BISHKEK -- Senior diplomats of the Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent states (CIS) have gathered in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, to discuss ways to increase cooperation.
The foreign Ministers of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, deputy foreign ministers of Moldova and Uzbekistan, and special envoys from Azerbaijan and Ukraine were attending the meeting on April 3.
The Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry said the talks would touch upon joint efforts to resolve "the crisis along the CIS borders."
Ahead of the meeting, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Erlan Abdyldaev and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, discussed bilateral cooperation and issues related to security within the CIS and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
Lavrov and the other CSTO foreign ministers were in Dushanbe on April 2 for a meeting of the regional security alliance, which groups Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan.
