Leaders from Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) hold an informal CIS summit on fight against Coronavirus (COVID-19) subject in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Tuesday. Also, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Kazakstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Kirghizistani President Sooronbay Jeenbekov, Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow participated in CIS summit. At the summit, leaders exchanged views on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
On the other hand in summit, Putin gave his remarks about COVID-19 pandemic. “Before the pandemic, we used to come together in St Petersburg ahead of New Year holidays every year. This was a special year for the CIS. Only recently, in December, we marked the organisation’s 30th anniversary. We have witnessed monumental shifts over the past years and decades. At the same time, let me note that the very idea of establishing this organisation was justified, there is no doubt about that. We have been deepening our integration in its multiple aspects, including in terms of ensuring national security, and in the economy,” Putin said at CIS summit. “I must note the lingering positive impact from the ties we have been sharing since the Soviet era,” Putin said, while indicating that this allowed them to get through the hard times of the pandemic. “All countries in the world have faced it, and this has serious economic and social consequences. However, preserving the opportunities and competitive advantages that we have inherited from the past, we are able to overcome these difficulties much better than many other countries,” Putin said. Also Putin noted that “Russia have supported these relations and will support them in the future.”