Putin Says Common Peaceful, Prosperous Eurasian Space Needed for New World Order

On the eve of the visit to Kazakhstan Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the Kazakh newspaper Kazakhstanskaya Pravda.

He spoke about the opportunities and advantages of the participating countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as well as the challenges that the organization faces. Putin also paid special attention to the future Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the opportunities opening up for the Central Asian country and Russia in the oil market. In addition, Putin in his interview touched on the potential of another regional organization — the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

Vladimir Putin once again raised the important topic of transforming the old world order and establishing a "fairer" new one.

"Development of a new and fairer world order based on the primacy of international law has been a prevailing trend at the current stage of world development. Russia believes that establishment of a common peaceful, stable and prosperous Eurasian space is an integral part of this process," the president said in the interview.

Putin also said that the CIS is an integral part of peace and stability in Eurasia.

"We consider another quite representative regional format that is the Community of Independent States to be an integral part of the efforts aimed at supporting peace and stability in the entire Eurasian space. Russia will chair the CIS from 1 January 2014. Our main priorities include the deepening of economic cooperation, expansion of cultural and humanitarian ties, and contacts in the sphere of security and law enforcement, conjunction of Eurasian integration processes," the president said.

The president also outlined the priorities of Russia’s interactions with other Central Asian members of the CIS.

"As for the priorities of our interaction with the "six-party cooperation", they presently involve strengthening political dialogue, as well as cooperating in security, economy and trade, agriculture and food supply, energy, environment, healthcare, sanitary and epidemiological well-being, humanitarian relations, migration, information technologies and mass communications," Putin said.

The integration of the member countries and the expansion beyond bilateral relations are advancing, according to the president.

"Integration trends in the Central Asian region are gaining momentum. This was confirmed by the outcomes of the regular Consultative Meeting of the Heads of Central Asian States held in Dushanbe on 14 September this year. In light of this, the demand for the Central Asia+Russia format is growing. [...] "It is evident that our interaction, including in transport, logistics, energy and humanitarian affairs, has expanded beyond the framework of bilateral cooperation. It has the potential to further thrive through the collective endeavor of all parties involved," Putin assured.

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Putin also elaborated on the Kazakhstan's chairmanship in CSTO next year and what contribution both countries can make to ensure stability of the world oil market. The Russian leader believes that Kazakhstan’s initiatives will strengthen the potential of the CSTO and will contribute to the expansion of its powers.

"The next year will be marked by Kazakhstan presidency in the Organization. I am convinced that the initiatives of Kazakhstan partners will consolidate the CSTO potential and promote its empowerment in the interests of all Member States," the head of Russia said.

As for the global oil market, Vladimir Putin thinks that Russia and Kazakhstan, together with OPEC+ partners, contribute to its stability and predictability.

"Our countries are constructively interacting in the oil sector. Using the logistic facilities of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, we transport oil to the global markets in the most reliable and cost-effective way. Together with our OPEC+ partners we make a significant contribution to ensuring stability and predictability of the global oil market," the president said in the interview.

The SCO was another important topic in Vladimir Putin's interview. He said that Russia had "great expectations" for the SCO.

"We have great expectations for the SCO, which brings together 26 states, since this structure has a strong consolidated political and economic capacity and covers a geographical area extending from South and Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Europe," the president stated.

Putin also emphasized the advantages of the organization, saying that its focus is on mutual respect among member countries and the creation of multilateral cooperation, in contrast to other "narrow-block structures".

"The SCO attracts with its focus on creation and multifaceted cooperation, mutual consideration of interests, equality, openness, and respect for cultural and civilizational diversity. This compares favourably our organization with the 'narrow-block' structures with the small number of chosen participants that are promoted by the Western countries. It is no coincidence that the constructive SCO role in ensuring peace and sustainable development has been reaffirmed in the thematic resolution of the UN General Assembly adopted on 28 August 2023," Putin added.

On Wednesday morning, the Kremlin website also published a video message from Vladimir Putin to the participants of the XI meeting of the secretaries of the security councils of the CIS member states, in which he said that the CIS countries need to carry out extensive preventive work to ensure security in the member countries since some countries are trying to undermine legitimate government, the stability of society and traditional values.

“Moreover, the actions of some countries are directly aimed at undermining the legitimate power, social stability and traditional values in the CIS countries, at violating our traditional close trade, cooperation, and cultural ties. [...] All this requires not only a coordinated collective response, but also a lot of preventive work. In particular, it is important to make full use of the … information and analytical potential of security councils — for a deep and comprehensive study of the situation in the CIS and in the world as a whole, for clearly defining priorities, timely adjustment of strategic planning documents," Putin stated.

The Head of Russian State will visit Kazakhstan on November 9 and discuss key issues of Moscow-Astana relations with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.