Dushanbe: The leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have approved 19 documents at the end of their summit hosted by Tajikistan that discussed political, economic, and security collaboration among members, the Kremlin said on Friday. The documents included decisions regarding the CIS presidency, secretary general, and others, Russian presidency said in a statement.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the leaders also endorsed an announcement for cooperation in ensuring regional energy security, a joint statement on combating transnational crime, and another on fighting money laundering, terrorism financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. They agreed on granting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation an observer status in CIS, along with establishing a CIS-plus format to boost international organizations and countries in the bloc, the statement added.
CIS Secretary General Sergey Lebedev noted that the next summit would be held on October 9, 2026, in Turkmenistan. The Kremlin stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed his country's support to set up the CIS-plus format, noting that financial settlement is done by national currencies. CIS regularly coordinate their stances on issues of common interest regarding foreign policy, he noted. He called for holding an unofficial meeting in Moscow in December to continue coordination on regional and international issues.