signed a treaty establishing an International Organization for the Russian Language. I would like to once again thank the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, for putting forward this, what I believe is an important and valuable initiative, since Russian is the language of interethnic communication in the CIS. Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan have ratified this treaty. I hope the other member states will complete their respective internal procedures shortly, and the treaty will come into force,” Putin noted.
He further noted that close foreign policy coordination among the CIS member nations is critical. It is supported by regular meetings of foreign ministers and inter-ministerial consultations, which help align agendas on pressing issues and regional matters and to develop coordinated strategies to be further promoted at the UN and other multilateral platforms.
