At a meeting on Monday with permanent members of the Russian Security Council, President Vladimir Putin proposed to focus on the development of ties with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), TASS reports.
"We have a whole set of significant competitive advantages with the former republics of the Soviet Union in order to achieve positive results in development on very many tracks, first of all in economic activity, the economy. Common transport systems, energy systems, the absence of a language barrier and so on and so forth, many things," Putin said.
He suggested discussing further development of ties. "Let's discuss this today, what we can and should do additionally, in order to achieve the best results in our joint work for the development of our states," the president added.
The president reiterated that on May 9, leaders of many CIS countries visited Moscow and attended the Victory Day parade. "This is natural, since it was the peoples of the Soviet Union who defeated Nazism in the Great Patriotic War (fought by the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany in 1941-1945 - TASS)," the Russian president stressed.
Taking part in the meeting were Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev, Presidential Administration Head Anton Vaino, Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergey Naryshkin and Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology and Transport Sergey Ivanov.
