Putin to hold first full-format meeting of Eurasian Economic Union leaders

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, which will be "the first full-format meeting of the heads of Eurasian Economic Union [EAEU] member states’ leaders since the start of the EAEU’s operation on January 1, 2015," presidential aide Yury Ushakov said. The meeting will involve presidents of the EAEU member countries - Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, as well as Armenia that joined the Union on January 2 this year. The head of Kyrgyzstan, which is in the process of joining the EAEU, has been invited too. "The meeting will probably focus on Kyrgyzstan’s [prospective] accession to the Union," Ushakov said. "Practical difficulties in that area appeared in the recent days, and it is evident that they will be discussed." He explained that in March, Kyrgyzstan suggested that some amendments be made into protocols coordinated at the intergovernmental level, and that some EAEU participants do not think the amendments are logical. Two protocols supplementing the Treaty on Kyrgyzstan’s Accession to the Eurasian Economic Union of December 23, 2014 are to be signed during the summit. The documents work out in detail the terms of Kyrgyzstan’s membership in the EAEU, regulating the entire set of trade, customs administration and transport policy issues. After the procedure of ratification is over, the Kyrgyz Republic will become a full-fledged member of the EAEU. The new integration association - the EAEU - started operating on January 1, 2015. Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Armenia make part of the EAEU. The Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh presidents held the final meeting in late December 2014 in the process to establish the EAEU. Read more