On the eve of the summit of the CIS heads of state, topical issues of the Commonwealth were discussed in Turkmenistan

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will pay a working visit to Turkmenistan on October 8-9, where he will take part in the meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of State. On October 7, a regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was held in Turkmenistan. The heads of foreign ministries of the Commonwealth countries exchanged views on topical issues of the international agenda and interaction in the CIS format, and also agreed on a draft statement of the heads of state in connection with the 35th anniversary of the Commonwealth.

The agenda of the CIS Ministerial Council meeting is 28 items. In a broad format, the heads of delegations reviewed information about the International Film Festival of the CIS Member States “Commonwealth”, made decisions on cooperation in the field of tourism, physical culture and sports, youth cooperation, as well as on the establishment of five basic organizations. In addition, the meeting approved a number of documents that will be sent to the Council of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government of the CIS.

Commenting on the agenda of the upcoming summit of the leaders of the Commonwealth countries, Maxim Ryzhenkov drew attention to: At first glance, it may seem that the agenda is calm, measured. But in fact, it contains serious systemic things. Those that concern our countries, and looking at which we understand that somewhere our cooperation needs to be improved.

This is especially true of cross-border cooperation. There are a number of solutions that create an even greater basis for the activities of the border services of the CIS countries in various areas: from the prevention of cross-border crime to the joint fight against migration risks. A number of issues concern humanitarian cooperation, which, the minister is convinced, "creates a matrix of relations between states." At the meeting of the CIS Foreign Ministerial Council in a narrow format, the Belarusian Foreign Minister stressed: Against the background of the joint achievement we have achieved over the past third of a century, the question arises: is there a limit to our integration today? According to the Belarusian side, there is no limit. Today, the world is close to a fundamental reorganization, and it is against this background that the CIS has all the prerequisites for its further development and growth. According to the head of the Foreign Ministry, the primary goal of the parties should be to overcome or pre-empt certain inconsistencies or discrepancies within the organization:

- We need to continue to work on enhancing the role of the CIS as a stable multilateral platform in Greater Eurasia, where we all speak with one voice.

The CIS is already a space for resolving pressing issues in a corrective format. I urge everyone to adhere to common positions on global regional challenges, as well as on issues of confidence-building and indivisible security on the Eurasian continent and on a planetary scale.

Maxim Ryzhenkov also expressed hope that during the negotiation process on the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the XXI century, the spirit of interaction in the Eurasian region will be developed: We hope that other colleagues will join this negotiation process, which should become a backbone for the development of a certain spirit of interaction in the Eurasian region, important for all organizations that exist in this field today. The head of the Foreign Ministry stressed that the beginning of the negotiation process on the development of the Eurasian Charter for Diversity and Multipolarity in the XXI century, which was launched in September this year in New York on the sidelines of the UN, can be considered a convincing example of unity. The preservation of historical memory is another important and relevant topic. The Foreign Minister noted the symbolism of the fact that this year we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the CIS and the 85th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War: The memory of the struggle of the multinational Soviet people with the Hitler invaders remains the most durable link in the space of our Commonwealth to this day. We will continue to consistently defend the preservation of historical truth and resolutely oppose cynical attempts to equalize victims and executioners, liberators and aggressors. In this regard, we are very grateful for agreeing on the paragraph from the statement that speaks of the genocide of the Soviet people.

Maxim Ryzhenkov recalled that the territory of our country was under occupation, and the Belarusian people experienced what the policy of genocide is. Today, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Belarus is investigating the relevant criminal case.

- These are not just political things, but in fact it is very important for Belarus. Thank you again that the discussion has been removed. In the conditions of irreversible processes of regionalization and polycentricity, with the unconditional preservation of the central role of the UN, additional steps should be taken to pair the potentials of key integration associations, including the EAEU, SCO, BRICS and, of course, the CIS, Maxim Ryzhenkov emphasized: - Among the positive examples is the signing in May 2026 in Astana of an action plan for implementing cooperation between the CIS Executive Committee and the Eurasian Economic Commission for 2026-2030. We believe that the development of similar documents with other integration associations is also advisable.

- A very promising, important, rapidly gaining weight region. It is very interesting for all our countries in terms of developing political, trade, economic and humanitarian contacts. We hope that the expansion of relations between the CIS and Africa will be further developed in partnership between the CIS Executive Committee and the African Union Commission, as well as the Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community and other regional integration associations in the CIS Plus format. Perhaps we should think about other regions as well.

KSTATI

Maxim Ryzhenkov highlighted the important decision of Azerbaijan to assume the CIS chairmanship for the first time in 2028:

Our Azerbaijani friends have demonstrated their political will, as well as their desire to preserve and develop the institution of our Commonwealth. We are very grateful to them for that. We are confident that the chairmanship of Azerbaijan will strengthen the image of our organization and add to it the necessary dynamism.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan signed the Program of Cooperation between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Belarus and Turkmenistan for 2027-2028.

Before the meeting of the leaders of the CIS countries, members of delegations of all CIS countries carried out a lot of work at different levels

On October 7, in the Avaza National Tourist Zone (Turkmenistan), Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Natalia Petkevich met with Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Batyr Mammadov.

Natalia Petkevich commented on the results of the talks: We have a very good history of bilateral relations in the social sphere, we discussed the most pressing issues. Turkmen colleagues once again expressed gratitude to Belarus for its high assistance in training specialists.

A separate topic is cooperation in the field of health. Natalia Petkevich noted that pharmaceutical products are exported to Turkmenistan, while the potential for interaction is much wider:

- I proposed to look at new positions in the pharmaceutical industry, the production of medical equipment and medical products, of which we can be proud today, medical technologies, many of which are unique. In terms of medicine, I think we can get stronger. There's mutual interest.

Minsk - NTZ "Avaza" - Minsk. Photo by Belt