According to him, relations with Commonwealth countries is "our kith-and-kin boundless ties." Putin gave high marks for the CIS summit held on Sunday.
"I value highly today's meeting of CIS heads of state and thank those who took part in it for the constructive nature of the meeting," the Russian president said.
Putin pointed out that a spirit of unity exists between the Commonwealth countries. "We are to solve all problems together," he concluded.
The informal CIS summit (it was not attended by the presidents of Georgia and Azerbaijan: the former because Russia did not give dates for the withdrawal of its military bases from Georgia, and the latter because he did not want to sit at the same table with the Armenian president, hero of Karabakh, whom Baku holds personally responsible for numerous victims among civil population during an armed conflict over Nagorny Karabakh) adopted a declaration on humanitarian cooperation. The declaration says among other things that CIS states will pay priority attention to cooperation in the humanitarian area, including culture, national traditions, languages, science, education, archives, information and mass communications, sport and youth movement.
"The states, proceeding from their understanding of the importance of the humanitarian ingredient in the development of integrative processes on the post-Soviet space, will consider the possibility of concluding an agreement on humanitarian cooperation between CIS states, which will define appropriate mechanisms for joint efforts," the document notes.
The states will make humanitarian cooperation within the CIS framework more effective by drawing on the experience and principles of activity of the corresponding international organizations, including UNESCO, and will also examine the possibility of creating an interstate fund of humanitarian cooperation.
The CIS states will encourage forums of creative intellectuals of the Commonwealth countries and give them the required support.
