Putin: Commonwealth countries have strengthened economic and financial sovereignty
An informal meeting of the leaders of the member countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States took place at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library in St. Petersburg.
The meeting was attended by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev. This is reported on the website Kremlin.ru .
Opening the meeting, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin expressed gratitude to his colleagues for accepting the invitation to come to St. Petersburg for the already traditional informal New Year's Eve meeting of the leaders of the CIS member states.
"The fact that we have gathered once again in such a friendly circle, in my opinion, eloquently testifies to our desire to continue building cooperation together in the CIS space in the spirit of genuine strategic partnership, mutual benefit and consideration of the interests of all countries," the Russian leader said.
At the meeting, the results of the work of the Commonwealth of Independent States in 2022 were summed up, plans for the future were discussed and issues of the regional and international agenda were considered.
According to Putin, the trade turnover between Russia and the CIS countries in January-October increased by 6.6% to $ 81.5 billion. There are grounds to expect that by the end of this year it will reach $ 100 billion. And this is against the background of a difficult situation caused by volatility in global markets, unfavorable global economic conditions.
The President of the Russian Federation also noted that the CIS countries began to switch more actively to national currencies in mutual settlements, coordinated measures were taken aimed at import substitution and ensuring technological sovereignty, increasing joint industrial production.
"As a result, the economic and financial sovereignty of the Commonwealth states has been strengthened," Vladimir Putin said.
The key area of cooperation between the CIS countries is called the maintenance of security and stability in the Eurasian region. The CIS countries cooperate on the fight against terrorism and extremism, cross-border crime, drug trafficking and corruption.
The cooperation of the CIS states also covers such an important area as the preservation of a single cultural and humanitarian space, the expansion of various exchanges between citizens.
Earlier, at one of the summits, it was decided to hold the Year of the Russian Language in the Commonwealth countries in 2023, Putin recalled and thanked his colleagues for supporting this initiative.
ORIENT news
Photo: Peter Kovalev, TASS/kremlin.ru
