Azernews.Az

By Kamila Aliyeva

The meeting between the presidents of Turkmenistan and Russia Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Vladimir Putin, who arrived in the country on an official visit, has started in Ashgabat, a source in the government reported on September 2.

During the high level talks, priority aspects of interstate relations, regional and international policy issues of mutual interest will be discussed.

Russia and Turkmenistan support constructive initiatives and proposals of each other put forward within the UN and other authoritative structures, Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlari said in a message.

"Our countries demonstrate closeness or coincidence of positions on such key global issues as ensuring universal peace and security, countering the challenges and threats of modernity," the message said.

Relying on the mutual good political will, the long experience of cooperation in the trade, economic and humanitarian and cultural spheres and, of course, the historically established ties of friendship and good neighborliness, today the Turkmen-Russian partnership is gaining new meaning, the Vatan newspaper reported on Monday.

Following the high-level talks, a solid package of bilateral documents aimed at further activating and building up a mutually beneficial partnership in priority areas is expected to be signed.

Turkmenistan and Russia have close positions on such important issues of the global agenda as the preservation and maintenance of universal peace and stability, countering the threats of international terrorism, extremism, disarmament issues and the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

Both countries cooperate effectively in a wide range of areas, including the trade and economic sphere, energy and transport and communication sectors as well as the agro-industrial complex.

Russia holds a leading position in the ranking of Turkmenistan’s biggest foreign trade partners. In recent years, cooperation at the regional level has intensified, including with Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Sverdlovsk regions of Russia.

More than 190 enterprises with the participation of Russian capital are registered in the Turkmen market, and they execute more than 240 investment projects.

Gas supply was one of the strategic areas of partnership between Turkmenistan and Russia until recently. But in 2016, Russia - a traditional buyer - has stopped the purchase of Turkmen gas.

In 2015 bilateral trade volume between two countries decreased by 21 percent to $0.97 billion compared to $1.23 billion in 2014. Turkmen exports to Russia fell to $0.07 billion (by 20 percent) while imports fell to $0.90 billion (by 21 percent).

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Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva

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