Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev speak during a Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Sochi, Russia, Monday, May 14, 2018. (Mikhail Klimentyev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
May 14, 2018 - 11:23 AM
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has chaired a meeting of the economic alliance that includes his country and several ex-Soviet nations, and which has invited Moldova as an observer.
During Monday's meeting in Sochi, Putin hailed the Eurasian Economic Union as a dynamic group and pointed at its economic achievements.
The Eurasian Economic Union includes Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. It is intended to encourage free trade, co-ordinate the members' financial systems and regulate their industrial and agricultural policies.
The meeting participants agreed to offer Moldova observer status in the union.
The meeting also provided a platform for the first encounter between Putin and new Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. He won the job after spearheading a wave of protests that forced out the long-serving leader of the Caucasus nation.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018