Vladimir Putin: As Part of CIS Presidency, We Will Add Momentum to Work of IPA CIS

On 13 October 2023, a meeting of the Council of the CIS Heads of State was held at the Ala Archa State Residence in Bishkek.

President of the Azerbaijan Republic Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic and Chair of the Council of the CIS Heads of State in 2023 Sadyr Japarov, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev took part in the meeting.  

In a meeting in narrow format, the heads of the states exchanged views on topical issues of cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States and decided that the CIS presidency in 2024 will be held by the Russian Federation. They also agreed that the next meeting of the Council will take place on 8 October 2024 in Moscow.

The talks then continued in an expanded format, with the participation of members of the delegations. Vladimir Putin emphasized in his speech that Russia is determined to actively work to further strengthen the authority of the CIS as an integration association and develop comprehensive cooperation within the Commonwealth on the principles of mutual understanding, trust, equality and good neighborliness. First of all, it concerns the solution of key tasks aimed at improving the well-being and quality of life of CIS citizens.

Furthermore, the Russian Federation will continue to make efforts to develop contacts between the CIS and friendly states and international organizations.

Within the framework of the meeting, a ceremony of presenting the CIS Badge of Honor to Shavkat Mirziyoyev was held.

As the result of the summit the heads of the states signed a number of documents. One of them was the Treaty on the Establishment of the International Organisation for the Russian Language, the headquarters of which will be located in Sochi.

The goals of organization will be to strengthen relations of friendship, good-neighbourliness and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries that also include maintaining and promoting Russian Language as a language of interstate communication as well as to strengthen the status of the Russian Language as an official and working language of international and regional intergovernmental organizations and structures.

Moreover, the Council of the CIS Heads of State adopted the Statement on Cooperation in the Field of Digitalization in Public Administration. The agreement will contribute to improving the efficiency of public service delivery and information security, regulating the digital sphere to ensure respect for human rights.

The Statement on International Relations in a Multipolar World was also adopted, which expresses the intention of the CIS countries to promote the building of a safe architecture of international relations to address the problems of international and regional development. The document notes the aspiration to turn the CIS region into a space of peace, cooperation, sustainable development and common prosperity. It confirms the openness of the Commonwealth of Independent States to broad international cooperation in accordance with  international law on the basis of mutual consideration of interests and common approaches.

A number of documents adopted by the Council concern security cooperation. These include the Agreement on the Establishment of the International Center for the Assessment of Risks of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, the Agreement on the Establishment of the Coordination Council in the Field of Forensic Activities, and the Interstate Program of Joint Measures to Combat Crime for 2024-2028.

The Council of the CIS Heads of State also declared Samarkand the Cultural Capital of the Commonwealth in 2024.