Putin invites CIS leaders to informal year-end meeting in Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to an informal summit in St. Petersburg at the end of December. He extended the invitation during a closed session of the CIS Heads of State Council.

“We’ve already discussed this informally: if you consider it possible, I would be very glad to see you in Russia—as has become our tradition—in St. Petersburg at the end of this year, ahead of the New Year, for our informal gathering,” Putin said.

The CIS summit is currently taking place at the Palace of the Nation in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Attending the session are the leaders of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan.