ISTANBUL 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday his country will pay attention to strengthening economic cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) during its chairmanship in the upcoming year. 

“Naturally, we will pay close attention to further strengthening economic cooperation within the CIS. In the past year, trade turnover between our countries has shown steady growth,” Putin said at an informal summit of CIS leaders in St. Petersburg. “According to data for 10 months, it increased by two percent compared to the same period last year and amounted to $83.7 billion.”

Expressing that an agreement was signed between CIS member states on free trade in services and investment in June, Putin said Russia intends to continue taking steps to harmonize the regulatory framework of the CIS and the Eurasian Economic Union, which he said was discussed Monday during a Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting.

“We will continue to work with our Commonwealth partners in favor of a more active transition in mutual settlements to national currencies. We are convinced that this will make it possible to more reliably ensure the economic and financial sovereignty of our states,” he said.

He also said Russia will try to constructively build joint work on maintaining security and stability in Eurasia, as well as combating terrorism and extremism, cross-border crime, drug trafficking and corruption.

Putin said cultural and humanitarian interaction is another important component of partnership within the CIS, which he said is based on a “centuries-old common history and a deep intertwining of cultures.”

The informal CIS summit was also attended by the presidents of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, as well as Armenia's prime minister.