The informal summit of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries began at the Igora Resort in Russia's Leningrad Region. The recipient—by right of the host—is the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At the meeting, he will present the results of Russia's chairmanship in the CIS in 2024. After that, as announced by the Kremlin, "the leaders will be able to communicate with each other in an informal environment and exchange opinions on current international issues."

Contrary to plans, however, not all the leaders of the participating countries were able to come to this CIS summit. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan informed on social media early Wednesday morning that he had to miss today's meeting due to the testing positive for the coronavirus. Now, matter of his participation in the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union—to be held Thursday—is being decided.

And Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev is returning to Baku amid the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane near Aktau, Kazakhstan.