I Hope Armenia and Azerbaijan Will Participate in the CIS Summit: Secretary General

The Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Sergey Lebedev, expects that leaders from all CIS member countries, except for Ukraine and Moldova, will participate in the council meeting of heads of state taking place in Bishkek. Lebedev made this statement during a press conference in Minsk.

“Most of the countries have confirmed their participation; as for the presence of Ukraine and Moldova, they will not be represented at the council meeting of heads of state, nor at the council meeting of foreign ministers. They abstain from participating, although de jure they remain CIS members,” said Lebedev.

When responding to a question about the possible presence of the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan at the upcoming summit in Bishkek amid the situation surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh, Lebedev noted that the executive committee of cooperation has only information regarding Ukraine and Moldova’s refusal, but there is no such information regarding other countries.

“As for the remaining countries, we do not have any information that anyone will refuse to participate. At least, the information we currently have suggests, and we hope, that most countries will be represented at the summit,” added the CIS Secretary General.

The council meeting is scheduled to take place in the capital of Kyrgyzstan on October 13. Prior to that, a meeting of the foreign ministers of CIS countries will be held.