Address by the President of Russia at the CIS Heads of State Council meeting in an expanded format 2023-10-13 13:10:00 Bishkek President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Thank you, President Japarov. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak in detail about the key priorities of Russia’s CIS chairmanship in 2024. I want to emphasise that Russia is resolved to work energetically to further strengthen the prestige of the CIS as an integration association and to boost all-round cooperation within the organisation based on the principles of mutual understanding, trust, equality and good-neighbourliness. This concerns above all the key goals of strengthening the prosperity and the quality of life of the citizens of our countries. We have prepared the Chairmanship Concept and a detailed plan of events in the economic, law enforcement, cultural, humanitarian and some other areas. We will give priority attention to boosting economic integration, in particular, interaction in digitisation, energy, industrial and agrarian cooperation, transport and communications, the environment and innovation, as we spoke about today and as our Chair mentioned separately. We will propose discussions on ways to more effectively align integration processes in the CIS space, in particular, to strengthen the organisation’s economic contacts with the EAEU and security ties with the CSTO and the SCO. Since Russia will assume the BRICS chairmanship in 2024, which has expanded and within which the criteria and principles of cooperation with partner states are being developed, we will promote close relations between the CIS member states and BRICS. Overall, Russia will continue to do everything in its power to strengthen the organisation’s contacts with friendly states and international organisations. In this regard, we welcome today’s decision to introduce the status of observer and partner states in the CIS. As regards the military and law enforcement sectors, Russia’s chairmanship will focus on improving mechanisms to jointly tackle both new and traditional challenges as well as to strengthen the commonwealth’s external borders. We will make every effort to fully implement the related CIS programmes, including the Concept of Military Cooperation and the Programme for Strengthening Border Security. We attach particular importance to the work with our partners on expanding cultural and humanitarian ties, and cooperating in healthcare, science, education, and sports. We deem it important to take coordinated steps to preserve our common past and counter attempts to falsify history and glorify Nazism. We expect our chairmanship to provide additional impetus to the work of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS Member Nations. We also will enhance cooperation between our countries’ lawmakers to create a common legal space and strengthen ties with CSTO parliamentary associations as well as other partner structures. I would like to note that the extensive programme under Russia’s chairmanship of the CIS includes some 150 events, the key one obviously being the next CIS summit scheduled to take place in Moscow on October 8, 2024. I would like to take this opportunity and invite you all to attend. I should emphasise that we will act in close coordination with Kyrgyzstan, the current CIS chair, and Tajikistan, which will take over the chairmanship of the CIS in 2025, striving to secure continuity in the implementation of initiatives proposed during Kyrgyzstan’s chairmanship. We are committed to cooperating with all our partners in the CIS, both bilaterally and in the context of our chairmanship. In conclusion, I would like to once again thank the Chairman of the CIS Heads of State Council, the President of Kyrgyzstan, and all of our Kyrgyz colleagues (all of them have been proactive in this work) for their hospitality. I am confident that the outcome of Kyrgyzstan’s chairmanship as well as the resolutions and documents adopted at the summit will contribute to the further development of our countries’ neighbourly relations and the prosperity of the CIS nations. Once again, thank you very much.