ASGHABAT (ITARR-TASS) – Leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have concluded their summit meeting in Turkmenistan’s capital.

CIS leaders pose during the December 5 meeting in Ashgabat.
(Photo: RIA Novosti)

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told journalists in Ashgabat on December 5 that the gathered presidents agreed on joint antiterrorism training efforts and on cooperation to counter illegal drug trafficking, terrorism, separatism, and organized crime.

Peskov said the presidents also discussed the coordination of financial intelligence services among CIS member states.

Judging by the preliminary agenda published on the CIS website, the leaders of CIS countries discussed more than 20 issues. They signed an agreement to organize an integrated currency market and to declare the validity of the free trade zone agreement for Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia. Kazakhstan and Moldova would join the free trade zone on December 8-9.

Only 8 of the 11 CIS presidents attended the Ashgabat summit. Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambaev was absent because of what the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry described as Atambaev’s “busy work schedule”. The Moldovan and Azerbaijani presidents sent their prime ministers to attend.

Diplomats and sources at the Presidential Administration told media that traditional informal CIS summit held in Moscow at the end of each year would not be held in 2012. The reason is that the CIS official summit has been postponed from November to December by Russia’s wish, the sources said. In these conditions, holding a meeting just two weeks after the summit would have been superfluous.

The CIS chairmanship will be transferred from Turkmenistan to Belarus on January 1.

Leaders of post-Soviet countries will hold three other summits in December: Summits of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) and the Customs Union (CU) will take place in Moscow on December 19.