Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries will traditionally come together in late December, and in 2025 they will jointly celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War during World War II.

"Of course, I am happy to see the ambassadors of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Azerbaijan here," said the Russian president during the ceremony of handing foreign ambassadors' credentials. "These countries are Russia's closest neighbors, best friends, natural strategic partners, and allies. We met with their leaders very recently—in October in Moscow—during the CIS summit. Traditionally, we will gather at the end of December to recap the [passing] year's results and outline plans for the future. And in 2025, we will jointly celebrate the 80th anniversary of the victory achieved in the Great Patriotic War, to which the peoples of the entire countries of the Commonwealth contributed."

In 2023, the leaders of the CIS countries had met on December 25 in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

The aforesaid ceremony of handing credentials to the Russia president by new foreign ambassadors to Russia was held in the Kremlin. Envoys from 28 countries took part in it.