Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on December 8, 1991 was a justified step. He expressed this idea at the informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg.
Putin noted that despite the cardinal changes that have occurred over the past decades, the CIS has nevertheless helped to deepen integration in many areas. “The very creation of the organization was, of course, justified. Integration in many areas deepened, “the president added (quoted by TASS).
The ties that have survived since the days of the USSR, according to Putin, also played a positive role in work in many areas. “These are common communications, common enterprises that work as partners. Chains for creating additional value in a fairly high degree of cooperation, ”Putin stressed.
At the end of the meeting, Putin thanked his colleagues for accepting the invitation and for coming to St. Petersburg for the meeting. He also recalled that before the pandemic, the leaders of the Commonwealth met regularly in the Russian northern capital before the New Year. This year’s summit was attended by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It was also attended by the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The last time the informal Commonwealth summit was held even before the pandemic – in December 2019, it was also held in St. Petersburg. Then Putin told the meeting participants about the raised archival materials related to the prehistory of World War II, then invited them to see a specially organized exhibition.
On December 8, 1991, the Belovezhsky agreements were signed by the heads of the RSFSR – Boris Yeltsin, the Belarusian and Ukrainian SSR – Stanislav Shushkevich and Leonid Kravchuk. According to their conditions, the USSR ceased to exist, together with it the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was formed. The organization’s areas of activity include ensuring human rights and fundamental freedoms, coordination of foreign policy activities, cooperation in the formation and development of a common economic space and customs policy.
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