Putin Meets with Leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States

An informal meeting of the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States began at the Peterhof imperial palaces in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, Russia. This annual tradition was initiated by President Vladimir Putin before the New Year celebrations. President Putin invited his counterparts from Belarus, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and the Prime Minister of Armenia to engage not at a negotiation table, but during a tour of the winter imperial palace complex and the parks of Russia's northern capital. The leaders arrived on Tuesday afternoon at the Pavlovsk Museum Reserve and are expected to visit the Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof imperial palaces in the suburbs of the city. The informal summit will conclude with discussions at the Konstantinovsky Palace in the Strelna imperial resort.