The leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) will hold a meeting in the Kremlin on Thursday. Russian President Vladimir Putin said decisions will be made to further deepen integration of the "five," which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
"We will focus on issues of energy and food security, technological and financial independence, accelerating digital transformation, removing regulatory and trade barriers, and developing transport infrastructure," Putin said Wednesday, speaking at the Eurasian Economic Forum ahead of a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council (SEEC).
As reported earlier by the Kremlin press service, the meeting on Thursday plans to review the implementation of the objectives set by the Russian presidency of the EEU in 2023. Also, the participants will discuss the international activities of the union and the expansion of its trade and economic relations with third countries and regional associations.
Apart from the general session, "there will be a number of meetings of the Russian president with the leaders of the EEU member countries and countries invited to the summit," informed the press service of the Russian leader.
First day of the summit
Putin is meeting for the second time since early May with his EEU colleagues who, along with the leaders of some other CIS countries, came to Moscow for Victory Day two weeks ago. The leaders' current interaction as part of a two-day summit in Moscow began Wednesday. Putin and Presidents Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Sadyr Zhaparov attended a plenary session of the II Eurasian Economic Forum at Zaryadye. The Armenian side was represented by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan. As press secretary of the Russian leader Dmitry Peskov clarified the day before, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan will join his colleagues on Thursday, when the main day of the summit will be held.
After the forum, the heads of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan headed to the Kremlin for an informal dinner, where they travelled from the concert hall together in one minibus.
As Putin noted at the forum in Zaryadye, Russia appreciates the interest of all EEU partners in building cooperation. He expressed confidence that the integration experience gained by the "five" can be used to develop existing and create new formats of interaction throughout the Eurasian region and the world at large.
Russian presidency
The previous EEU meeting was held last December in Bishkek. The Russian president then outlined the priorities of Russia's presidency in the EEU in 2023 (strengthening technological sovereignty, digitalization, investment, increasing youth exchanges), noted that Russia supports the creation of a coordinating structure in the union to provide the economies with energy resources, and pointed out that the EEU countries should create a single gas market in the next two years, having worked out common principles of subsidies in advance.
The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization of economic integration, which includes Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan; Cuba, Moldova and Uzbekistan have the status of observer states. The SEEC is the supreme supranational body of the EEU, and the Eurasian Economic Commission is a permanent supranational regulatory body. The EEU meetings are attended by the leaders of EEU member states.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS