ISTANBUL

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday underlined the importance of the advocation of a “fair world order” among all member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). 

“In the current difficult situation in the world, it is extremely important that all CIS states advocate the formation of a fair world order based on the generally recognized principles of international law with the central role of the UN,” Putin told an expanded meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Moscow.

Expressing that he and his counterparts in attendance constantly coordinate their positions on key global and regional issues, Putin said their approaches to these issues are “traditionally close or completely coincide.”

Putin said these matters, as well as topical issues regarding cooperation within the CIS, were discussed during an earlier narrow-format meeting.

He said important decisions were agreed upon that will determine the development of the CIS both for the coming year and for the future.

“The Commonwealth of Independent States is developing. All the leaders gathered here support the further deepening of the Commonwealth. We see that our joint efforts are consistently strengthening the authority of the CIS as a regional integration association,” he also said.

Aside from Putin, the meeting was attended by his Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Tajik, Turkmen, and Uzbek counterparts, as well as Armenia’s premier.

The CIS is a regional organization formed after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 by its former members to encourage cooperation in economic, political, and security affairs.

It has nine members – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan — and Turkmenistan, which is an associate member. Moldova suspended its participation in CIS meetings in 2022.​​​​​​​