Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Council of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member States Valentina Matvienko spoke at the first meeting of the heads of parliaments of the member countries of the Group of Friends of Neutrality. The videoconference event was organized by the Mejlis of Turkmenistan and was dedicated to the “Role of parliamentary interaction in strengthening peace and dialogue.”
The Speaker of the Federation Council highly appreciated the efforts of the leadership of Turkmenistan to coordinate the activities of the Group of Friends of Neutrality. “Russia has deep respect for the policy of neutrality proclaimed by Turkmenistan as the basis of its foreign policy,” the Federation Council website quotes.
Valentina Matvienko noted that Ashgabat regularly hosts major international forums, including parliamentary ones. “It was in the capital of Turkmenistan that the Interparliamentary Forum of the countries of Central Asia and Russia was launched, and with the support of Chairman of the Halk Maslakhaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, it is planned to hold the so-called “Ashgabat format” on a regular basis.”
According to the Chairman of the Federation Council, in the context of the emerging multipolar world order, the relevance of tasks to ensure stability and security is increasing. “The most important role in this is played by parliaments, which largely perform a stabilizing function for the entire system of international relations.”
The Federation Council speaker emphasized that Russia is interested in forming a Greater Eurasian Partnership as a space of cooperation and interaction between like-minded people, where different integration processes will be involved.
According to Valentina Matvienko, declaring neutrality and working to build trust and equal security, rather than dividing lines, is a responsible step. “In today's world, it takes special character and resilience to remain a truly neutral state, as Turkmenistan does,” she said.
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