Wednesday, October 23 2013

 Presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Kazkahstan, Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko, and Nursultan Nazarbayev will meet at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk on 24 October to discuss development of the Customs Union, establishment of the Single Trade Area and Eurasian Economic Union.  

The Customs Union has been created within the Eurasian economic space for trade and economic integration of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia on the initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Yuri Ushakov, Assistant to the Russian president, says one of the key topics of the meeting will be Armenia's application for accession to the CU and similar plans of Kyrghyzstan. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan is also expected to participate in the discussions. Afterwards, on 25 October the CIS Summit will take place in Minsk and the presidents of Armenia, Kyrghyzstan, Tajikistan, and Ukraine will join their Russian, Byelorussian and Kazakh counterparts.  Ushakov said expansion of the integration processes has become an extremely important topic in the light of Armenia's recent application for CU membership.

To recall, on September 3, 2013 in Moscow the Presidents Serzh Sargsyan and Vladimir Putin confirmed the aim of the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation in the direction of further development of economic integration processes in the Eurasian territory. Earlier on 21 October, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko told the heads of the CIS mass media outlets that there are many uncertainties in the issue of Armenia's accession to the CU.  Lukashenko believes that Armenia cannot access the Union overnight.  The country is to pass all the necessary procedures to the CU, like to the WTO, the president said.