A meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) has begun in Astana.
The meeting is attended by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
In his opening speech at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev cordially welcomed the leaders of the countries to the hospitable Kazakhstani land.
“First of all, I sincerely thank you for supporting the initiatives of Kazakhstan within the framework of the CIS chairmanship and active participation in international events taking place these days in Astana.
As a member of the Council today, the President of Turkmenistan, dear Serdar Gurbangulyevich Berdimuhamedov, is participating in the meeting for the first time. On behalf of the colleagues present here and on my own behalf, I would like to welcome you and wish you success in your responsible state activities.
The next meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States is declared open,” the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan said.
He noted that important issues related to humanitarian partnership, security and other aspects of cooperation were submitted for consideration by the Council of Heads of State.
Under the chairmanship of Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, a meeting of the Council of the Heads of State of the CIS Member States in an expanded format was held.
The summit was also attended by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of the Republic Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, as well as Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Sergey Lebedev and Chairman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko.
The head of state noted that today's event was the first full-fledged CIS summit in person after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In a narrow format, we had a very productive exchange of views on the most pressing issues of our further cooperation, outlined the main priorities for the development of the Commonwealth of Independent States. I would like to note that this is the first full-fledged CIS summit in a face-to-face format after COVID-19. This, in principle, is a joyful event, that we have gathered again here in our capital," Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The heads of state agreed to proceed immediately to the procedure of signing official documents.
"While the necessary documents are being signed, I would like to announce that in a narrow format we discussed the issue of renaming the post of the CIS Executive Secretary to the post of CIS Secretary General. Speaking on this issue, I made such a proposal. Yesterday we decided to rename the post of Executive Secretary CICA to the post of Secretary General. Previously, the post of Executive Secretary of the SCO was also renamed to the post of Secretary General. In principle, this is important for raising the status of the position of the head of the executive body," the President of Kazakhstan said.
Summing up the results of the meeting, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev emphasized the effectiveness of the summit.
"The procedure for signing the documents has been completed. Thus, we have every reason to say that our meeting was productive. Moreover, in addition to the adoption of the documents, the heads of delegations held, in my opinion, a very useful discussion on a wide range of multifaceted cooperation within the CIS, as well as on the international agenda. The constructive proposals made at the same time, along with the documents reviewed, will undoubtedly serve to further develop and improve cooperation in the CIS space, which, of course, meets our common goals. In conclusion, I express my gratitude to the staff of the CIS Executive Committee, our experts, to all the bodies of the Commonwealth that were directly involved in the preparation and holding of the meeting of the Council of Heads of State,” the head of state concluded.
Sergei Lebedev and Valentina Matvienko also spoke at the extended meeting.
The Chairman of the Council of Heads of State of the CIS, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev presented the Diploma of the Commonwealth of Independent States to the Chairman of the Mir Interstate Television and Radio Company Radik Batyrshin.
Following the meeting, the heads of the CIS member states signed a statement on the development of cooperation in the field of culture.
A number of documents aimed at the further development of the Commonwealth were also adopted.
By the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
