PUTIN: FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN CIS PEOPLES CANNOT BE DESTROYED

RIA Novosti, Russia
May 08, 2005

MOSCOW, May 8 (RIA Novosti) – Friendship between the CIS peoples
cannot be torn up or destroyed, Russian President Vladimir Putin
said confidently.

According to him, relations with Commonwealth countries is “our
kith-and-kin boundless ties.” Putin gave high marks for the CIS summit
held on Sunday.

“I value highly today’s meeting of CIS heads of state and thank those
who took part in it for the constructive nature of the meeting,”
the Russian president said.

Putin pointed out that a spirit of unity exists between the
Commonwealth countries. “We are to solve all problems together,”
he concluded.

The informal CIS summit (it was not attended by the presidents
of Georgia and Azerbaijan: the former because Russia did not give
dates for the withdrawal of its military bases from Georgia, and the
latter because he did not want to sit at the same table with the
Armenian president, hero of Karabakh, whom Baku holds personally
responsible for numerous victims among civil population during
an armed conflict over Nagorny Karabakh) adopted a declaration on
humanitarian cooperation. The declaration says among other things
that CIS states will pay priority attention to cooperation in the
humanitarian area, including culture, national traditions, languages,
science, education, archives, information and mass communications,
sport and youth movement.

“The states, proceeding from their understanding of the importance of
the humanitarian ingredient in the development of integrative processes
on the post-Soviet space, will consider the possibility of concluding
an agreement on humanitarian cooperation between CIS states, which will
define appropriate mechanisms for joint efforts,” the document notes.

The states will make humanitarian cooperation within the CIS framework
more effective by drawing on the experience and principles of activity
of the corresponding international organizations, including UNESCO,
and will also examine the possibility of creating an interstate fund
of humanitarian cooperation.

The CIS states will encourage forums of creative intellectuals of
the Commonwealth countries and give them the required support.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress