The unofficial summit of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) member countries, which is traditionally convened by Russian President Vladimir Putin before the New Year, has started in Saint Petersburg, Russia, TASS reported.
The host of this summit, the President of Russia, invited his colleagues from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan around the negotiating table and for a tour of the palace complexes of Saint Petersburg.
The CIS unofficial summit will conclude with a conversation in the Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna village.
