On December 28, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov left for St. Petersburg to participate in an informal summit of the heads of the CIS member states, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported .

The heads of Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan also took part in the meeting. The parties discussed the results of 2021 and a plan for further cooperation, including in the field of security and countering the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the development of joint projects in the transport, energy and industrial spheres, President Berdimuhamedov urged other meeting participants to intensify cooperation with CIS partners, in particular, with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Eurasian Economic Union, and the Economic Cooperation Organization.

The President of Turkmenistan also called for the removal of transport restrictions imposed in connection with the coronavirus pandemic as soon as possible, as well as restoration of economic and trade ties.

According to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry, during his visit to St. Petersburg, Berdimuhamedov phoned the Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko to discuss inter-parliamentary cooperation between Russia and Turkmenistan and preparations for the Inter-Parliamentary Forum of Central Asian Countries to be held in Ashgabat in May 2022 and Russian Federation, and also consider the possibility of holding a meeting of the Dialogue of Women of Central Asia and Russia in the Turkmen capital at the same time.

Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan