Kyrgyz president not to come to St. Petersburg due to orders
Vladimir Putin, who will celebrate his 70th birthday on October 7, was congratulated by the leaders of Turkey, South Africa, Kyrgyzstan and Cuba (plus the former president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev) and seven other leaders of the post-Soviet republics personally came with congratulations and gifts. The official reason for the meeting was an informal summit of the CIS, but it was held in an abbreviated format (only Vladimir Putin spoke). And the participants spent most of the event at the festive table.
Photo: kremlin.ru Although the meeting of CIS leaders took place in St. Petersburg, sunny Tajikistan took care of organizing the event. Huge pyramids of melons and watermelons grew near the Constantine Palace, and colorful carpets of southern fruit spread. The Kremlin made no secret of the fact that the unplanned meeting was informal – after all, the usual CIS summit will take place next week at the latest. It is clear that the main reason for the collection was the 70th anniversary of Vladimir Putin. The mountains of fruit are part of a gift from Tajik leader Emomali Rahmon, who had not yet finished celebrating his own birthday two days ago. The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, awarded the hero of the day with the Order of Dustlik of the highest degree, which, apart from Putin, is awarded only to Xi Jinping. And Alexander Lukashenko shared what is dear to him. As a gift, he brought a hand-assembled tractor to Belarus with a universal seed drill. The exact same thing he's working on. “Sow bread, maybe something else. We will grow and sell to Europe. So that we don't die of hunger and steal bread in Ukraine,” the father explained his plan.
Sadyr Žaparov refrained from visiting St. Petersburg: as it turned out, the Kyrgyz president was outraged by the awarding of Emomali Rahmon with the Russian order “For Merit to the Fatherland” of the third degree, with the wording “to ensure regional stability and security” (Recall that on September 14, the largest and bloodiest border conflict) . And the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, although he came to the meeting, did not take part in a joint photo, so as not to excite compatriots with the proximity of the happy Ilham Aliyev. (However, both leaders, as you know, were at a meeting in Prague the day before and even agreed to respect each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty. Moreover, without the mediation of Russia).
Lukashenko said what tractor he gave Putin for his anniversary: video
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The hero of the day and his guests began to gather at the round table closer to dinner. Vladimir Putin let all the leaders into the hall in front of him, he did not succumb to the attempts of Emomali Rahmon and Serdar Berdimuhamedov to show Eastern respect to the host. Despite its informal nature, the atmosphere in Strelna worked: all the presidents came in suits and ties, and serious topics were also discussed. Vladimir Putin once again proposed a “time check” on the documents to be signed next week in Astana. “We will pay priority attention to the further development of trade and investment partnerships within the CIS, think about how to intensify joint work to increase the stability of our economies and ensure technological sovereignty,” the GDP agenda announced.
< p>Despite the fact that after the announcement of mobilization, the CIS countries faced a new reality for themselves, namely a large influx of migrants from Russia, Vladimir Putin focused on a more familiar situation. “Millions work, work in Russia – without any exaggeration we are talking about millions – citizens of the CIS who help Russia in the implementation of development plans, but also earn the necessary funds to support their families,” he said. Therefore, dots were placed above the “i”: there – thousands and here – millions.
Another current topic is ensuring security in the Commonwealth space. Vladimir Putin made it clear that what is happening between Russia and Ukraine should be taken on an equal footing with Azerbaijan's confrontation with Armenia and Kyrgyzstan with Tajikistan. “In addition to Ukraine, where truly tragic events are taking place, conflicts also arise between other nearby states. This, of course, requires the development of measures to solve them,” he said.
Speeches by other leaders at the informal summit were not broadcast. And only Alyaksandr Lukashenko expressed a desire to talk to journalists. Answer to the question of the host of the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin”, what way out of the international situation he sees, Lukashenko said that he “did not enter there”. And so “I can't get out of there.” “We shouldn't be looking for a way out!” he emphasized. Dędek refused to confirm the security of the western borders of the State of the Union, citing Poland's intention to ask the United States for nuclear weapons. However, he urged journalists not to worry about the fate of the world: “You don't know everything! – he said sharply, – They (apparently the collective West) have been looking for that way for a long time.
After the end of the informal summit, which together with lunch lasted about three hours, Putin and Lukashenko, according to the press service, continued to communicate one-on-one. Two apparently related events have already been reported: Russia is giving Belarus a $1.5 billion loan for import substitution programs, and the Belarusian Defense Ministry is mobilizing 500,000 trained reservists if needed.
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