Putin Chairs Summit of Commonwealth of Independent States
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (R), Oct. 8, 2024. X/ @F408SF774177
October 8, 2024 Hour: 9:43 am
The CIS includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a summit of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where issues related to regional and international security were discussed.
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During the meeting held at the Kremlin, CIS members will analyze the results of Russia’s CIS presidency, which Tajikistan will assume in 2025, as well as measures to strengthen the work of the community and its executive structures, said Yuri Ushakov, the Russian presidential advisor on international affairs.
It is expected that the community leaders will confirm the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Viktor Afzalov, as head of the Air Defense Committee of the CIS Defense Ministers Council.
Additionally, they will extend the mandate of the head of the CIS Anti-Terrorism Center, Russian Yevgeny Sisoyev, who has held the position since 2022.
Before the start of the summit, Putin met with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and is also scheduled to meet with Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. The purpose of these meetings is to address the normalization of relations between the two Caucasus countries.
The CIS, founded in December 1991, currently includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Moldova, which will hold a referendum on joining the European Union on October 20, has not participated in CIS meetings in recent years.
Central Asian Turkmenistan participates in the CIS as an associate state, while Ukraine and Georgia left the community amid tensions with Russia.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE