🎙 Opening remarks by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during talks with Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov on the sidelines of the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers (Turkmenbashi, October 7, 2026)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: It is a pleasure to be here. Every visit leaves me with new impressions of Turkmenistan’s development.

These visits invariably involve productive bilateral and multilateral international events, as will be the case over these three days – meetings within the #CIS framework, both at the Foreign Minister level and of the Collective Security Council at the highest level, followed by the environmental Summit of the five Caspian states. This, too, is a very important event that we have long awaited.

There will also be a series of other sideline events in the Avaza National Tourist Zone this week.

I would like to express my sincere appreciation for our close cooperation across various forums and emphasise the importance of the agreements reached by our Leaders on developing bilateral cooperation and coordinating our foreign policy efforts.

I hope that today we will discuss all these matters in detail and outline further steps to ensure that our Foreign Ministries play an increasingly important role in achieving the corresponding results.

In closing, I would like to congratulate you on the anniversary celebrated on September 27 – 35 years of Turkmenistan’s independence.

🤝 Once again, I would like to emphasise our satisfaction with the current state and prospects of our enhanced allied partnership.

#RussiaTurkmenistan