Last Monday, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov paid a working visit to the Russian Federation, where he took part in the informal Summit of the leaders of the CIS countries, annually held in St. Petersburg at the end of the year, TDH reports.

 The Summit was also attended by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

 Opening the Summit, Vladimir Putin emphasized that the participation of the leaders of the CIS countries eloquently testifies to the desire to further jointly build cooperation in the spirit of strategic partnership, mutual benefit and taking into account the interests of all countries.

 As noted, in the outgoing year, the interaction of our states developed successfully on the whole, which is confirmed by the steady growth in trade between all CIS countries.  As a result, the economic and financial sovereignty of the Commonwealth states has strengthened, internal markets for goods, services and capital have developed dynamically, and regional integration has deepened.

 Vladimir Putin also noted that the cooperation of the CIS states also covers such an important area as the preservation of a single cultural and humanitarian space.  “Our peoples are really connected by a lot: a common history, spiritual roots, a deep interweaving of cultures and customs, values ​​and traditions – and, of course, the Russian language, which is a powerful unifying force that holds our multinational states together,” the Russian leader emphasized, thanking everyone  for supporting the initiative to hold the Year of the Russian Language in the Commonwealth countries in 2023.

 In conclusion, Vladimir Putin expressed confidence that deepening cooperation within the CIS meets the fundamental interests of the peoples of our countries, helps to more effectively solve the problems of socio-economic development and strengthen regional stability and security.

 During the interested exchange of views that followed, the results of the work done in 2022 were analyzed and priority tasks for the coming period were specified.  The meeting also made it possible to discuss key aspects of practical cooperation and a number of international issues of mutual interest.

As TDH notes, it was Hero-Arkadag Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov who at one time focused on the importance of strengthening economic cooperation between the CIS countries, putting forward the initiative to prepare a Declaration on strategic economic cooperation between the Commonwealth states, adopted following the results of the Ashgabat CIS Summit in October 2019.  The CIS Economic Development Strategy until 2030 is also based on the key principles of the Declaration, which identified transport, the fuel and energy complex, communications and communications, industrial cooperation, trade, innovations and technologies as priority areas for cooperation.

 In the course of a keen discussion of priority areas of interaction with a view to the near and long term, the heads of state expressed confidence that the current informal Summit would give a powerful incentive to further consolidate efforts and implement new important joint projects in the interests of all.

 ... At the end of the program of the working visit to the Russian Federation, the President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov left for his homeland.