Russian President Vladimir Putin will host the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) for a summit in Moscow on Tuesday.
The CIS leaders are expected to assess cooperation within the bloc in 2024 and identify the main goals for 2025. They will also talk about urgent regional and international matters and agree on the steps to improve the efficiency of the CIS, its executive and sectoral cooperation bodies.
The meeting will be held in an extended format, followed by a closed-door event. They will discuss Tajikistan's upcoming presidency of the bloc and schedule the next meeting, which is preliminary set to take place in the capital of Tajikistan on November 10, 2025.
The upcoming summit, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, will be the culmination of all events within the framework of Moscow's 2024 chairmanship of the CIS.
The event will be attended by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Kyrgyz leader Sadyr Japarov, Uzbek and Turkmen presidents Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Serdar Berdimuhamedov, as well as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Summit Topics
Ushakov informed journalists earlier that the heads of state would discuss a wide range of issues, sum up the results of interaction within the CIS this year and define the main tasks for the future, exchange opinions on current international and regional topics.
The leaders will also discuss the upcoming celebration of the 80th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War in 2025. The heads of state will issue an address in connection with the upcoming date. The summit will also decide to establish the honorary title of City of Labor Glory as part of preparations for the celebration of the 80th anniversary of Victory.
The summit will also touch upon the topic of improving inter-parliamentary cooperation. The head of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Valentina Matviyenko will report to the leaders on this issue. The program of events in the Kremlin includes narrow and expanded sessions, a document signing ceremony, and the traditional summit photo session. A reception will be held in the Russian capital in honor of the summit guests.
Focus on Security
One of the key topics will be security. The Kremlin noted before the summit that a number of documents in the field of security and law enforcement were planned to be adopted during the Council of CIS Heads of State. In this context, Moscow attaches great importance to the CIS cooperation program in deradicalization for 2025-2027, developed at the initiative of the president of Uzbekistan. A protocol on amendments to the CIS treaty on interstate search for persons has been prepared for the summit. First Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Leonid Anfimov told journalists earlier that the heads of the CIS countries might adopt a statement on the principles of Eurasian security at the summit in October.
Russia's Chairmanship of the CIS
Russia chairs the Commonwealth in 2024. The plan of Moscow's presidency includes more than 150 events. This year is also the year of Moscow's presidency of BRICS. The Kremlin reported that Putin would invite his CIS colleagues to come to Kazan in October for the organization's summit. In addition, CIS leaders are expected in December at the traditional informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg. As the Kremlin reported, a meeting of the heads of state of the Eurasian Economic Union will also take place.
The decision on the CIS chairmanship for next year has already been made; in 2025, the chairmanship will pass to Tajikistan. The next meeting of the council of heads of member states is planned for October 10, 2025, in Dushanbe.