Putin to host informal CIS leaders’ meeting in St Petersburg ahead of New Year

An informal gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will take place in St Petersburg on December 21–22, at the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to the Kremlin press service, on the same days, the city will also host a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, Caliber.Az reports.

President Putin extended invitations to the CIS leaders for the pre-New Year summit back in October, during the regular CIS summit.

“I would be very pleased to welcome you to Russia, as has become our tradition, in St Petersburg at the end of this year, ahead of the New Year, for our informal meeting,” Putin said at the time.

Russia has held these traditional informal pre-New Year meetings with CIS leaders annually since at least 2017, with St Petersburg hosting the events since 2018.

Separately, it has been reported that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan will attend the session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in St Petersburg.

By Aghakazim Guliyev