Pres. Putin press conference after meeting of the CIS Heads of State

(questions to Pres. Putin listed below)

Meeting of the CIS Heads of State Council
Heads of State Council of the Commonwealth of Independent States held a meeting in Bishkek.

October 13th, 2023 13:30 (Press conference topics below)

The CIS leaders’ summit began with a limited format meeting attended by President of Russia Vladimir Putin, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kyrgyzstan and 2023 Chair of the CIS Heads of State Council Sadyr Japarov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and CIS Secretary General Sergei Lebedev.

The talks continued in an expanded format with members of the delegations. Taking part in the talks from the Russian side were Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office and Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Kyrgyzstan Nikolai Udovichenko, and Permanent Representative of Russia in the Statutory Bodies and Other CIS Agencies Andrei Grozov.

SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming took part in the work of the CIS Heads of State Council in an expanded format.

The leaders signed a number of joint documents following the CIS Heads of State Council meeting.

In particular, they signed the Treaty on the Establishment of the International Russian Language Organisation and decisions on the statements made by the CIS heads of state on cooperation in the digitisation of public administration; on international relations in a multipolar world; on protecting the civil and human right to the freedom of religion; and on supporting and promoting Russian as the language of international communication. They adopted decisions on the status of CIS Observer Country and the status of CIS Partner Country; on the Interstate Programme of Joint Measures Against Crime in 2024–2028; and on declaring Samarkand (Uzbekistan) the Cultural Capital of the CIS in 2024. In addition, they adopted the Agreement on the Establishment of the International Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment Centre, and the Agreement on the Establishment of the Forensic Expert Activity Coordination Council of the CIS Member-States.

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Questions:
1) What is the future of the CIS ?
2) Russian peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh and is there a positive outlook on the peace treaty between Yerevan and Baku? (Armenia / Azerbaijan)
3) Kant Airbase security, the joint air defence system
4) The Ruble exchange rate
5) Mikhail Fridman and people in general who were abroad and decided to return
6) The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, is there any prospect for a settlement in the coming weeks or at least the coming months?
7) Trafficked weapons used in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict
8) The visit to the People’s Republic of China and other countries
9) Accusations re: Balticconnector gas pipeline
10) What did Pres. Putin do on his birthday ? (October 7th)