ISTANBUL 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Moscow will do everything possible to deepen integration in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), as the country assumes the bloc's presidency for the second time since its inception in 2014.

“We will do everything possible to further deepen integration in all areas – in the political, economic, industrial, financial and technological spheres. In this regard, we consider it expedient to jointly assess the progress of the implementation of the current Strategic Directions for the Development of Eurasian Economic Integration until 2025,” Putin said, according to a statement by the Kremlin.

Putin said the bloc must also start preparing new long-term planning documents this year that will determine the route of integration.

The EAEU’s development in the past years and its close integration has become “a worthy response to global problems such as poverty, climate change, shortage of resources … which have become aggravated due to the pandemic and the application of illegitimate sanctions by a number of countries,” he added.

“The (Eurasian Economic) Union has every opportunity to become one of the powerful, independent, self-sufficient poles of the emerging multipolar world, to be a center of attraction for all independent states that share our values and seek cooperation."

The Russian leader said technology, digital advancement, agro-industry, energy, reduction of the use of foreign currencies and payment systems in trade, economic competitiveness, transport and logistics, employment, and international cooperation are crucial in further developing integration in the EAEU and bolster the bloc’s importance.

“For more than a millennium, our peoples have lived together and jointly explored their geographic space. A common understanding of the historical fate, awareness of the centuries-old economic connection, the preservation and strengthening of the cultural and social community of the peoples of the countries of the Union is the key to the success of all our activities,” he added.

Established in 2014 by the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia, the EAEU is an economic bloc of five post-Soviet states in Eurasia with the inclusion of Armenia and Kyrgyzstan in 2015.

Russia acquired the bloc’s chairmanship for the second time on Jan. 1, replacing Kyrgyzstan.