After the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) foreign ministers’ meeting in Turkmenistan on Oct. 7, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in remarks to media, said that the ministers had discussed “the impact of these deep-seated crises on the global economy,” including in the Persian Gulf, and had stressed cooperation across Eurasia “without relying on unreliable payment and transportation systems.” Another topic was expanding relations between Turkmenistan and the Eurasian Economic Union, he added.
Formed 35 years ago during the break-up of the Soviet Union, the CIS still has, as full or associate members, 10 of the 12 former Soviet republics that founded it or joined shortly thereafter. Georgia and Ukraine have exited the organization.
As far as Eurasia as a whole goes, Lavrov called this region “the largest, richest, and most unique continent, home to several millennia-old civilizations. Neither Africa nor Latin America has anything like this. They, too, have centuries-old histories. But this civilizational development— China , India , Persia, the Ottoman Empire, and Russia—is a truly unique combination.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Turkmenistan this afternoon for the 35th anniversary CIS summit of heads of state. Turkmenistan is also hosting a Caspian Environmental Summit, for which President Masoud Pezeshkian has arrived. Attacks on ships in the Caspian Sea by both Israel and Ukraine have been of concern to Caspian littoral countries this year. Putin has already had bilateral meetings this evening with President Serdar Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistan and with Pezeshkian.
Lavrov also mentioned the signing of the Eurasian Charter on Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century, initiated by Belarus and Russia, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last month in New York. The establishment of this framework was proposed by Belarus going back to 2023, and is intended to “set out the principles for building a just world order, reflecting the fact of diversity of civilizations,” Belarus Foreign Minister Sergei Aleinik had said at a conference in 2024. “Western countries could also become participants in this process,” he added.
Lavrov was asked about efforts at deeper integration among Eurasian nations, and how quickly this is moving. He replied: “Let me repeat, this is not a simple process, given not only the scale and size of the Eurasian continent, but also its history and the multiplicity of civilizational foundations in this geopolitical space. The work is ongoing. Moscow wasn’t built in a day. I have no doubt that Eurasian security and the Eurasian economic space will be built slowly, but surely.”
