The annual summit of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries took place in Moscow, the Russian Federation on October 8.
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| Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs the CIS Summit in Moscow on October 8. (Source: kremlin.ru) |
Chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended by the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Conference affirmed the growing interest of its members in further promoting the bloc's political and economic relations.
The challenges facing the CIS today are to maintain unity of action in the face of increasing external influences, as well as solidarity among its members to cope with emerging challenges and strengthen cooperation among its members. During its chairmanship year, Russia has achieved some notable results.
Closest strategic partner
At the Conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined several highlights of Russia's policy towards its members, affirming that cooperation within the CIS framework is a top priority in Russia's foreign policy. Mr. Putin emphasized that for Russia, the countries of the CIS Community are its closest neighbors, friends and strategic partners with whom Russia is committed to strengthening cooperation in every possible way.
The leader affirmed that he pays special attention to the economic issues of the Community and believes that the countries have full opportunities to launch new, large-scale, mutually beneficial projects in the fields of industry, agriculture, finance and infrastructure. The Kremlin leader stressed that joint efforts, a stable and independent financial infrastructure, as well as the external influence of the CIS are being created, and import substitution processes in the post-Soviet space, thereby strengthening technological sovereignty, are taking place at a rapid pace in the bloc.
Agreeing with the Russian leader on countermeasures against Western sanctions against some countries in the community, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko called on the CIS countries to jointly develop adequate countermeasures.
Mr. Lukashenko believes that the West's policy is aimed not only at destroying individual countries, but also at dividing the CIS politically and economically. The leaders of the countries share the views of the President of Belarus and agreed to continue discussing this topic in order to come to common action. A day earlier, at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the CIS, the Declaration "On the principles of cooperation to ensure security in Eurasia" and "On the inadmissibility of the unilateral use of sanctions in international relations" were adopted.
Along with political and economic topics, key areas of cooperation within the CIS including counter-terrorism and extremism, organized crime, drug trafficking and corruption were discussed and reached a high level of consensus.
The conference adopted the “Programme for Cooperation in the Field of Deradicalization for 2025-2027” initiated by Uzbekistan. The program was promoted following the bloody terrorist attack in March this year at the Crocus Theater in Moscow as well as the increase in illegal labor migration among member states.
Anniversary of the Great Patriotic War
One of the important outcomes of the Conference was the adoption of the Agenda for commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Victory over Nazism in 2025. President Lukashenko stressed the need to preserve the memory of the war and the feats of the Soviet peoples who made a great contribution to the victory. He proposed to develop a joint action program to combat the glorification of Nazism as well as to preserve and create new memorials in honor of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.
President Putin supported his Belarusian counterpart’s idea, affirming that the CIS will jointly celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War next year and consider it a year of peace and unity in the CIS. He also proposed conferring the CIS honorary title “Glorious City of Labor: 1941-1945” on cities in the CIS whose citizens made a special contribution to the Great Victory. This title, along with the “Hero City” title, has been awarded to 13 cities in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.
Today, the historical context is different, but to build a common community, understanding between peoples of different countries is indispensable, so the Summit agreed to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and support the idea of establishing an association of volunteer and non-profit organizations in the CIS and organizing an annual volunteer forum of CIS countries.
Armenia-Azerbaijan peace talks
An important victory for the host country’s President at this Summit was to create a forum for the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan to sit down together. Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan declared that “Armenia is ready to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan” while Azerbaijani President I. Aliyev agreed in principle, although he did not say when the agreement would be signed.
As for Russia, which proposed initiatives for negotiations since the early 2020s, it has achieved a strategic breakthrough in mediation between Baku and Yerevan, which have been at war since the late 1980s. The rapprochement between Baku and Yerevan at this Summit, mediated by President Putin, makes the EU and NATO mediation plans in Armenia-Azerbaijan relations seem less feasible.
In the context of conflicts in the world showing no signs of abating, the competition for influence among the great powers in the post-Soviet space continues and becomes increasingly fierce, the results achieved from the Moscow CIS Summit show the revival of a community that was once very closely connected.
Source: https://baoquocte.vn/hoi-nghi-thuong-dinh-cis-tin-hieu-hoi-sinh-tich-cuc-289524.html
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