An informal meeting of CIS leaders was held in St. Petersburg on Tuesday (28 December).
The meeting was attended by the presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and the prime minister of Armenia.
Russian president, Vladimir Putin, welcomed his fellow heads of state in an opening speech. He noted that the creation of the CIS was justified, and had enabled a deepening of the integration in many aspects, specifically in terms of ensuring national security and in the economy. He added that one of the main reasons for the current meeting was the common effort to counter the coronavirus pandemic.