CIS May Develop as Platform for Dialogue – Kazakhstan’s President

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) may develop as a platform for a dialogue between CIS member states, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Thursday.

ALMATY (Kazakhstan) (Sputnik) — The Kazakhstan’s president said that the CIS states agreed to reduce bureaucracy in the organization and noted that it was necessary to discuss one or two crucial issues in a year.

"Our military departments are meeting, exchanging their experience and information, we are doing the common work on security in our territories, and therefore the CIS can develop, become a more clear organization as a platform for dialogue, exchange of views between its member states," Nazarbayev told Rossiya-24 television.

Air defense was one of the most important areas of cooperation for the CIS states, he added.

The Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization created after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The organization includes former Soviet republics excluding the Baltic States and Georgia.

Ukraine and Turkmenistan did not sign the Charter and were determined to be founders and participating states of the CIS, but not member states. In August 26, 2005, Turkmenistan announced itself to be an associate member of the CIS.