Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmonov's meeting followed discussions in the Kremlin with other leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, a loose confederation of former Soviet republics, on reforming the organization.
Tajikistan is one of the poorest countries that emerged from the former Soviet Union - according to IMF data its nominal GDP per capita in 2005 was $364, or $1,388 at purchasing power parity - and Russia remains one of its chief export partners.
Trade between Russia and the Central Asian country grew 30% in 2005, and 60% in the first four months of 2006.
Leaders of eight of the 11 CIS states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan) arrived in Moscow Friday for the informal CIS summit. The presidents of Georgia, Ukraine, and Armenia did not attend.
