"Of course, we would like even more, but our overall situation is quite stable. This year, there will be almost a 3% GDP growth. This is a good result for the Russian economy," Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format.
In the structure of the Russian economic growth, 3% falls on the oil and gas sector, and 43% — on the industrial sector, the president added.
Putin said that he had held talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis in detail.
"As another fresh example of Western activity in regions far from them, but in strategically important regions very close to us, we can, of course, cite the situation with the Karabakh crisis, which we discussed in detail yesterday with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev," Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format.
Moscow is ready to organize negotiations between Yerevan and Baku, firstly, at the ministerial level, with further development of a peace plan, the president said.
"All this time, painstaking work was carried out in a trilateral format — Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia — aimed at normalizing relations between the two capitals: Baku and Yerevan. And Russian peacekeepers conscientiously carried out their mission in Karabakh within the framework of the powers that they had," he added.
The next summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States that will be chaired by Russia will take place on October 8, 2024, Vladimir Putin added.
"We propose [to hold the next CIS summit] on October 8 next year," Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format.
Russia supports Tajikistan's concerns regarding threats emanating from Afghanistan, Putin said.
"It seems appropriate to intensify the joint efforts of the CIS states on the anti-terrorism track. In this regard, I consider it justified to support Tajikistan’s concerns related to these threats emanating from the territory of Afghanistan. The situation in this country continues to be difficult," Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format.
Russia is ready to satisfy agricultural needs of Commonwealth of Independent States member countries, Putin said.
The president mentioned that over 130 million tonnes of grain will be harvested in Russia this year.
“There are also the needs of our friends and colleagues within the CIS, everything will be satisfied,” Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format.
Work within the Commonwealth of Independent States strengthens the identity of the member countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"The choice of each of us is whether we want to maintain our identity or not. And working within the CIS gives us such an opportunity and, on the contrary, strengthens our position. At the same time, it does not interfere with cooperation with each other and respecting their national characteristics," Putin said at a meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State in a narrow format.