CIS Heads of State adopted a Statement marking the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The document was signed in Turkmenistan on October 9, 2026.
The Statement notes that the signing of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Alma-Ata Declaration (in Russian) laid the foundation for preserving historical ties between peoples and paved the way for a new model of development based on mutually beneficial cooperation and stronger friendly and good-neighbourly relations among the states founded on sovereign equality.
The countries’ historical choice to unite their efforts and capabilities has fully justified itself. Over the past decades, amid increasingly complex international developments, the emergence of new regional and global centers of influence and the declining effectiveness of many global multilateral mechanisms and instruments, the Commonwealth has demonstrated its continued relevance and potential as a flexible and well-established mechanism for multilateral cooperation.
“Today, amid the transformation of international relations, the Commonwealth of Independent States ensures strategic partnership among its member states and continues to develop as a unique platform for dialogue where cooperation is based on the principles of equality and mutual respect. The principles governing decision-making in the CIS highest bodies have given the organisation the flexibility it needs to adapt to new realities,” the Statement reads.
The leaders of the CIS member states expressed their intention to promote the further strengthening of comprehensive cooperation within the CIS across a range of areas, including:
- political cooperation;
- trade and economic integration;
- industrial and scientific and technological cooperation;
- strengthening economic security;
- enhancing institutional and legal cooperation;
- humanitarian, cultural and educational cooperation;
- social cooperation;
- ensuring security;
- expanding international cooperation.
Read the full text via the link (in Russian).