Time Economy: Putin urges CIS countries to remove trade barriers
The Iranian President proposed the creation of the CIS+1 format with the participation of his country, the heads of state noted the sustainable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan and learned about plans to involve AI in saving the Caspian Sea. This is how the 35th Summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States was held. Numerous bilateral and multilateral meetings have confirmed the stability and relevance of the CIS. The economy remains the main driver of the organization. Thus, the trade turnover between Russia and its partners in the association exceeded $110 billion in 2025, and increased by another 12% in the first half of 2026. For further growth, Vladimir Putin called on participants to remove artificial barriers. What surprised the 35th anniversary of the CIS is in the Izvestia article.
What did the leaders talk about at the CIS summit?
For the first time in the 35 years of the CIS's existence, the President of Iran took part in a meeting of the Council of Heads of State. This proved that the stability of the association is attracting more and more attention from key players in Greater Eurasia. And the Commonwealth itself is gradually expanding the framework of the usual format and is involved in the problems of the entire region.
Yesterday, Vladimir Putin personally spoke with Masoud Peseshkian and confirmed Russia's readiness to provide comprehensive assistance to the Islamic Republic in resolving the Middle East crisis. After that, speaking at an expanded meeting, Peseshkian proposed the creation of the CIS+1 format for in-depth cooperation between the Commonwealth and Tehran.
Heads of state traditionally use the CIS platform for informal contacts. The Russian leader spoke with Emomali Rahmon, Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan. The topic of relations between Yerevan and Baku was positively developed at the meeting of the heads of state in a narrow format. The President of Belarus called Azerbaijan's historic decision to assume the CIS presidency for the first time in 2028 (after Uzbekistan) and expressed hope that Yerevan would pick up the baton. Previously, both countries had refrained from rotating at the head of the Commonwealth for a long time due to the protracted territorial conflict. However, speaking to his colleagues in Turkmenbashi, Nikol Pashinyan stated that peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan is already an established fact.
Increased attention was focused on the arrival of the Armenian Prime Minister in Turkmenistan in connection with Yerevan's policy of rapprochement with the EU and the freezing of participation in a number of other integration formats, including the CSTO. The leaders' contacts, even the most fleeting ones, attracted special media attention. In the general photo, Pashinyan appeared between the presidents of Belarus and Azerbaijan.
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko
Yerevan and Minsk have recently established very difficult relations due to the harsh statements of the Belarusian leader in support of Azerbaijan on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian prime minister even publicly stated that neither he nor other officials of the country would visit Belarus as long as Lukashenko remained president. In the photo, the Belarusian leader was obviously trying to lighten the situation with a joke.
Turkmenistan also hosted a trilateral meeting of the leaders of Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan for the first time in nine years. At the Tehran summit in 2017, cooperation on international energy platforms and cooperation in the oil and gas sector were discussed. Now, given what is happening in the Middle East, such an agenda would also be extremely relevant. Another trilateral conversation attracted attention: Vladimir Putin, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Nikol Pashinyan. Judging by the Armenian media footage, Putin even patted the latter on the shoulder.
Where is the CIS moving
In connection with the anniversary of the Commonwealth, the leaders signed a joint statement. The document emphasizes that while the effectiveness of many global institutions is declining, the CIS has proven its relevance. Among the key priorities of economic cooperation are strengthening the free trade area, stimulating industrial cooperation and promoting joint products to the markets of third countries.
Humanitarian cooperation was also not left out of the brackets. The Russian language plays an important role in it, as a means of interethnic and interstate communication. Vladimir Putin called him a "powerful unifying force" of the Commonwealth at the Council of Heads of State and recalled the launch of the International Russian Language Organization, created on the initiative of Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
The leaders also stated that the economy remains a key vector for the development of the CIS. For example, almost all mutual settlements — over 90% — are already conducted in national currencies. By the end of 2025, Russia's trade turnover with its CIS partners exceeded $110 billion, and in the first half of this year it increased by another 12%, Vladimir Putin said during the open part of the meeting. However, the Russian leader sees the main resource for further economic growth in the abolition of artificial restrictions in mutual trade.
— Can we move even faster? Yes, it's probably possible. To do this, what should I do? Barriers need to be removed. And you and I work in the practical field, we know that sometimes it seems that at the national level and in the national interest it is more profitable to maintain these barriers for a certain period of time. Well, this is how we ourselves consciously hold back the pace that could be. Nevertheless, the decisions we have made have allowed us to build a fairly effective work in the Commonwealth space," the Russian president said.
It is this balance between national pragmatics and common benefit that explains the stability of the bloc. For 35 years, the organization has adapted to the realities of the 21st century, turning from an attempt to restore a unified state into an effective infrastructure, Said Gafurov, associate professor of the Department of Foreign Regional Studies at MGLU, told Izvestia. According to him, such CIS contacts help to develop the North—South and East—West corridors connecting the markets of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Russia and Iran without rigid supranational frameworks.
Problems of the Caspian Sea
The afternoon of October 9 was fully devoted to the agenda of the Caspian Five (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan). The leaders of the countries gathered at the Caspian Environmental Summit and the issues of environmental cooperation and the survival of the local ecosystem immediately came to the fore. The rapid shallowing of the Caspian Sea is of the greatest concern. Changing climatic conditions, reduced flow of incoming rivers and anthropogenic pressure primarily affect biodiversity, including the unique populations of the Caspian seal and sturgeon. Moreover, these risks also affect economic activity: the operation of seaports, shipping, and the development of coastal infrastructure.
Sea level decline has accelerated in recent years to a frightening 22.7 cm per year, which is no longer just a "water drain", but a direct threat to the environmental, food and transport security of the entire region, environmentalist Elena Matveeva told Izvestia. Changes in spawning areas and a reduction in the food supply for fish inevitably lead to the degradation of the unique ecosystem of the Caspian Sea. But from the point of view of law, the problem of "blurred responsibility" remains: who will adapt all this and how. In addition, such work will require enormous financial costs, the expert explained.
Russia has now assumed the leading role. There are plans to create a digital twin of the Caspian Sea using AI to predict changes in water levels. This will make it possible to refine and adjust navigation routes to improve the safety of navigation.
"We invite our partners to take a closer look at this idea and, if possible, join in its implementation," Vladimir Putin said.
There are many other complex environmental problems in the CIS area, such as the Aral Sea disaster and water scarcity, the solution of which can demonstrate the effectiveness of the CIS.
The anniversary summit as a whole showed the leaders' determination to continue working together, where personal differences or even misunderstandings take a back seat to national interests. At the same time, on December 21, the leaders can continue today's dialogue in St. Petersburg, where Vladimir Putin invited them to an informal summit.
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