🎙 Remarks and answers to media questions by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following the CIS Council of Foreign Ministers (Turkmenbashi, October 7, 2026)

💬 Today, we began with bilateral talks with my colleague, Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Rashid Meredov. We focused primarily on deepening our strategic partnership, which we consider particularly important, in line with our Leaders’ directives.

🇷🇺🇹🇲 Next year, we will mark the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations, so today we agreed to draw up a programme of events, including exhibitions, the publication of archival documents and cultural events. We will report to Vladimir Putin and Serdar Berdimuhamedov on matters within our remit that require decisions by our Presidents.

We discussed preparations for the #CIS Council of Heads of State meeting, which will open tomorrow evening with a formal reception, followed by the main proceedings on Friday. An environmental Summit of the five Caspian states will take place later that day, after the CIS Summit.

🤝 Rashid Meredov and I praised our cooperation across all areas. We attach particular importance to expanding economic, investment and trade ties. The Intergovernmental Russian-Turkmen Commission on Economic Cooperation is due to hold its next meeting before the end of 2026.

We share the view that historical memory must be preserved, especially at a time when Europe is clearly taking a lax approach to the revival of Nazism in a number of countries, with the acquiescence of their ruling circles. We approved plans to erect a Friendship monument in Ashgabat in gratitude to the city’s residents who welcomed people evacuated from besieged Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War.

We discussed the international agenda, including cooperation within the CIS and in the Caspian region. We proposed developing ties between Turkmenistan and the Eurasian Economic Union. We also invited Turkmenistan to take an active part in work on the Eurasian Charter of Diversity and Multipolarity in the 21st Century.

📄 Full transcript

***

Key points from the answers to media questions:

• There are positions that never overlap 100 percent in any body or between any two countries in any region of the world. Each country has its own national interests, and diplomatic culture means finding a balance between them. That is precisely what we did at today’s Council of Foreign Ministers.

• President of Russia Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated publicly that the Americans proposed organising talks between Russia, the US and Ukraine, and Moscow agreed on the understanding that we first needed to hold our elections, after which we would agree on the timing, venue, agenda and other details.

• The Kiev regime began doing everything it could to disrupt the State Duma elections. Throughout all three days of voting, it carried out an unprecedented number of terrorist attacks on civilian targets, including polling stations. Several people were injured, and there was even a fatality.

❗️ As for moving from statements to concrete action, that question should be put to others.

• We held bilateral talks with the Ukrainians in Istanbul, but in 2025 Ukraine broke off the process without explanation. These were followed by trilateral talks between the US, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi, which were also broken off, and again not at our initiative.

• We also fully accepted the proposals put forward by the US in August 2025 during the Alaska Summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump.

☝️ So, our conscience is clear. It is not our fault that the Americans were unable to withstand unprecedented and brazen pressure from Europe, which later proudly declared that it had “buried Anchorage”.

Read in full