Meeting of CIS leaders kicks off in St. Petersburg

An informal meeting of the CIS heads of state has started in St. Petersburg, a traditional gathering before the New Year hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, RIA Novosti reports.

The Russian leader invited counterparts from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan to hold talks not at the negotiating table but during a tour around the northern Russian capital.

On Tuesday afternoon, the CIS leaders arrived at the Pavlovsk Palace, and then they are expected to come to Tsarskoye Selo and Petergof. In Pavlovsk, all the guests, except for the presidents of Azerbaijan and Belarus, Ilham Aliyev and Alexander Lukashenko, who were holding a bilateral meeting at that time, were greeted with Christmas carols by the choir.

After the tour of the palace, a small concert was organized for the CIS leaders in one of its halls.

The informal CIS meeting will be concluded with talks at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg’s Strelna.