CIS Meeting: Putin Invited Counterparts to Victory Day Parade

The summit took place in the Leningrad region of Russia on December 25.

Priority areas of activity and prospects for further development of mutually beneficial cooperation within the CIS were discussed.

Vladimir Putin also invited his counterparts to the parade on May 9, Orda.kz reports. 

The presidents of Kazakhstan, Qasym-Jomart Toqayev, Russia, Vladimir Putin, Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, Kyrgyzstan, Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan, Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, and Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, attended.

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev had to cut his visit short due to the tragedy in Aqtau.

Due to COVID, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan was also absent.

Vladimir Putin summed up the results of Russia's chairing of the CIS in 2024.

He said Russia's trade turnover with CIS members increased by 10.6% from January to October 2024 to slightly more than $93 billion. 

And the growth of the total GDP of the CIS countries by the end of 2024 is projected at 4.7%.

Over the 10 months of this year, industrial production increased by 4.3%, the volume of freight traffic - 7.4%, and retail turnover - 7.7%.

The Commonwealth's legal framework is constantly being expanded. This year, agreements on free trade in services and investment, on the suppression of money laundering and terrorist financing, an agreement on the establishment of an international organization for the Russian language, as well as a number of other important agreements on partnership in the fields of electric power, ecology and justice came into force,
said Vladimir Putin. 

He recalled that 2025 has been declared the Year of Peace and Unity in the Fight against Nazism in the CIS. 

Next year, a significant anniversary will be celebrated – the 80th anniversary of the Victory.

The Russian President invited the Heads of State present.

Dear friends, we look forward to seeing you at the anniversary celebrations in Moscow on May 9. We also hope that military units from the CIS countries will be able to take part in the parade on Red Square,  said Vladimir Putin.

Next year, Tajikistan will chair the CIS.

Original Author: Oksana Matvienko