CIS Council of Heads of State summit starts in Astana

The meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State started in Astana. Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed the participants of the meeting in his opening speech, BelTA has learned.

Kazakhstan presides in the CIS this year. “Today, the CIS Council of Heads of State will consider important issues relating to humanitarian partnership, security and other areas of our cooperation,” the president of Kazakhstan said.

Chairman of the CIS Executive Committee Sergei Lebedev took the floor to inform the participants about the draft agenda and the rules of work.

After that the press was asked to leave and the leaders of the CIS countries continued the meeting in a narrow format behind closed doors.

They are expected to exchange views on topical issues of the development of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Some organizational matters will also be considered. During the meeting Kyrgyzstan is to be announced CIS chair in 2023 and a decision will be made to hold the next meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in Bishkek.

This meeting will be followed by an extended-format session. A number of agreements are to be signed and decisions to be made in order to promote cooperation in various fields. The parties will also discuss joint efforts to combat corruption, terrorism and extremism, as well as cooperation in economy, humanitarian field and culture.