Medvedev to take part in the meeting of the CIS Heads of Government in Minsk

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will take part in the regular meeting of the Council of CIS Heads of Government in Minsk on May 30, which will discuss the socio-economic development of the Commonwealth countries and their interaction in the field of innovation cooperation, the government official told RIA Novosti.

At the meeting there will be signed six international agreements, including the agreement on cooperation in the exchange of scientific and technical information, information interaction in the field of transport security and cooperation in the field of navigation support of the CIS armed forces.

In Minsk, Medvedev also planned a series of bilateral meetings with heads of the CIS governments. It is not specified who the head of the Russian Cabinet is going to talk to.

Kyrgyzstan and Russia intend to share information on illegal migrants

Kyrgyz authorities and Russia intend to cooperate in the exchange of information on illegal migrant workers, it was announced on Friday during a visit to Bishkek of head of the Federal Migration Service Konstantin Romodanovskiy.

The First Vice Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Tayirbek Sarpashev told the head of the FMS about the work of the Republican Headquarters on implementation of the unified state register of population and collecting of biometric data of the population.

For his part Romodanovskiy noted that “the collection of biometric data and the transition to biometric passports is extremely relevant and necessary” and Russia is ready to provide all necessary assistance to Kyrgyzstan in this sphere. According to him, the FMS has collected biometric data of 2,531,000 citizens of Kyrgyzstan.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan create an economic union

The presidents of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan will sign on May 29 in Astana the treaty establishing on January 1, 2015 the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which will be the next stage of integration of the three countries of the former Soviet Union after the establishment of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space.

The treaty establishing the EAEU combines legal framework of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, as well as part of the regulations of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), which do not contradict more recent agreements in the framework of the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space, the Eurasian Economic Commission for Europe supervising the 20 – year process of integration explained ITAR-TASS.

According to the draft of the new document – the EAEU Treaty, on the territory of three countries there will be gradually set a regime of free movement of goods, capital, labor, services, and equal access to transport and energy infrastructure, and the general rules of customs and tariff regulation. At later stages, in addition to the Eurasian Economic Commission it is planned to establish a Commission on commodities, International Eurasian arbitration, EAEU Investment Bank and a number of other structures. By the end of 2014 Armenia and Kyrgyzstan will join the EAEU.

Ukrainian representatives are invited to the meeting of the CIS Foreign Ministers Council in Moscow on 4 April

Ukrainian representatives are invited to the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the CIS, which will take place in Moscow on 4 April, State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Grigory Karasin told ITAR-TASS.

“As far as I know, the representatives of Ukraine have been invited”, – said the diplomat.

On March 19 Ukraine decided not to continue its chairmanship in the CIS.

Lavrov: Integration Agencies with Russia’s Participation Open for Others, above All CIS

Integration agencies in which Russia participates are open for other countries, first of all countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a major news conference reviewing the results of 2013.

“As you know, our integration structures are open for other partners as well, including first of all participants of the CIS free trade zone,” he said. Seizing the occasion, the foreign minister wished success to Ukraine, which holds the rotating CIS presidency in 2014. “We support the program formulated by the Ukrainian leadership for its Commonwealth chairmanship,” he added.

Lavrov reminded the audience that starting from 2013 Russia had been chairman of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. “Our chairmanship program is aimed at making that agency more efficient, including in the sphere of reacting to common threats and challenges, including those coming from Afghanistan taking into consideration the so-called factor of 2014 (an allusion to the upcoming withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan),” he added.

Putin, Nazarbayev Attend Russia-Kazakhstan Interregional Cooperation Forum in Yekaterinburg

Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan visited Yekaterinburg on Monday to attend the tenth jubilee Forum on interregional cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. The sides signed a treaty between the two countries on goodneighbourliness and allied relationship in the 21st century, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists.

There was also concluded an intergovernmental agreement on preventing and putting out forest and steppe fires, a protocol to the intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in developing the gas condensate field Imashevskoye, an inter-agency memorandum of understanding on giving greater scope to interaction in the field of industry, a roadmap on enhancing industrial co-production arrangements between Russia and Kazakhstan in the 2013-2014 period, as well as a number of documents on cooperation between regions.

CIS Foreign Ministers Focus on Foreign Policy Cooperation

Coordination of foreign policy cooperation of the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including on such issues as the situation in Syria, prospects for the developments in Afghanistan, interaction with the UN and OSCE, was a key issue at a meeting of the Council of CIS Foreign Ministers that was held in Minsk on Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after the meeting.

“We exchanged views on the hot international problems, including the Syrian crisis. Many interests that are linked not only with this country, but also with the principles of world order, the way of settling regional problems clash here. It is also very important for us to uphold the rule of international law on the global scale,” the minister said.

Lavrov added that the developments in Afghanistan after 2014 is an important issue. “We have exchanged views on ways to minimize the threats emanating from Afghanistan that will probably only grow after the contingents of international forces are withdrawn from the country in late 2014,” Lavrov said.

In addition, according to the minister, the meeting participants discussed the issue of developing cooperation with the UN.

Ukraine Can Do Much More with Russia

 

Ukraine can do much more with Russia, Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov said.

The 10th session of the Russian-Ukrainian governmental committee proved that both countries had started resetting relations, the Ukrainian premier said on Thursday.

“I consider the committee’s session in Kaluga positive. We returned from Russia with a clear view: we should give an impetus to promising industries. As economic partners we can do much more jointly,” he said.

Azarov noted that the economic situation in the world “doesn’t allow us to ignore any possibilities of cooperation”.

Talks between Russia and Ukraine

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Nikolai Azarov on Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine would manage to work out the right algorithm after Ukraine signed an associated membership agreement with the European Union.

“We certainly talked about our future and a free trade zone treaty, which Ukraine is going to sign with the European Union because that decision will influence the Russian market. What I mean is the nullification of duties and transition to EU regulations and standards,” Medvedev said.

“Therefore, we are obliged to analyze all the risks that we and our partners may face,” he explained.

“It is natural that our colleagues in government, experts and business communities in both countries should join the process because entrepreneurs will be the first to be affected by the newly-established regime in relations between Ukraine and the European Union,” the Russian prime minister went on to say. He urged both countries to act cautiously.

Russian and Ukrainian Foreign Ministers Talks in Kaluga

//

Russian and Ukrainian Prime Ministers, Dmitry Medvedev and Nikolai Azarov, on Tuesday will hold in Kaluga the 10th meeting of the Committee on Economic Cooperation of the Russian-Ukrainian Interstate Commission.

An official of the Russian government staff said that the Russian delegation includes Minister of Education Dmitry Livanov, Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov, Minister of Labor and Social Security Maxim Topilin, as well as Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov. Other members of the delegation are head of the Federal Agency for the Development of the State Border Facilities (Rosgranitsa) Dmitry Bezdelov, head of the Federal Consumer Rights Protection and Human Health Control Service (Rospotrebnadzor) Gennady Onishchenko, head of the Russian Federal Space Agency Oleg Ostapenko and head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) Sergei Dankvert. In addition, the delegation includes some deputy ministers and heads of Vnesheconombank Vladimir Dmitryev, head of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Sergei Katyrin, VTB head Andrei Kostin and head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin.