Putin pledges closer ties with ex-Soviet neighbours

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin hailed cooperation with other ex-Soviet nations on Friday and vowed to help strengthen economic and other ties between them.

Putin said the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a loose grouping of former Soviet nations, had become an “authoritative regional integration structure” helping maintain “economic, social, cultural and humanitarian ties developed by our peoples over centuries.” Speaking at a CIS summit in the Caspian Sea resort of Avaza, outside the port city of Turkmenbashi, in Turkmenistan, he said that the Russian language “works as a powerful uniting force across the vast space of the Commonwealth.” He didn’t mention Russia’s war in Ukraine, but hailed a “stable financial infrastructure that is independent of foreign influence that currently helps us efficiently solve many tasks.” Russia has expanded its trade with its former Soviet neighbours as it faces Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.

Putin said that Russia’s trade with CIS members topped $110 billion in 2025, with 90 per cent of transactions made in national currencies. “It allows us to deepen economic cooperation regardless of foreign influence,” he said.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, who attended the CIS summit as an observer, later joined a separate meeting of Caspian Sea nations’ leaders. Putin and Pezeshkian held talks on the sidelines of the Turkmenistan summit on Thursday, the Americans have given new suggestions, and we have made some adjustments. Once completed, we can sit down with the intermediaries and finalise these suggestions.”